While it is very true, we do live in a land of freedom, law bidding and some God fearing citizens, does this mean we abide by the famous words of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? No one ever speeds, runs stop lights, never late on paying taxes, and no one ever has been jailed for assault or other major offenses. Does this sound like life, liberty and happiness? Everyone seeks wealth, have physical stuff to call theirs, but no one wants to pay off the debts that got them there. We want justice, but only when we are the ones unjustly accused or violated. We want freedom as long as we are never forced to be slaves to something. We want happiness and will go to extremes to ensure we keep that happiness going, nearly at any cost.
Notice however, there is one thing that binds our favorite words, life, liberty and happiness into a category of what some would call downright wrong. Its called Law! While trying to live life, have liberty or freedom and find happiness, we still are bound by laws—both from men and from God.
When we hear words like "law" and "command," "precept" and "statute," we naturally think of what we can do. Some of us work in Congress or a state assembly or other bodies that make laws and rules. Others of us do that as employers. Teachers do that for their classrooms; parents do that for their children. We also think of our ability to keep the law, of what we can do. Some laws can be good, and yet hard for us to obey: how many times our teacher tell us to be quiet? How easy is to no speed? How easy is it to not tell a lie? How easy is it to not spread gossip? How easy is it to not overeat? And so on…we all have our crutches and stains.
Sometimes, when we hear rules and regulations talked about, we think they're just cold, formal rules that have nothing to do with anything other than meeting someone’s personal agenda. Listen to some laws that are in existence…
In Vermont, women must get written permission first from their husbands if they want to get false teeth. It’s an unenforced law but it hasn’t yet been overturned!
Victoria, Australia, Under Victorian law, changing a light bulb without a valid license was against the law. Taking your light into your own hands brought a fine of 10 Australian dollars. However, a revision to the 1998 Electricity Safety Act updated this law.
In Florida, a weird law was enforced in the 1880’s that’s since been long-forgotten. It was illegal to pass wind (flatulence) in Florida after 6pm on a Thursday—although it has never really been enforced.
In Somoa, you will get more than the silent treatment from your wife if you forget her birthday. First offence constitutes a warning.
Could you imagine today there are laws written that are more elaborate and constrained like these that are still in existence? And looking into it more, I found some that really is not for the faint of heart.
As we start our journey today friends, we are going to look into what I title “our favorite words” that when we define the words that we live by, when we face them, see them for what they are, it just maybe not what they appear to be. While we do have life, liberty-freedom, happiness, they come with a cost—under direct coalition to what we are allowed to do verses not allowed. And just think how God applies laws! Did God design them to restrict us, or keep us safe and make us free?
We are going to start in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 21 again. Last Sunday we talked about our works of faith in living and serving God. Today, although this piece of scripture may not entirely be clear to some where law is concerned, Jesus gives us a very good parable that not only described how far people can go to get what they want, but also show that there is a price to be paid for genuinely breaking Gods laws.
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
No doubt, this parable is speaking about Christ being the Son, the landowner being the Heavenly Father, and the vine-growers being the people. This parable was addressed mainly to the Jewish people whom did not believe in the coming Messiah—however, this parable amongst two others reveals a broader concern in that what God has made, He made for His purpose to be fulfilled, and nothing will stop it. When God placed Christ on the scene, mankind is and was to be saved, like it or not, however, the freedom involved with choice that was given to us was to either receive or reject Gods mercy and grace through His laws.
So this parable has a few parts. First the landowner provided everything needed for the vine-growers to make a prosperous yielding. When harvest time came, the vine-growers, the people, murdered the slaves. Seeing how the slaves was murdered, the landowner sent His Son claiming they will respect my Son because He is of Me. The vine-growers then murdered the Son thinking they could be the heir to the land since killing the Son. Without even thinking too much into it, the vine-growers, the people, claimed victory over the Sons inheritance, even though they had nothing direct in relation to the Son. They simply wanted to reap the benefits without even knowing or experiencing the Son of the landowner.
Secondly, this parable gives us a glimpse into what we call Godly justice. Jesus continues with the parable and asks the question, “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They *said to Him[Jesus], “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”
Its is reasonable to say that the philosophy here was fitting that Justice would be done by not only giving the vine-growers powerful justful sentences of punishment, but that the landowner would also get his fair share of what was rightfully his in the first place. However, Listen to Jesus response.
“Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘A stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief cornerstone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
This doesn’t sound like a sentence of punishment does it. More like a death sentence. Disobeying the landowner, God, will result in death. Not just any death, but a crushing death. The famous word of Life, growing the grapes to provide for others. The famous word of Liberty and freedom is the choosing to lawfully give the fruit to the owner to then provide for others. The famous word of Happiness is everyone being honorably paid for their work in providing for others. All of this by way of producing good fruit. Yet, none of it happened that way in this parable did it? In this parable, the famous word that was used is negligence of self and of the landowner, God.
I believe when it comes to laws of the land, we are a people more apt to sue someone than to reconcile. I wonder though, what God would think if we would infringe on His laws and values and try to take them from Him?
