Would you like Christmas songs? Alright, so we're going to continue the theme that we were following before, which is mission and conflict. There's some passages that sometimes people take really out of context here. But we're looking at Matthew Chapter 12. Matthew Chapter 12. We're almost done with this series as well. Let's look at Matthew Chapter 12 tonight. Excuse me. Look what it says here in verse 1. It says, In that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were hungered, and began to plug the ears of the corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read or read what David said when he was hungered? and they that were with him that's let's look at verse 12 of chapter 12 of Matthew it says now he entered into the house of God and did eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat neither for him which were for them that which were with him and but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if he had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went unto their synagogue. And behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, It is lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep? And if it fall in a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift him out? Verse 12, how much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful to do well in the Sabbath days. Verse 13, Then said he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. And the word means how they might kill him. Let's pray heavily, Father. Thank you, Lord, for this passage of scripture. You are indeed the Lord of the Sabbath. Lord, as we talk about this tonight, Lord, give us ears to hear, a heart to open, a mind to suck in and to understand what you're trying to say to us here tonight. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. So tonight we're going to deal, here's the title of the message, Is Jesus Lord of the Sabbath? Is He? Because right here is a conflict right here between the Pharisees and Jesus right here. So tonight's passage highlights a growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day, particularly the group known as the Pharisees. So there was two groups, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Now we have the Pharisees, they have a conflict with Jesus. Listen, wasn't Jesus that sad to search the scriptures? If you look at your Bible, Jesus said to them, search the Scriptures because in them you will what? Find me. But you know what? They did not search the Scriptures. They wanted this to accuse the Lord. They wanted to get some fault and right here go, ah, I got you. You're doing all this on a Sabbath day. Ooh. How is Jesus going to react to this? We're going to look into this tonight, okay? Because is Jesus Lord of the Sabbath or is He not Lord of the Sabbath? There's some denominations out there. They make a big deal about the Sabbath day. But I think they're taking out of context what the Sabbath is about. Okay, so all of that come to... Let me go back here to my message. Okay, so all that comes to head today is as we look at two conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees, both having to do with the Sabbath day. At the end of Matthew 11, Jesus just spoke about coming to him and finding rest. You know, rest for the weary, remember that message? So the Sabbath day is all about rest, and here is the beginning of Matthew 12. In the beginning of Matthew 12, Jesus addresses the Pharisees as their misguided notions of the Sabbath. So in the previous chapter, we have the Come to me all that are weary and looking for place to rest is I am your rest Jesus is saying remember that message now tonight Jesus said Talks about the Sabbath because they have a bad misconception here with the Sabbath is so Okay, so when it comes to the Sabbath, there's all kinds of teachings about people's views on the Sabbath. It depends on what kind of denomination you belong to, okay? We need to keep in mind that the Scriptures have a higher authority than any denomination. You agree with me? Listen, the Scriptures have higher authority than any denomination out there. Because if you contradict the Scriptures, then you're wrong. God's Word is true, is right. Was Jesus wrong? Okay, we're going to look into it. Okay. Exactly. Now, life is full of rules and laws. Agree with me? So we have tax laws, property laws, we have traffic laws, we have laws relating to marriage, to family, school laws, codes, conduct, there's all kinds of stuff. So when God created us, he also gave us his laws and commandments that we should learn and follow and obey. We have the Ten Commandments. It's a basic God's laws, right? But if you go to the New Testament, people say, well, you know, if you go to the New Testament, there's a lot more laws in the New Testament now, more commandments in the New Testament for us to follow. We just ignore them, but they're there. All right. When you look at, I go to this passage, when you look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 13, I believe, do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together. That's