Jesus Silences His Critics

Jesus Christ said in a prayer to His Father, this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That is, it is possible to know God, the eternal God that we've been worshiping, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. And the only way to know Him is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the way and the only way to receive eternal life.

This life, eternal life, everlasting life is found only in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you may have been brought up in a church. You may have gone through the rituals of the church. You may have accepted the doctrines of the church. You may have been involved in the ministries and programs and the events of the church.

And all of that, of course, has its place. But today our challenge is, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Not just about Him, do you know Him? And in particular, can you say in your heart before God that you have a living personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Today, as we open the Scriptures to Matthew chapter 22, we're going to have the privilege of hearing Jesus Christ talking in dialogue to His critics.

We're going to see that He silences them. But as we look at this passage, I want to think of this important, this fundamental point, that Christianity is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And we're going to think of three aspects of that. As I say, Jesus is in conflict with His critics. And the first conflict relates to the resurrection. That is a very important question, isn't it? Is there life after death?

If so, what is that? If there is a heaven, how do I get into that heaven? If there is a hell, if there is such a reality as eternal punishment, how do I avoid going there? Now, there are people who don't believe in life after death. They think when we die, we're just like the dog.

We go into oblivion, and that's all there is to it. But I think most of us have great difficulty with that. That doesn't seem right. And there's certainly, of course, a direct conflict to the passage we're going to read. There were a group of men at the time of Jesus who didn't believe in the resurrection. And they bring a question to Jesus.

And He's going to silence His critics. Let's open our Bibles then to Matthew chapter 22. And first of all, read from verse 23. Matthew 22 verse 23.

The next day, Sadducees came to Him, who say there is no resurrection. And they asked Him a question, saying, Teacher, Moses said if a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now, there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.

So, to the second and third, down to the seventh. And then after them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.

That's the question. Who is the true husband in the resurrection because she's had seven husbands? Verse 29. Jesus answered them, you're wrong. Because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

He's not a God of the dead, but of the living. And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. Last week we saw in verse 22 that they marveled at the teaching of Jesus when he said, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And again, as a crowd, you can imagine them with the Lord Jesus in the middle, and the Sadducees with this skillfully crafted question, and Jesus answers it, and silences them, and they're astonished. A living relationship. A relationship with Jesus Christ is first of all a living relationship. The Sadducees trick question, and of course it is a trick question, is designed to demonstrate the absurdity of the resurrection.

The religious leaders have tried to trap Jesus in the past with political questions, with religious questions, and now these Sadducees ask a theological question. Who are the Sadducees? Well, they're a group, they're very wealthy. They're kind of the aristocrats of these groups, very powerful, very wealthy, and the most important thing to know about the Sadducees is they don't believe in the supernatural. That's why they are sad, you see.

Sorry, but you'll remember. And in fact, they're so sad, we know historically, that after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, they seem so sad that they stop existing, but they don't believe in the supernatural. In particular, verse 23, they came to Him who said, there is no resurrection. They're materialists. They believe that the soul perishes with the body at death. We also know from Acts 23, verse 8, that the Sadducees don't believe in angels.

They don't believe in spirits. And their question, their rather skillful question, their tricky, slippery question is based on the law of Levirate marriage. You say, what's Levirate marriage?

Well, you should know if you know your Bibles. Turn to Deuteronomy, the fifth book in the Old Testament, chapter 25. The law of Levirate marriage was designed to continue the first husband's name and inheritance if he died without children. A child then born to the husband's brother would then be given the first brother's name and inheritance. Deuteronomy 25, verse 5, here's part of the Mosaic law.

Do you think this is a strange law? If brothers dwell together, Deuteronomy 25, verse 5, and one of them dies and has no son, and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother will go into her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a brother's, of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother and that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

So, the question they ask is based on this law, a sequence of marriage, death, and remarriage. First brother dies, his brother takes the same wife. And so the Sadducees say this, these seven brothers, just the one woman, and they all marry the same woman. I can imagine the Sadducees smirking as they ask this question, this trick question, designed to show how the doctrine of resurrection is actually absurd. One would have thought, you know, I have five brothers, I would have thought after the death of two or three of my brothers to the same woman, I think I'd have run in the other direction, wouldn't you?

