JSM | Uprightness .10 | Be Complete.1 (10/27/24)

JSM | Uprightness.10 | Be Complete.1
By Rev. Nicholas Sybrowsky

 

Invocation:

Holy Father we come before you here today to worship you, our God.  Together as one body, one spirit and of one mind.  We intend to examine the topic of perfection.  Your Word says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48 KJV). Teach us what this means.  Help us to grow closer to you that we may be perfected in wholeness & completeness because of you, for you and only for you and your glory in honor of your holiness, in honor of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Opening Word & Reading for Worship:

“What Jesus Is to These

To the artist He is the One Altogether Lovely.  To the architect He is the Chief Corner Stone.  To the baker He is the Living Bread.  To the banker He is the Hidden Treasure.  To the biologist He is the Life.  To the builder he is the Sure Foundation.  To the doctor He is the Great Physician.  To the educator He is the Great Teacher.  To the farmer He is the Lord of the Harvest.  To the florist He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.  To the geologist He is the Rock of Ages.  To the jurist He is the Righteous Judge, the Judge of all men.  To the jeweler He is the Pearl of Great Price.  To the lawyer He is the Counselor, the Lawgiver, the Advocate.  To the horticulturist He is the True Vine.  To the oculist He is the Light of the World.  To the philanthropist He is the unspeakable gift.  To the philosopher He is the Wisdom of God.  To the preacher He is the Word of God.  To the sculpture He is the Living Stone.  To the servant He is the Good Master.  To the statesman He is the Desire of All Nations.  To the student He is the Incarnate Truth.  To the theologian He is the Author and Finisher of Our Faith.  To the traveler He is the New and Living Way.  To the toiler He is the Giver of Rest.  To the Sinner He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.  To the Christian He is the Son of the Living God, the Saviour, the Redeemer and Lord.—Selected.” ~Walter B. Knight (Cite 1)

Let us worship the same God as Walter B. Knight.  Let us worship our God all ye people of God.  Let us do so in spirit and in truth!

Like vengeance, Perfection belongs to God and if God is perfect then we too can be perfect with His help.

Intro:

The idea of perfection is most strongly desired and despised by mankind.  We appreciate perfection and seek perfection but when we fall short of completion or wholeness we get filled with rage, disappointment and we sometimes actually give up in attempting to achieve such high standards.  As a craftsman I know that my customer demands perfection else I won’t have a product worth purchasing in the marketplace.  Absolute accuracy is required to keep your cup from spilling upon your tabletop.  Measurements help us maintain our lane on the open roads.  Sometimes the details in life can be less than perfect and we learn to get by and accept that some things are better left as they are and not worth an attempted repair or correction.  Although perfection imposes quite the challenge in certain circumstances, we ought to try none the less.  Some hard charging personalities would have you fix in your mind, “There is not ‘try’ only ‘do’.” Yet to this person I ask what about the many try’s that eventually lead to success.  If at first you don’t succeed, try try again!  If we don’t attempt hard tasks, we may never achieve the fruit of wholeness, perfection or completeness.

“Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb after many failed attempts, including estimates of 1,000, 2,000, and 10,000: 

• 1,000 attempts: Edison is said to have failed 1,000 times before inventing the light bulb. 

• 2,000 attempts: Edison is said to have failed 2,000 times before inventing the light bulb. 

• 10,000 attempts: Edison is said to have failed 10,000 times before inventing the light bulb. Edison is famous for saying, "I have not failed 10,000 times--I've successfully found 10,000 ways it will not work". 

Edison's perseverance and tenacity paid off, and he eventually succeeded in inventing the light bulb. He is considered one of the most prolific inventors of all time, with 1,093 patents to his name. 

~Google Search:  Generative AI is experimental”(Cite 2)

 Main Text:

"[Mat 5:48 KJV] 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

“Be ye therefore perfect—as your Father] God himself is the grand law, sole giver, and only pattern on the perfection which he recommends to his children. The words are very emphatic, {[Gk.] Be; ἔσομαι; ‘esomai’; ye; ὑμεῖς ‘hymeis’; therefore; οὖν ‘oun’; perfect; τέλειος ‘teleios’}, Ye shall be therefore perfect—ye shall be filled with the spirit of that God whose name is Mercy, and whose nature is love.}” ~Adam Clarke Nov. 4, 1831 Cite 3 & 4)