a commandment. You're not disobeying me. When you show up to church, you're disobeying God. Okay? I'm just a man. I'm just a servant of the Lord. I came to church. Okay. But anyway, okay. But it's not our message tonight. Okay. So God's laws is something that they were never meant to be. And it, I'm sorry, I don't know what I wrote here, but I'm going to go back myself. So, okay. Now, When it comes to the Sabbath, like I said, there's all kinds of teachings of people, views of the Sabbath. It depends on what kind of denomination you belong to. We need to keep in mind, like I said, that the scriptures, I'm repeating myself, have a high authority that any denomination and the scripture explain the reason and the purpose for the sabbath now the bible explains it okay now life is full of rules and laws we talk about that so when god created us we also he also give us his commandments and his laws for us to obey so jesus came to teach us god's law Okay, and to fulfill God's law in a perfect perfectly for us. That's the way he went to the cross Jesus came and he fulfilled God's law to every little detail. Okay, so the pharisees had no idea of the sabbath, but Jesus had one idea of the sabbath, but Jesus had another. Jesus is lord of the sabbath. So guess who ends here? If he's lord of the sabbath guess who wins here and if you see right here jesus takes this accusation to a teaching time Because if you look if you pay attention to the passage jesus never answers them the question They ask the jesus they accuse him, but he does engage on what they're saying. He teaches them You know why because he is lord of the sabbath Okay, why they were doing that because we're gonna look at this now Let us look at this passage tonight from some points tonight and dissect this thing number one Okay, if you want to write things down or follow the outline the law of God is for our you said that is our good You might want to correct that outline right there. Okay, the laws of God are for our good Okay Most laws even laws in our country are for our good. The problem is we don't want to obey them If you see a sign that says detour, and you see a police officer saying go that way, what does that mean? It's for safety? So nobody gets hurt if people are working. Or let's say if the road ends, there's something going on, maybe the bridge is out, whatever that is, it's for your safety. So it's for your good. You follow that? Also, well, the speed limit is this. I don't like that speed limit. Why? Because you like the speed. You know what? You have more control in your car if you drive a little slower than if you drive 90, 100 miles an hour. So the laws are for our good. Many laws, some laws, eh, but many laws of men are for good. But God's laws are not to make us miserable, it's for our good. Because God wants us to be safe, to live safe, and to love him. Okay, so now, one may say, why laws? Why rules? Why regulations? Why shouldn't I be free to do what I want to do without any law? You be rebellious? The heart of man is unruly. Actually, the Bible put it this way, it's desperately wicked. You can't know it. If anybody do whatever they want to do with no laws and regulations, we'll be in serious problems today. So, why should I not be free to do what I want to do without any laws? That's a good question. I'm glad you asked tonight. But the truth is that without any law, we become rebels, like I said. That's the inclination of the human heart. For one, without laws, mankind will be in a load of trouble. Now, for one, the heart of man is unruly, like I said, and so wicked that people began to do right in their own eyes. Isn't that what happened in the book of Judges? People doing right in their own eyes, what that took them. So look at the crime rate and the evil around us right now with laws. Imagine with no laws. Okay, if a person seriously thinks about robbing a bank or robbing somebody's home, they know in the back of their mind if they got caught, There is some consequences, right? Imagine if there's no law. No consequences. Imagine the state of the way we would be today. That would be good. Well, imagine our world without any law. So we must not forget that our God has His laws as well. Because He is not a God of confusion, but a God of order. Luke says in 1 Corinthians 14.33, So may I make it clear tonight that God's law is not like man's laws because man's laws have fallen mistakes many times and we agree disagree with him. Some of them are not even I don't know why this thing is even law but when it comes to God's laws his law is perfect. Now, let's look at this thing right here, okay? So we're talking about the Sabbath tonight, looking about the accusation in verse 1 and verse 2. In that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath, they threw the corn, and his disciples were in hunger, and began to plug the ears of the corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, so they saw what happened there, Jesus' disciples were hungry, and they were plugging the ears of the corn, and they were