But here's the point. In the resurrection, well, mercifully, after the seven brothers, the woman herself dies. I don't know if there's other brothers, but I'm sure they were relieved when she died. But in the resurrection, here's the Sadducees' question. In the resurrection, when this woman gets to heaven and meets the seven husbands, verse 25, whose wife will she be?

There's seven of them. We read the reply of Jesus demonstrating that the Sadducees neither understand the word of God nor the power of God. They don't understand the power of God.

They're limiting God. The resurrection is very different from physical life on earth. It's not just a mere continuation of life on earth. In heaven, relationships are transcended. It's not that we're going to stop loving our wife.

Our relationships are deeper. They're far better, says Jesus. You will be like the angels in heaven. Incidentally, we do not become angels when we die.

I hear that even from people who should know their Bibles. When we die and go to heaven, you don't become an angel. I'm glad I'm not going to be an angel. I'm a child of God. I'm a son of God.

I'm purchased with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense, we're in a better place than angels. Angels have not been redeemed. Angels don't die. There's no need for procreation in heaven. You're limiting the power of God.

There's no death in heaven. Furthermore, says Jesus, you don't understand the word of God. Did you notice what He said in verse 31?

Which was said to you by God. Think of the high view that our Lord Jesus had of Scripture. Scripture written hundreds of years ago is given by the Spirit to you Sadducees. And after all, the Sadducees based their views on the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, the writings of Moses.

They believed that Moses was more authoritative than anyone else in the Old Testament. And they disagreed with the Pharisees in that regard. And the Sadducees are arguing that in the writings of Moses, there is no resurrection of the dead. And Jesus says, you don't even know your Bibles. Have you never read what we call Exodus 3 verse 6, verse 32? And then verse 31, as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God? Exodus 3, the burning bush, the Lord appearing to Moses, what does He say? The Lord is quoting from Exodus 3 here, verse 32, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He's not the God of the dead, but of the living.

A brilliant question, answer, isn't it? They revered the law of Moses. They considered it a higher authority than any other teaching in the Old Testament. They're saying, well, Moses didn't teach resurrection. And Jesus is saying, listen, you're ignorant of the truth that Moses himself taught it. When God spoke to Moses in Exodus 3, Abraham, greatly revered, had been dead for many, many years.

But what does God say? I am, not was, I am, present tense, I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, He's the God of the living. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are still alive.

I'm still their God. I have this living, eternal relationship with these men who believed in me through faith. Furthermore, remember God's covenantal promises to Abraham, and what we call the Abrahamic covenant.

Promises which in their fullness have not yet been fulfilled. But Abraham, yes, in the future is going to see the nation and all of the land that was promised to him. God, not the God of the dead, He's the God of the living. In fact, the living God raises the dead.

Don't you love that statement? He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. We say when a loved one has died, a person's dead, and that's true. But for someone who's saved by the grace of God, God is still their God. God doesn't deserve them. The relationship that we have through Jesus Christ is a living one.

It's an eternal one. If you don't believe in the resurrection, you have a God of the dead, not of the living. Furthermore, Scripture clearly teaches that there is a resurrection, as Jesus said.

But look back to Daniel. Daniel, Ezekiel, Daniel. Daniel 12, verse 2. There is a resurrection of the righteous and of the unrighteous. Every single one of us, one day, will be resurrected. Daniel 12, verse 2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Very clear, isn't it? John, chapter 5. The teaching of Jesus. John 5, verse 28. The Gospel of John, chapter 5, verse 28. Do not marvel at this, for the time is coming.

Listen to this. When all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Yes, there's a resurrection. Every single person, whoever lived, is going to be resurrected.

But there's a fundamental difference, isn't there? There's a resurrection of the righteous and of the unrighteous, of the saved and of the unsaved. You say, John, how can I have such a living, eternal, personal relationship with Jesus Christ which will never, never end?

We know that human relationships can come to an end, and they're broken and it's very difficult when these relationships sever, but this relationship is a living and eternal relationship. Listen to Jesus who says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

I am the resurrection and the life. Those who have been baptized this morning, what are they doing? Confessing their personal living relationship with Jesus Christ. Boys, young women, those who have said, I repent of my sins, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and through a gift of God, as we heard, we receive eternal life because our Lord Jesus Christ came, died for our sins, was buried and rose again. And therefore, you are to place your faith in the living Christ, not just in a doctrine, not just in a church, not just in what you believe, but in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the living Christ, who says, if you believe in me, you will never perish.