1. Talk is Cheap.

In the case of our word of mouth sometimes we talk a big game and learn that our word has power in it.  People trust what we say and then we learn that we can get personalities to stop the pressures to perform better.  Hence, they may say “There is no ‘try’ only ‘do’.”  As children we may find ourselves talking our way out of learning to be stronger and developing the necessary skills required to gain personal private & public victory.  We tell our protagonist pressure, “I tried.” Yet in reality we hardly attempted to be successful in the task.  Parents and teachers have the privilege of witnessing this perhaps most often.  In the beginning lying seems to be the way forward because it’s much easier to say you did then to actually do.  But to build trust with others we must learn that the consequences of lying (bearing false witness See Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20) are much worse than speaking the truth and experiencing the consequences of truth; the fact that we didn’t try hard enough, or we completely failed to keep our commitment to a promise we made.

2. To be impeccable with your word takes practice.

Honor and integrity are something we learn to harness.  Just like learning to fly a kite or an airplane, one must harness the wind.  It’s really no different in the practice of the Eleven commandments and the greater uprightness Jesus is calling us to rise up to.  Let’s face it, sometimes we get it wrong.  And by ‘it’, I mean ALL of IT.  The Law, the Prophets and the Love of God.  I also mean life and the various details within.  

“Everybody makes mistakes.  Fools repeat them, the weak excuse them, only the wise admit and profit from them.” ~Anonymous

3. We have the privilege of history in our hands.

Those who went before us have passed down the truth from above (Moses on mount Sinai see Exo 24:15-18; 31:18; 34:1).  We live in a fallen world and the Bible helps us understand this and instructs us how to live.  Before Jesus’ physical manifestation we can observe many events where mankind got IT wrong and many instances where mankind got IT right.  The times where man got it right was when man was in righteous relationship with the Creator and His Moral Law.  When we attempt to practice this Moral Law without Him, or practice life without Him we will fail and experience the insane repeating of history.  Man has the keys to fruitful life, yet many still rebel or fail to accept the help that God has to offer.

4. Beatitudes are Be-Attitudes.

“Chuck Swindoll once said about “Attitude.  The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude is more important to me than facts, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do.  It’s more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company…church…or a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for the day.  We cannot change our past…We cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”  Chuck said, “I am convinced life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so, it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes” ~Charles Swindoll (See Phil. 2)

Jesus didn’t present this Sermon with an opening statement of “here are ten additional commandments of YHWH”, and then open his mouth speaking them (plausibly like other burdensome religious leaders in that day). No, you can see for yourself that he didn’t add to the Law and the Prophets but enhanced the practice of this said law.  Yet in hindsight memorizing the purpose behind them can be helpful, man has added the idea through commentary as a reference to the teachings of Jesus our Lord and Savior (not suggesting it’s a bad addition either).  Most preacher’s may say that there are only 8 Beatitudes, but personally the Lord has recently enhanced my vision of ten.  

These are:

1. Be humble, 
2. Be mournful, 
3. Be meek, 
4. Be hungry & thirsty for righteousness, 
5. Be merciful, 
6. Be pure in heart, 
7. Be peacemakers, 
8. Be exceedingly glad when persecuted, 
9. Be salt & light and today we read therefore in these, 
10. Be perfect. 

(Arguably these are intimately relevant so much so that in an attempt to live one out, you will inevitably need to practice all of the beatitudes to get the practice of the teachings right.  They’re teachings of Jesus!  In your attempt to live this “way” you’ll be reminded of Jesus; you’ll have to learn who He is and rely on Him.  Follow these commands & recommendations and you will be “oh how happy” aka. Blessed!)  Much more to say on this.  Perhaps in a Be Complete Series. 😀

{everyone together say’ Bee’s’} He’s not calling us to be busy Bee’s, but he is calling us to be Human Being’s free of sin like the Father of creation is.  He’s not calling you to the denial & delusions of perfection but to get past these and find the defects of character that cause our discomfort, then enjoy the lesson & the relief (see Mt 11:48-49).