eating because they were hungry. And they said unto him, not unto the disciples, they said unto Jesus, Behold thy disciples do what that is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day." Now this is important to understand here what the Pharisees were upset about here. They were not accusing the disciples of stealing. That's not what they were accusing of. God has set up the property laws in Israel as such that it was okay to eat out your neighbor's garden as long as you didn't put any of it in a basket or or i'm sorry as long as you didn't put any of it in a basket or put in a in a cycle of uh to the grain so if you are hungry you're okay to grab a few grapes for the road or eat some uh some corn along the way and it was not against the law okay god made that possible actually you can go there deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 24 local god says when i come into thy neighbor's uh vineyard Then thou mayest eat grapes, and fill at that time on pleasures, but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. So eat what you can, fill up your belly, then go, but don't take nothing with you. Look what it says. In verse 25 it says, And when thou comest unto the standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest plug the ears with thine hand, but thou shalt not move a sickle into thy neighbor's standing corn. God is clear right here. That's exactly what the disciples did. They were hungry. They were eating. Okay, so under the law Jesus disciples were not doing anything wrong simply by picking grain from this person's field, but and the Pharisees, the Pharisees says people who know the law understood that it was okay. That was not their problem. What the Pharisees were upset about is that the disciples were doing that on the Sabbath day. So you just go hungry all day, don't eat anything because it's the Sabbath. Is that what... Kind of insinuating that, but anyway. So observing the Sabbath was extremely important to the Jews. Of jesus time and it was especially important to the pharisees who pride themselves on keeping the law right down to the last detail So these guys stand in the marketplaces with those big ropes. Oh, you know, they're important and they pride themselves How they fill the law to the least detail, you know what they were liars Because no one can fill the law of god to the last detail God said if you even fill on one of them, you're guilty of the whole thing So, but they pride themselves in the eyes of man. So it was easy for them to look at Jesus and say, aha, we got you. You disciples are eating on the Sabbath. Where are you going? You're going on fasting all day in the Sabbath. And Jesus uses this accusation and tune into a teaching time. Isn't that great? Let's look what's going to happen to you. Okay. But they were not wrong. Look at what it says in Exodus chapter 34 verse 21. So yes, it would have been unlawful for a farmer to go out on a Sabbath day and harvest his crops if it were any other day of the week. But it was kind of... strategy to call what the disciples doing here. They were just picking stuff to eat because they were hungry to say, oh you violated the Sabbath day. That's their problem. That was their accusation. So these men they were hungry. They were eating. That was the simple thing they were doing. They were passing by and they were hungry to pick up something to eat. Okay, did they break God's law? They just broke one of the Pharisees actual rules. okay these men did not break God's law they broke the Pharisees rules because what happened was to those people they added to God's law to a point that is why impossible even to even live and try to fulfill those 10 commandments and live and obey God because they made it so impossible. So we need to be careful that we, like the Pharisees, don't become, listen to the word, legalists. I honestly don't like that word legalist. I mean, it can be applied to something, but a Christian who is legalist, it can be very ugly. I'm not saying the person is ugly, it's the actions of that legalistic Christian can become very ugly. Because making our own ideas, our own philosophies, apart from God's law, and say, this is the way it is, you know what? It becomes very ugly. We have to be careful that we don't become legalistics in our own understanding of the Bible. Oh, you got to be this way. Where did you find that out? Wait, because I said so. Oh, you're out of the Bible. You follow that? okay let it be we see the accusation let it be we see the response interesting that jesus doesn't even get into a debate with the pharisees about whether the disciples were doing what was lawful or not instead he gives them three statements in response he gave him three different statements as he responds to them listen he doesn't answer the question He teaches them. He takes them back to the Old Testament and he's going to review the Old Testament with them. Look what it says right here. Number one, they're teaching about David and his friends. We see this in 1 Samuel chapter 21 verse 1 to 6. So Samuel