Have You been Smoking Lately?
Matthew 12:18-20, "Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory."
THIS MESSAGE IS FOR ALL MEN, EVEN THE SAVED!
I want us to focus on one thing this morning – turn your eyes upon Jesus and look at Him
All too often, we measure our greatness by comparing ourselves to other people.
I am far better and more righteous than most, and I am less righteous than others. I am richer than most people in the world and much poorer than those that are rich or wealthy in this world’s goods. I am shorter than most and taller than others. I am more handsome than any of them and most conceited than most people.
Why do we compare ourselves to other people who are doing the same to us?
In these verses, the first thing that we must realize is that God wants us to look upon Jesus Christ and compare ourselves with Him! Jesus is the standard by which all men will be judged.
You won’t be judged by how good looking you are, how well you dress, how intelligent or well educated you are, or how rich or poor you are. That’s the way the world compares you but not Jesus.
We are judged according to our conforming into the image of Christ through obedience to the Word of God and our faithfulness to the call of God upon our life.
Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Since all men have sinned, and there is none righteous, why compare our selves to other men?
WHEN WE FOCUS ON JESUS, OUR JUDGMENT IS CLEARER!
The Judeo-Christian concepts of laws and government are the source of what little political freedom and laws of liberty that man enjoys in our day and time. Even though we are facing grave troubles and the loss of more and more of those liberties through the influence of those who would prefer their own set of laws and government, we still have the greatest nation on earth, because it was founded upon the principles of righteousness, fairness and equality of all men under the law.
It is only because of Jesus that we have such a sense of right and wrong. The Word of God has been published and distributed throughout the known world to all the Gentile nations.
The Bible gives us every law that is necessary to establish a peaceful and prosperous society if only man would learn to obey God’s laws.
Illustration:
Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said wryly," and look what you got!"
The teachings of the gospel, the salvation message and the hope of redemption and eternal life have given a greater source of comfort and hope to man than any other message.
There is no excuse for a nation that has heard so much of the light of the gospel to ignore that light and to continue to walk in the darkness.
The reason that so many of our laws and our government have become so corrupted is that the leaders and judges of our nation have decided to leave God’s laws and do their own will. That’s why criminals have greater rights than the innocent victims. That’s why people will scream about an inch long fish in an Oregon river that will die and yet allow millions of unborn children to be killed in the mother’s womb.
AS CHRISTIANS, OUR RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION ARISES AND WE WANT TO TAKE MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS!
Verse 19 says that the Holy Spirit is not a Spirit of contention, murmuring, clamor or arguments.
That’s why I do not believe in participating on marches on Washington, Jesus marches to make a statement, picketing of abortion clinics or any such social gatherings to fight against evil in our society.
5 minutes of praying in faith for our leaders and calling upon God to move upon the hearts of men will do more good than all of the marches and picketing put together.
I dare say that if those same people who participate in such things would spend half as much time praying for those who they fight against, and showing the love of Jesus Christ to them than fighting, there is no telling what could be accomplished toward the reversal of the laws that we do not believe are right.
God does not hate the sinner; He loves the sinner.
God does not strike the abortionist, the activist, the crooked politician or other such people with lightning like we wish He would; but He gently leads them, speaks to them and draws them to Himself but He always allows them to make up their own minds.
God is a perfect gentlemen.
HIS WORD BRINGS A DIVISION BECAUSE OF THE SIN IN THE HEART OF MAN! BUT WE MUST LOVE PEOPLE IN HOPES OF WINNING SOME!
I believe that too many Christians run around with the spirit of the Pharisees who saw nothing wrong with being belligerent and argumentative over the laws of the scriptures, yet had no love for their fellowman and sought only glory and self-righteousness for themselves.
If you knew an abortionist was in this service this morning, how would you treat them? Are they any more or less guilty of sin than that one who used profanity, or is guilty of any other sin, including the one that you may have committed this week?
What do you think would be best course to take? Sit in judgment, throw up a picket line, or threaten them? Or would you reach out in love to them, to try to let them know that Jesus loves them even though He hates their sin?