“Mistakes are blessings in disguise provided we learn from them” ~Unknown (see Rom 8:28; Paul describes this well)

When we forget how to simply be human, we do inhumane harm to ourselves and to humanity.  Humanism’s attempt to human perfection without the Creator is a danger to humankind.  It’s just another attempt of the adversary to lie, cheat, steal, kill and destroy who we are.  It invokes greater delusion & deception in our environment.  It’s another attempt at idolatry & covetousness (In my opinion, this is happening today in the attempt to FURTHER separate church and state in America. Just because the mystery of God is hard to understand for some, doesn’t mean God is any less real and therefore must be eliminated.)  These beatitudes are about our identity as the created.  We are mankind made in the image of God! 

 

5. Next Week:  We enter the next section of greater righteousness JSM | Uprightness. 11 | Religious Practices: Jesus instructs us in how to practice religion that promotes True Reward; True Devotion & True Wealth.

Conclusion:

Completeness in the practice of the New Covenant Moral Law is possible with Jesus Christ.  The fall of mankind occurred through the sin of Adam and Eve by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Through this one-man Adam, all of mankind received the curse of sin (even the unborn); the wages of sin is death.  The supernatural death occurred from ‘eating of this tree’ and the death of Jesus upon a tree now provides us with supernatural power to be resurrected and begin living eternally now.  This unearned favor; this grace is sufficient (2Co 12:9) to overcome the supernatural power of sin, the fear of death, the curse of the old covenant law & the fear of eternal punishment.

Exhortation:

To some this reality of Jesus the Lamb of God is hard to accept.  Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.  The Israelites tried to perfect the law and the prophets for centuries, but God never intended the ceremonial lambs and bull sacrifices to be everlasting per se (Heb 10:1).  These practices were all part of preparing ALL of mankind to have the opportunity to return to the Creator.  Jesus is the only way to God.  He is our bridge to all that is eternal life.  Everything else is leading people away to the Hell Fire where Satan and his children will be cast forever more.

Altar Call to Action/Suggested Response:

So, what to do with this knowledge?  These Beatitudes & 6 teachings.  This fulfillment of the law & the prophets.  Will you allow Jesus to come in?  And fulfill the law?  Will you allow Him to help you be complete in the practice of this new covenant law?  Really this is a call/invitation to salvation. 

 “[Ps. 118:24 KJV] 24 This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  

Tomorrow isn't promised.  Tomorrow is only promised as eternal life or eternal death. 

 Either a commitment, a recommitment or even just a declaration or proclamation of “I believe”, “I have a new fresh understanding of what Jesus did for me.  Of who he is and what he taught.  And what we will continue to examine his teachings of.  “I want to commit today.”  Regardless of your status of the 3 Baptisms:  Into the Church by faith, into the commitment publicly by water or the baptism of power that comes by the Holy Spirit.  The altar is open for prayer.  {Leave a comment of commitment if you’re with us online.  We will pray with you!}   He loves ALL of us.  Selah... The main questions are, will you allow Him to love you?  Will you allow His love to change you? Selah...

Who is He to you?  He loves you!  Who do you follow?  When judgment comes will he say, “I never knew you.” (Mt. 7:21-23). Do you know OF Jesus? Or do you KNOW Jesus?  Does Jesus know YOU?

The Five W’s from Jesus. It’s your choice.  Where are you going? What are you producing? Who are you? Are you undecided?  Are you fooling yourself? Why haven’t you decided? When will you commit?

  Announcement to nudge National Citizenship.  Get out and vote!  Vote on the basis of American fundamentals within the constitution and promote your Christian faith.  Laborious, yet for such a time as this.  I know diplomats and politicians say it every year, but this vote is very critical and Christian values need to influence the direction of our country.  Religious freedom appears to truly be at stake.

Benediction:

Behold the Lamb of God hath paid the ultimate sacrifice for your sin and my sin.  In that, may the Lord draw near to you as you work out this understanding in your own mind, heart & spirit.  Be blessed by the perfect blood and body of Jesus the Christ; our Lord and savior.  May you bear good fruit that please our Father in heaven. (See Jn 1:29, 36; Heb 2:10; 5:9; 7:19 and 9:11)

Next week's message:

Citations, Credits & Notes:

1. Selected; Walter B. Knight; 3,000 Illustrations for Christian Service; Eerdmans; pg. 378

2. Google AI Generator 10/24/2024.

3. Adam Clarke Nov. 4, 1831 Clarkes Commentary Vol. V Matthew Pg. 79 ABINGDON PRESS | New York | Nashville

4. BLB Strong’s G2071, 5210, 3767 and 5046

5. Translations:  BLB;  KJV