and his friends ate the consecrated bread. jesus gave them an example from the old testament of something that clearly was unlawful look at verse what says he verse three verse four but he said unto them who said jesus have you not read uh read that what david did no he's like oh okay listen up guys right here you make an accusation let me remind you of something do you remember you king his name was david remember him do you remember what he did i mean it's not the way jesus said is that what i'm just kind of you know getting a little excited right you said it said when he was in a hunger and they would then that were with him look at verse four how he entered into the house of god and eat the show eat the show bread which was not lawful for him to eat neither for them which were with him but only for the priests jesus you know what questions them is a question mark right there. Have you not read about what David did? Well, they must stung the pharisees heart right there. They knew exactly what he was talking about Now must hurt their pride right there. Jesus takes them right back to the scriptures where they were supposedly experts on it These guys, they're supposed to be experts in the scripture. And he gives them the example of David right here. So here's the background. We see this in 1 Samuel 21. So this incident took place before David became king, when he was still on the run from King Saul. He was trying to kill him. David and his men were hungry, so David went to the tabernacle and requested bread for him and his men. Unfortunately, this was no ordinary bread, But only the consecrated bread right here. So this was known as the bread of the presence Exodus chapter 25 verse 30 Every separate day listen to this the priest baked bread 12 loaves of bread and laid them off on two rows of six on the table of pure gold before the Lord In the sanctuary and and the end of each week the bread was removed and replaced with 12 new loaves So the loafs were there were removed with to be eaten only by the priest and his sons in a holy place Leviticus chapter 24 verse verse 5 to 9 so so although it was not technically lawful for David and his friends to eat the consecrated bread because they were hungry and in need Jesus said it was it was okay. So you see god's law are meant for our good Okay, so God doesn't give us his law to make us miserable or to take away our enjoyment of life God's law are designed for our good so back to Jesus and his disciples in the grain field, even if the disciples were doing was breaking the sabbath And it wasn't jesus was saying that human needs were still trump ceremonial laws. Why? Because we need we have needs they were hungry Okay, the second teaching of Jesus right here, the teaching of our priests serving on the Sabbath. We see this in Numbers 28.9. So Jesus takes them back again to the Old Testament, and Jesus applies a similar principle to the priests in the Old Testament. Look at verse 5 and verse 6 of Matthew. Or have ye now read of the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? See the question mark right there? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. He's pointing at himself right now. Okay, so here's an interesting example. The law says you're not supposed to do any work on the Sabbath. Okay? And the Pharisees expound that even worse than that. And yet, the same law also told the priest they had to work on the Sabbath. if it's not working the sabbath why the priests are working on the sabbath and jesus take them right back to the old testament so you explain to me that one oh that hurts can you imagine that people around listen to this thing going on right here okay so in fact So in fact, not only work on the Sabbath, they had a double load of work on the Sabbath. They made double the number of sacrifices on the Sabbath day. Look at Numbers 28.9. I'm going to read to you. And on the Sabbath day, two lambs of the first year without spot and two ten deals of flour for meat offering, mingle with oil and the drink offering thereof. So why it was okay for the priest to work on the Sabbath if no work is supposed to be done on the Sabbath or nothing is supposed to be done. because they were working in the temple and the temple was greater than the Sabbath. Okay, once again, God's law are made for our good or for your good. Does a pastor displeases God when he preaches on Sunday? I'll be in a load of trouble if it is. Because what do you think a pastor does on a Sunday? He's laboring. So is that okay for a pastor to preach on a Saturday? We talk about Sunday is the Lord's day. Well, Saturday is a Saturday. Well, I was here yesterday until 7.30. Is that lawful? I want to be here preaching next Saturday. Is that lawful? I think most pastors all over this nation, all over this world, they're being serious problems. You see? No, I hope not because I'm in big trouble. So now Jesus goes on to say in this place is one greater than the temple. Well, let's come back to this. Come back to Jesus authority right here. Look, look, look the third teaching right here. God desires mercy, not sacrifice. We see this in Matthew 12, 7, and also Hosea 6, 6. Jesus has given an example of the Old Testament history, and he has given an example of Old Testament law, and now Jesus gives an example from the prophets. For this third example right here, Jesus quotes Hosea 7, 6, 6, but look at verse 7. But if he had known what this mean it I will I will have mercy and not sacrifice He would not have condemned the guiltless. You see you have to understand here. There's no new testament written yet So these men only had how many books? 