That's why followers of Jesus, we don't fear death. My relationship with Jesus Christ is not going to end when I die. My Lord Jesus Christ has promised, I'll never leave you, John.

I'll never desert you. This love, this relationship is so strong that it never ends. The question is, do you have this living relationship? A living relationship.

Secondly, a loving relationship. Verse 34, Matthew 22, verse 34. And when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. You can't argue with Jesus, can you?

He's totally silenced them. And one of them, a lawyer, Pharisees, different from the Sadducees, they know the law. They spend hours in the law with their minute interpretations and their traditions. They are very pedantic, particular attorneys, and here's one of them. He's got a question. He asked him a question to test him. Teacher, although he's trying to test Jesus, he asks a brilliant question. Which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

A living relationship, yes. But this relationship with Jesus is also a relationship of love, a loving relationship. Love, Jesus is saying, is the fulfillment of the law. Now, at this time, there's a debate among the religious leaders as to what is the most important of all the commandments. They had calculated, the Pharisees, that in the Old Testament there were 613 commandments. Whoa, that's a lot, isn't it? Take a relay if you're a bit of a rebel.

613 of them, 248 positive and 365 negative. Who wants a negative commandment, right? Thou shalt not. But there it was.

And here's the debate. With all of these commandments, negative and positive, which is the first? Is it possible to reduce them to one axiom? Is it possible to reduce them to saying this is the greatest commandment? Jesus answers them, yes, here it is. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. All of Scripture is in fact a commentary on these two commands. Verse 40, on these two commandments depend all of the law and the prophets. You can reduce all of that law, all of the prophets.

The prophets are only given commentary on the law. They're trying to work out what does it mean to obey the Sabbath? What does it mean when it says thou shalt not steal? And so you've got all of these writings, all of these other commandments, but this is central. All of the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

You got them? Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Paul writes, Romans 13 verse 10, love is the fulfilling of the law. If you love God, you love your neighbor as yourself, you've fulfilled all of the commandments.

That's it. And in evidence of your love for God is your love for others. How can you say you love God whom you haven't seen when you don't love your brother whom you have seen?

John's argument in 1 John chapter 4. Though I am to love God first, but I'm also to love you, I'm to love my neighbor. But it is impossible to love my neighbor as myself unless I first love God. And it's impossible for me to love God unless He first loves me, unless I receive His love.

That's John's argument in 1 John chapter 4 and 5. It's not that we love God, but that He loved us. It's that God loved the world and gave His only Son. And so in the Gospel, first and foremost, we are to receive the love of God through Jesus Christ. And God's love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who He gives us, Romans 5 verse 5. And as we receive the supernatural love, now that I receive God's love, I am able through the power of the Holy Spirit to love God.

So when I'm saying worthy, He alone is worthy. It's not just words. It's the expression of our hearts.

Why? Because God loves us. And that love is transforming.

That love changes us. And we begin, however imperfectly, to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our minds and our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself. Love God, everything falls into place. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. That's just another way of saying it.

Get this right and everything falls into place. Augustine said, love God and do what you want. You say, oh, I like that. But you see, if you love God, you won't do what you want.

You'll do what He wants. C.S. Lewis said, I believe in Christianity as I believe the Son has risen. Not just because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

That's it. If you understand the love of God, and as we receive God's love through our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us, all of life is seen through that lens. It's not just that we see God. We see life, creation, our brothers and sisters in Christ differently.

Loving God enables us to see everything else in life clearly, including loving our neighbor. Jesus is saying, love the Lord supremely and totally. He's quoting, of course, here in verse 37. He's quoting from Deuteronomy 6 verses 4 and 5.

What's Deuteronomy 6 verses 4 and 5? It's the Shema. It's the basic confession of faith of Israel. The pious Israelite morning and evening will recite Deuteronomy 6. It's called the Shema. First word in Hebrew is here, Shema, the great Shema.

That's it. The Pharisees knew that, and so Jesus again, as He answers the Sadducees, is quoting from His Bible. You should know this, Pharisees. It's in the Word of God.

It's in the Old Testament. Do you love God? Do you love the Lord Jesus? I am to love God not just because I want Him to give good things to me. I'm to love God not just so that, well, I want life to go smoothly.