In 1969, Arizonan lawyer Russel T. Tansie filed a suit against God on behalf of his secretary, Betty Penrose, seeking $100,000 in damages. Penrose blamed God for his "negligence" in allowing a lightning bolt to strike her house. The lawsuit was placed under the argument that God owned property in Sonoma County, due to the Limeliters singer Lou Gottlieb transferring the deed of his Morning Star Ranch to God about a week before. The deed was ruled invalid, due to God not being able to take possession of the property, and hence Penrose's lawsuit was also ruled invalid. The book of Job we have God telling Job, Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine. Each of us belong to Him, yet the people, us, desire something else besides Gods laws that are designed to save and not destroy.
A singer tried to perform a wonderful song. They started in saying “I’d like to share a song with you that the Lord gave me a year ago..and even though He did give it to me, any reproduction of this song in any form with my permission will constitute infringement of copyright laws which grants me the right to sue you…praise God.” Sometimes I just stare, scratch my head and wonder…
What use is it to keep the laws alive, verses suffering from them in our disobedience? What do we benefit from actually not feeling the crushing blow of the rejected stone as Jesus said. Are we to just ignore Gods laws that only suits us when we are the ones violated and others blatantly disregard them? Are we truly obedient to Gods laws that are designed to not only protect us but save us? What famous words do we use to give way as an excuse to disregard God and His laws? Better yet, what non-famous words would we like to use. Disobedience, unlawful, disillusioned, irresponsible, etc… These are harsh words aren’t they. How about then use words like forgetful, unrealistic, outdated, irrelevant, etc… Are these words we use in our minds to give us a warm and fuzzy, to disregard God and His statutes? We can honestly think of many words friends that allow us to disregard God and His laws. Even our own denomination is literally trying to remap Gods word into a format that is ‘user friendly.’ This is what I call ‘desensitization,’ or ‘extreme makeover.’ We sing the wonderful hymns of God, like ‘Standing on the promises of God,’ yet we can get nowhere if we don’t move and not just stand with God. Remember my message last week stating, “Faith without works is dead!”
In closing friends, I would like for you to take from this message, and think about how God has saved His people, which includes you. How did He do that? Did God leave us with our own devices, leave us with our own thoughts and ideas, to pave a way into the wilderness, nearly blind, never having any hope for tomorrow, not expecting a loving God to do anything for His children? What is it that God saved us from, when Christ died on calvary? The words of life, the words of God is what the world MUST LIVE BY. Get this, you do NOT have to believe it. But there will be a day, when each of us will be kneeling before the sovereign God of the universe, God of all eternity, our Heavenly father, to make account for every idle wrong we done. And unless the blood of Christ is not covering us, if our names are NOT written in the lambs book of life, we will hear the terrifying words at the great white throne, ‘Depart from me, I never knew you.’
If you look at to the Garden of Eden in Genesis, you will see what Gods law did for each of us today. It provided a means of escaping certain doom. IN order for Adam and Eve to continue fellowship with God, they merely had to live life, work in the garden, they had perfect liberty freedom, and most assuredly happiness beyond words. Yet, the carnal desire to house the famous words, ‘I want it,’ ‘I desire more,’ I doubt God will do that to me,’ ‘I’ll ask for forgiveness later,’ and so on… Adam and Eve knew the consequence of their disobedience. “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Sounds rather clear to me. Yet, the carnal flesh desired more by way of temptation. This is where we have to be careful. We are not liable for others sins or wrong doings, but our own. As soon as the apple was ate, this is action not just a thought, the carnal body process of death began. This was for our own good. Evil can exist with God, nor God exist with evil.
Prophet Habikkuk tells us Your eyes are too pure to look at evil, And You cannot look at harm favorably. Why do You look favorably At those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? Jesus was upon the cross and you hear the words of Christ “Father, why have you forsaken me?” God cannot look upon sin! Sin of not of God.
Without Gods laws, we would not be able to commune with Him. We would not know God as He genuinely and truthfully is. Our spiritual life would not exist, we would be creatures, walking around aimlessly with purpose. We would be absolutely alienated from God, ignorant to truth, and what is really important is that without Gods laws, we would have no hope for eternity beyond this earthen vessel that we live in now. Everything that Adam and Eve lost in their fall into sin, is exactly what we lack today without Christ!
I hope and pray, that you can revisit your famous words that you use to describe God and His love with famous words, love, freedom and justice. Romans 8 tells us “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Gods laws friends saved us, from eternal doom. Here is another way to look at it.
How many of you used manual typewriters. When the computer age arrived, we put away our manual typewriters because they belonged to the former era. Paul's critique of the Judaizers is that they are typing on manual typewriters after computers are on the desk! He calls them to put the manual typewriters away. But in putting them away, we do not destroy them. We fulfill them by typing on the computers. Every maneuver on a computer is the final hope of the manual typewriter. "Now that faith/Christ has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law" but not because the law is contrary to the promises; rather, it is because the law is fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit in a manner similar to the way a typewriter is fulfilled in the technology of a computer. And I am profoundly thankful for both! Does this make sense?
For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Man’s laws are no where equal to Gods. So when we think carefully, pray earnestly, thinking clearly, we most defiantly will be setting ourselves up for failure if we ignore what God requires of us, and this is obeying His laws.
Gospel of Matthew Jesus said ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” Amen.