39 We have an extra 27 on top of it You see, Jesus is quoting from Hosea 6, verse 6. Jesus quotes the same verse to the Pharisees back in Matthew 9, verse 13. So when they complained about Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners. So yes, sacrifice is important. Obedience to God's command is important. But if you don't do it with love and mercy in your heart, you're not doing it right. So God doesn't want mercy instead of sacrifice and obedience. Rather, He wants mercy along with the sacrifice and obedience. So Jesus is saying that because God is merciful towards us, we also ought to be merciful to each other. We should show mercy every day of the week and especially on the sabbath day God desires mercy not sacrifice. Okay, let us say we see the authority These are searches authority. Uh, these pharisees need to understand who was talking to them right there You know what? Emmanuel God with us So the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he needed to understand who he was and who was the person that was talking to them. And Jesus said to him, before Abraham was, I am. Search the scriptures because in them you will find me. Jesus was clear. Jesus wanted them to see who was there. He was the promised Messiah that was there for them to see, but they failed miserably. Okay, so Look what it says in verse 6. But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. In verse 8, it says for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. So Jesus tells the Pharisees that in this place is one greater than the Sabbath. He's Lord of the Sabbath. So when Jesus is greater than the temple, if the temple was greater than the Sabbath, then certainly the one in the temple pointed forward to the greatest than the Sabbath also. Jesus goes on to say, for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. Jesus wasn't saying that He could break the Sabbath because He is Lord of the Sabbath. And He did not break the Sabbath, neither His disciples. No, Jesus is saying because He is Lord of the Sabbath, therefore He can tell us what the Sabbath really means and how we may observe it properly. Look what it says in Mark 2, verse 27. He said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Verse 28 says, therefore the Lord, the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. You see, it's like repeats itself right here. A common error in the Sabbath-keeping debate is the concept that the Sabbath was the day of worship. Groups such as the Seventh-day Advantage here hold that God requires the church service to be held on Saturday and not on Sunday. Now you show me that in the Bible, that teaches that. I think they're making a mistake. That is not what the Sabbath commands us. The Sabbath command was to do the work of the Lord. I'm sorry, to do the work of the Sabbath. I'm sorry. The Sabbath commands us to do not work on the Sabbath day. Exodus 20 verse 8 and 7, not worship. You follow that? There's no way, the Bible doesn't say we ought to worship on a Saturday, on the Sabbath. It says not to work on the Sabbath. Okay? That's a defense story right here. But let me put it like this. If a church meets on Monday, is anything wrong with that? What about on Tuesday? What about on Saturday? We don't live under the law, we live under grace. Okay? So when did the early church met? In honor of Christ's resurrection on Sunday, the early church observed Sunday, not as the Christian Sabbath, but as the day especially of worship, because our Savior rose on Sunday morning. What we must realize is that God made the Sabbath for you. God doesn't want you to work nonstop seven days a week without having taken a break. So He gave us the Sabbath so you could slow down, rest from your work. So the Sabbath, as with all God's law, was meant for your good. So God gave us seven days in the week, right? God says, you work six days, you give me one day, you rest, because we're not machines. So the Sabbath is a day of rest. So today, can you make your Sabbath on a Monday? Most pastors do. You find very few pastors that work on Monday. I do work because I have to work a full-time job. But let me tell you, most pastors who do just ministry, most of them, I don't say all of them, most of them don't work on Monday. That's their Sabbath of rest. They don't rest on Saturday. They are out visiting people, going, doing all kinds of stuff. On Sunday, they preach all day. They take Monday, most of them, others throughout the week, they make their Sabbath day a