No. I'm to love the Lord, my God, because who He is in Himself. First commandment, no other gods.

So I'm to love God supremely, and also I'm to love Him totally with all of my heart, my soul, my mind, my strength. Some of you on Monday, St. Valentine's Day, took your wife, your husband, your fiancé, your boyfriend, your girlfriend for a romantic dinner. We, Calvary Leadership, we had a prayer meeting followed by a presentation by one of our elders that shows that your elders and pastors are pretty good, but we're not the most romantic of people. That was Valentine's Day for us.

So, but some of you, you went out. Now just imagine, here's a young woman and a young man, and they're engaged to get married, and it's Valentine's Day. And they're sitting down to this romantic dinner, and they're staring into each other's eyes. And the young woman says to the young man, this is wonderful. I have to tell you, you are the most important person in my life, and I love you with all of my heart.

And he looks at her, he says, that's very nice, thank you. And I have to say, you're one of the most important people in my life, and I love you with most of my heart. And our relationship, well, I'm working on it.

You ask people, where are you spiritually? Well, I'm working on it. What young woman or older woman wants to hear from her husband, boyfriend, fiance, that you are one of the most important people in my life, that I love you with most of my heart? No. Men, think your wife's the same? No. My wife wants me to say, couldn't they? You're the most important person in my life, and I love you with all of my heart.

Right? Now, human relationship, do you really want to come to God and say, God, you're a great God. I really enjoyed worship this morning as we sung, you are worthy. And you know, my spirituality is a very important part of my life, but it's only part, isn't it?

And that's our relationship, well, I'm working on it. I understand that we're all growing, but Jesus is telling us something which is convicting, but this is transforming, that God is to be the consuming passion of my life. I'm to love God supremely and totally in all circumstances of life. This is a life, a love, which will never be satisfied where God is not involved. God is to be central to my life, not just to take up when I feel like it, not just an emergency, not just one of many interests. He is to be the consuming passion of our life and to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is a love which glorifies God. This is a love which enjoys God. One of the questions I ask couples who are planning to get married is, do you enjoy being together? Because I've sat with couples who are planning to get married and they go, well, you know, a bit. You know, problems are going to come, but marriage is to be a joy.

Why on earth would you enter into a relationship that you're not going to enjoy? And a relationship with God, let me tell you, the more you love God, the greater your joy. The greater your joy.

The more you try to put your life into different compartments, the less your love. You say, well, how will I know if I love God totally and supremely? Well, you'll enjoy worship. You'll enjoy the Word of God.

You'll also, you will love your brothers and sisters. Test of your love for God is, do you love others? Test of my love for God is, do I obey His commandments? If you love me, says Jesus, you will keep my commandments. Baptism is a commandment.

I don't know how many excuses I've heard from people who are believers in Jesus Christ as to why they shouldn't get baptized. How clear it is in Scripture. Jesus is saying, if you love me, keep my commandments. John says, His commandments are grievous. Isn't that difficult to come publicly and confess your faith and do it in a way which is true to Scripture? You say, well, people know I'm a Christian.

I don't need to do that. Are you wiser than God? Are you going to argue with God?

No. A mark of our love for God is humility, and we seek to please God by loving others, by loving Him, and obeying His commandments. A living relationship, a loving relationship. Third, a lordship relationship, verse 41. Now, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question.

The tables are turned. They've asked Jesus a lot of questions, now He's going to ask them one. What do you think about the Christ, the Messiah? Whose son is He? They said to Him, the son of David. He said to them, how is it then that David in the Spirit calls Him Lord saying, He's quoting now from Psalm 110, verse 1.

Psalm 110 is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. If David calls Him Lord, how then is he son? His son.

No one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions. The identity of the Messiah. Who is the Messiah?

They give the correct answer. He's the son of David. Messiah, Hebrew, Christ, Greek, same thing, the anointed one. The Old Testament prophets prophesied, and the Pharisees agreed with this, that when the Messiah comes, He's going to be a descendant of David, clearly taught in the Old Testament. And Matthew, as he begins his gospel in Matthew 1, verse 1, says the book of the genealogy of Jesus, Jesus says personally, Christ, the title, Messiah.