If we won’t be belligerent to them in the church, then why do it elsewhere? Jesus is the same everywhere! He never was angry at the sinners but only showed them love and compassion. Jesus did get angry at those who claim to have religion and had a self righteous attitude and a judgmental spirit.
A BRUISED REED SHALL HE NOT BREAK….
What is that bruised reed?
That’s a picture of those who are broken, bound with sin, discouraged in their walk, distressed in life, hurting and needful of help!
All of us fall into that category at some time or another. Thank the Lord that Jesus is always there to lift us up, forgive us, cleanse us, and reach out to us with love and compassion.
Jesus knew that every man would face the death penalty for sin. He knew that all would fall short of the glory of God, that none would be righteous, so He paid the price that we could see God’s glory and be counted as righteous.
Just as the Spirit of God reached down and lifted you and I that are saved out of the miry clay, He will do the same for any who call upon the name of Jesus Christ because God is no respecter of persons but is the same toward all men everywhere.
When you were bound by alcohol – thank God that Jesus didn’t give up on you!
When you were hooked on drugs – He still loved you and wanted to reach out to you!
If you were involved in fornication and adultery – Jesus cried for you and desired for you to love Him.
If you used the name of Jesus in vain – He hated your sin but wanted to draw you to the foot of the cross so that you could know the real sweetness and power of His name.
If you ever told a lie, or a half truth, or stretched the truth (its all the same) – Jesus hated that lying tongue and that deceitful heart but He delivered you and gave you a clean heart and a right spirit and made you brand new.
No matter what we have done or what secret sin we may harbor – Jesus knows about it and loves us just the same and is seeking for our repentance and reconciliation.
Aren’t you so grateful that Jesus doesn’t just cast aside a bruised reed?!
…SMOKING FLAX HE WILL NOT QUENCH!
Illustration:
In Bible times, flax was tightly woven and soaked in olive oil to make a wick for their lanterns. The flax would burn brightly until the oil was burned away then the fire would begin to die, the light would grown dimmer and finally the wick of flax would only begin to give off smoke just before it was consumed completely or snuffed out.
Some of us are like that smoking flax this morning!
We love the Lord, we want to serve Him and live for Him. We want to be a part of the Bride of Christ, the church but we have allowed the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit to weaken through neglect.
The fire, the brightness of the light of God that once was there has slowly but surely died away until there is very little fire left. We have even lost much of our desire for the things of God.
Our light, that we are supposed to allow to shine before all men that they might see our good works and glorify the Father in Heaven, is but a dying ember now. The light shines very low, perhaps it has gone out altogether and our former spiritual fire is nothing more than smoking flax now!
THERE IS HOPE FOR US ALL THIS MORNING!
…til He send judgment into victory
Jesus loves you and I. Even though we fail Him, even when we blatantly disregard His laws and forsake His mercy and grace – HE STILL LOVES US!
JESUS IS NOT HERE TO BRING CONDEMNATION BUT DELIVERANCE!
Jesus didn’t die on the cross to condemn men to die, but to give them the chance to be saved and have eternal life and a more abundant life on this earth.
Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost and not to cast them away or snuff them out permanently.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN SMOKING LATELY – you are only a shell of what you know God wants you to be.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN SMOKING LATELY – your spiritual light, your joy, your happiness, your peace, your victory is nearly gone.
GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS TALKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW AND GENTLY ASKING YOU TO MAKE IT RIGHT!
NO ONE WILL FORCE YOU –
NO ONE WILL CONDEMN YOU –
NO ONE WILL JUDGE YOU –
EVERYONE WILL PRAY FOR YOU AND WITH YOU –
Jesus will turn the judgment of sin into victory over sin for you right now!
Instead of judgment – you will receive a Crown of Righteousness!
Instead of judgment – you will be accepted into the body of Christ as an adopted Son of God!
AND EVEN THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN WILL REJOICE IF YOU COME TO JESUS THIS MORNING!