day of rest. So they make one day as the day of rest. That is supposed to be the rest of all your work. You want to worship on Saturday, go right ahead. Okay. So the Sabbath, as with all God's law, was meant for your good. So you don't turn into a machine, but into a, have a day that you can rest of all your labor and just recoup, get some energy back. So the Pharisees were questioning Jesus' judgment in allowing his disciples to pick up, to pick and eat grain on Saturday. They were not even working. They were just hungry. But Jesus is the Son of Man. He is Lord of all, and He's Lord of the Sabbath. So He is the one who gave us the Sabbath commandment to begin with. And as with all His laws, God gave us the Sabbath for our benefit. That is the first truth we need to know about God's law. God's laws are made for our good. Okay, so what is the Sabbath? The Sabbath is a day of rest. Brother Tommy, you have every day a day of rest. So you have Sabbaths every day. Oh, goodness. There you go. A day of rest from your labor, right? You know, if you look what God did in his creation, he created the world and he rested. Not like God was tired, but he took a day of rest. He took it off. He made a Sabbath. Listen. The Sabbath is supposed to be a day of rest. If you can't do it on Saturday, do it on Monday, do it on Tuesday. It's a day of rest, it's the Sabbath day. Number two, it is always lawful to do good. Here's the second thing. We see this in the next section in Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees because they were making a mistake right here over the man that had a diseased hand. So we move from grain to the synagogue, okay? Letter A, we see fault finders. The Pharisees were interested on finding something to accuse Jesus that actually listened to him. Their goal was to accuse him of breaking God's law. They want to find something in him. So look what it says in verse 9. And when he was the pot of thence, he went into this synagogue. And behold, there was a man which had a hand withered, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal in the Sabbath days? See, they asked Jesus that question, and the Bible says that they may accuse him. They wanted him to fall so they could accuse him. So this thing is just wrong in so many levels. First of all, when you go to a synagogue, you are supposed to go there to worship, not to point fingers at people. But the Pharisees were trying to get to trap Jesus right here. Secondly, they don't really care about the man with the disease. And they didn't care about him. If they cared, they would say, Jesus, I know what you have done. Why don't you heal this man? They were not interested on that. See, they were too arrogant, too prideful. They were looking just for the reason to accuse Him. See, according to this self-made book of rules and regulations, this said, you could only help or heal a person on the Sabbath in a life-threatening situation. Otherwise, a quote, a certain synagogue ruler from the Gospel of Luke, They would say Luke chapter 13 verse 14 says and the rule of the synagogue answer with indignation Because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day and said unto the people There are six days in which man ought to work and then therefore come and and be healed and in not on the Sabbath day Wow, well this man's life wasn't in danger so they determined it would be unlawful for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath day Okay, it goes legalism right here to the core. Who are they to ask such a thing? Were they diseased? Were they hurting? Listen, if you have a headache, what do you want? The headache to go away. Let's say you walk and you kick your foot on the wall or in the chair. What do you want? The pain to go away. You know, I don't care what disease is, when you have it, You want to be healed. Isn't that true? Well for them They were just like legalistic to the core like, you know, why are you not life-threatening? Who are they to say that? Imagine if they had the disease Would they want to be healed? You see that's legalism to the core. That's men's opinion Oh, you're gonna break the law because you're gonna heal that person. Yeah Look at Jesus response Verse 11 verse 12 Jesus gives us a response right here. It says what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep and if it fall into a pit on a sabbath day will he not lay hold of it and lift him out of it? Look at verse 12. How much then is a man better than a sheep? Does man have more value than a sheep? Of course, we're for it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. You see what you said right here. All right. So your sheep falls in a ditch. Stay there, I'll pick you up tomorrow. That doesn't happen. You're going to take that sheep out of that ditch. Because, you know, it's the right thing to do, but we're talking about people here, we're not talking about a sheep. They said, if you do that to the sheep, Jesus said, A man has more value than a sheep. Ouch. It goes against legalism right here. See, any of the Pharisees, if one, their sheep fell on the pit, like they would do that. So well, Jesus says, how much more valuable is a man than a sheep? As opposed to the tell laws and codes of the Pharisees as to what was lawful or not, Jesus had one simple rule. It is always lawful to do good. In fact, the Bible says it is wrong not to do good. Luke 1 says in James 4 verse 17, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. All right, so the sheep fall in the ditch and you leave them there until tomorrow. That's cold-hearted. You know what you're supposed to do. Go do it. This man needed healing? Go do it. You have a headache or you have some disease, some sickness, you're home, you can't drive anywhere and you don't pick up the phone because it's against the law. It's lawful. You know, you're going to break the Sabbath. So the person answers the phone. If you decide to do that, I'm sorry, but I can't drive my car today because of the Sabbath. Somebody is struggling and hurting. That's what Jesus is practically speaking today. So, We do not honor God by withholding goods, but by doing good. Okay, let us see, Jesus' authority again. Early Jesus exerted his authority to the Pharisees. Now he demonstrates his authority. Look at verse 13. He teaches them, then he goes like, stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched forth his hand and was restored whole like as the other. So Jesus chooses to do good on the Sabbath. Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath in front of everyone. And in doing so, Jesus demonstrated his authority to heal on the Sabbath day. jesus really was the lord of the sabbath and he show us that it is always lawful to do good on the sabbath day there's nothing wrong about doing good on the sabbath day okay number three legalism is the enemy of grace legalism is the enemy of grace okay look what it says in verse 14 then the pharisees went out and held a council against him out there my destroyed him Okay. Hear me right here. We're very simple with you. Okay. What do we have? They make an accusation. Not because they were eating, because they were violating the Sabbath. They were not working. They were eating because they were hungry. Instead of Jesus getting to an argument with them, Jesus took them back to the scriptures. And Jesus taught them things that happened in the past. And it was okay. And they knew about it. Okay. Now we come to this right here. Okay. instead of listening to what Jesus had said, because Jesus quotes scripture to them, instead of them listening and saying, you know what? You're right. You're exactly right. What you said, it really happened. They knew it happened. It's absolutely true. Instead of doing that, look what legalism does. This took to the law, their law, not God's law, their law and said, oh, let's get rid of this guy. Follow that? Legalism is like this. There's a legalism that happened in the church. She doesn't fit our cycle. You know what? That's legalism to the core. We need to be careful with that. Because it's not grace anymore. It's not mercy anymore. It's legalism. It's my way or the highway. That's not the way the church of God should work. Legalism does not fit in a Christian church. Is this a set of rules? And Jesus tried to them, you folks are a bunch of legalists right here. You don't understand. You add so many laws to this thing. What you're doing is absolutely wrong. You see, listen, there's a lot of people that have their biblical opinion, which is a very unbiblical, and they try to shove that in everybody. And if nobody stands with them, oh, it's going to be some tough stuff. Listen, the legalism is the enemy of grace. Okay, so. The important truth about God's law in this passage is that legalism is the enemy of grace. Folks, there's so much legalism going on in churches that it's not even funny. Legalism is the opposite of grace. Legalism does not see mercy and forgiveness. May we keep in mind that our God is a God of grace and a God of forgiveness. All right, you're a pastor. All right. You're preaching. And before you get home, about 20 minutes getting home, you get like a bunch of phone calls. Oh, that person, I can't believe that person like that. Oh, that person like that. Oh, I didn't hear that. Did you hear the message at all? Grace goes like this, is grace, all right? Grace goes like this. In the church, there are people who are really up here, spiritually speaking, with our people who are right here, spiritually speaking. What do you do to your brother or your sister? You help them. You have grace and mercy on them because they're not there. They might just come out of a bad situation. So a lot of times we don't know what's going on. So God doesn't want us to be legalists, but to be graceful. I'm not saying that we're going to prove and say about sin, it's okay, brother. No, no, no. Don't misunderstand me here. When sin is sin, and you know why? We have to, oh, you're wrong, and we have to correct it. I'm saying it's about being so legalistic that we have no mercy. I praise my Lord that he's not legalistic. He is a merciful God. Okay. This happened in one church. I was a member of that church many years ago. We had separate Sunday school classes, and it was one particular Sunday school class. The pastor didn't fit their standards. So their goal was to get rid of the pastor. And they did. And I laughed. I'm not gonna stand with this. This is wrong. But it happened. That's what legalism do in churches. It is not funny, folks. Okay, so. Let's go back here. Jesus came, let's go back here a little bit. Okay, all right. So, here's what the verse says right here. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. Can you just imagine this? The pride of the Pharisees was so nigh that they would not listen to Jesus' voice of wisdom. The hostility of the Pharisees toward Jesus was bent, up and up and over to a point that they just said like we just need to get rid of him. The conflict actually began back in chapter 9 and with the healing of a man there, when Jesus claimed the authority to forgive sins. And now with the healing of the man in the synagogue, Jesus claims authority over the Sabbath. So back in Matthew 9, when the Pharisees experienced conflict with Jesus, they called him names in there, Matthew 9.34. And now here in Matthew 12, they are applauding, not just the word destroy, I mean to literally kill him. Wow. Why? Because Jesus did not fit, listen to this, Jesus did not fit their box of the way they want him to be. They will put so many laws that God says, I never give you those laws, you put those laws yourself. Oh, folks, I tell you what, maybe we be careful that we don't become Pharisees in our own churches. Goodness, if I become a Pharisee, This is what you do, grab me and throw me out. Believe me. And I say this with my own heart, throw me out. Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth and the Pharisees hated him. You see, legalism is the enemy of grace. Legalism doesn't have mercy and forgiveness. Legalism wants to dictate and control. Legalism doesn't fit in the Bible. Legalism should be banished from every church Remember that our God is not like that God offers up your freedom and grace God offers you forgiveness for your sins God is not a legalistic God God is a graceful Merciful God and we as his children we ought to be imitators of our God So legalism should go out the door and mercy and grace should live in our hearts and minds Somebody asked you forgiveness forgive If somebody needs grace, be graceful. If somebody needs mercy, give mercy. Don't be legalistic. Yes, there are things we need to stand up for. We as a church, we're not going to approve sin and lives of sin and say, it's OK. No, no, it's not OK. Right. But we need to be careful that we don't add to the Bible all kinds of rules and things and say, it's Bible, it's not Bible. Let's close with this tonight, okay? Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Let me give you these thoughts tonight, okay? As we close. Think good of God. So often people think that God is made up of all kinds of laws and commandments and rules, and if we follow that, we become miserable. No, think good of God. God is not that way. All right? Receive the Sabbath as a gift from God. A Sabbath should be a day of rest. God didn't make you and me to work seven days a week. Period. He sets that example right at creation. So the Sabbath is a day of rest. So you might not be able to have a Sabbath on Saturday like it is the Sabbath. Have a Sabbath sometime in the week. Take one day and make that your Sabbath. No pastor can make a Sabbath on Sunday Because he labored all Sunday long. So be grace for the people. or be people of grace. Love God, love your family, love your neighbor, share with God's people who are in need, practice hospitality, be kind and compassionate, forgive each other, don't hold grudges, forgive those who have wronged you. Our God is a God of grace, so let us be people of grace. You see, if we practice these things, legalism will live in our hearts. Practice hospitality, be kind and compassionate, be forgiving to each other. Don't hold a grudge against people because if you hold a grudge, who hurts the most is you. Forgive those who have wronged you. Listen, we live in a society in which people are all victims over here. You know what? Don't hold a grudge to people. If people have wronged you, forgive them and move on. You know, some people go, oh, you don't know what they did to me, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they keep going, I wonder how long ago was that? Oh, that was 15 years ago. And you're still talking about that? Let it go. Let it go. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, so much for your love and mercy, for your goodness. Help us, Lord, not to be legalistic like those Pharisees. Help us, Lord, to be graceful, compassionate, loving to people. And help us, Lord, if we don't have a Sabbath day of rest. to put one in our schedule. It is your desire. It is what you want us to do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. All right. We're going to Brandon. Take us out of.