What does he say then? The son of David. You're right, Pharisees, you got that right. The Messiah is a descendant of David. He's the son of David. Now, if you believe that, and you do, here's the question, how does that harmonize with what we call Psalm 110, verse 1, where David, writing in the Spirit, refers to the Messiah as Lord? I mean, if he's the son of David, how can he be David's Lord, is the question. He is the son of David, but why then would David call his son Lord?

And they don't want to answer. No, the reality is that the Messiah not only is the son of David, He is the Lord of David. Psalm 110, verse 1, in Hebrew, refers to the Lord. The Lord is the Hebrew word Yahweh, God's personal name, I am who I am. The Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, the Hebrew word Adonai, Lord, Master. So, David, writing in the Spirit, Jesus says, clearly says that the Messiah is his Lord and will sit at God's right hand until all of his enemies are defeated. Verse 44, sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. In ancient times, the victor placed his feet on the necks of the defeated enemies, demonstrating you're defeated, you're humiliated. I'm a conqueror, and David, writing in the Spirit, uses that imagery to demonstrate that the Messiah is going to be seated at God's right hand until that day when all of his enemies are defeated. What's the answer?

You should know it. We're singing about it. The Messiah is not only the descendant of David, David's offspring, he's also the root of David, his Lord. Jesus says in Revelation 22 verse 16, I am the root and the descendant of David. The Messiah is before David, he's the eternal Son of God. He is the root of David, but he's also the offspring of David. He is David's son. He is not only God's perfect man, Jesus, David's son. He's also a perfect God, he's David's Lord.

They're not going to admit, of course, that Jesus, the Messiah, is the Lord. He's not only the Son of David, he's the Son of God. The Messiah is not only David's Lord, he is the Lord over all. Before the Lord Jesus is born, the angel saying to Mary that the Son you're going to bear is going to have the right to the throne of David and the right to reign in his eternal kingdom. And by virtue of his resurrection, the Messiah is exalted to the Father's right hand. That's Peter's brilliant message in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. As he says, Acts 2 verse 32, this Jesus, God raised up, and of all that we are witnesses, listen to this, being therefore exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he's poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David didn't ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, he's going to quote Psalm 110 verse 1, the same verse that Jesus quotes here in Matthew 22 verse 44. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. The one you nailed to the tree is not only the Christ, the Messiah, he is Lord, God incarnate, Lord over all. And no enemy is going to withstand this Lord.

He is invincible. Scripture tells us when he returns, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Today is the day of grace when God calls on you to repent of your sin, to cry out to Christ, the Lord Jesus. He'll save you as you bow before King Jesus. He calls on you to do that voluntarily, but if you refuse, if you put it off, there will come a day when the Lord Jesus Christ will return, and then every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. He'll impose his reign with a rod of iron.

King of kings, Lord of lords, he's Lord over all, and this kingdom will never end. The Lord Jesus Christ, I remind you, not only died for our sins, not only was buried, not only was resurrected, not only ascended to the Father, he is seated at the Father's right hand until that time comes, yet future, when he will return and I will put, says David, an inspiration of the Spirit writing about the Messiah, I will put your enemies under your foot. Why not receive him now? Why not love him now?

Why not bow and surrender to him, Lord of all? Today, you can have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, and that relationship will never, ever be severed. It is a living and eternal relationship, so place your trust in Christ in this living relationship, and not only to have a living relationship, but a love relationship, that I know that the Son of God loved me. He gave himself for me. So, relationship of love, and I am to love him, and I am to worship him, and he is to be central and all-important in my life.

Also, not just a living relationship and a loving relationship, but a lordship relationship. You say, what do you mean by that? Do you, are you so foolish, as many people are, that you think you can be the captain of your own ship? You're the master of your own destiny. You can navigate yourself through life, yes, you can pay lip service to God, but you're smart, you're well educated, you've done very well for yourself, and you're able to navigate yourself through life. Is that what you think?

That is utter foolishness. You know, when a big tanker comes into port, or a cruise ship comes into port, some of you have seen this, what happens? There's a little boat comes, and it's a pilot boat. And a little man comes out with a pilot boat and comes into this huge tanker or huge cruise ship. What does he do? He's going to make sure that that ship gets safely to the harbor.

There are rocks, there's shallow ground, there may be difficult currents. And this pilot knows, and he makes sure that this huge ship gets safely into the harbor. Now, I don't know if any of you have sung this at Sunday school. I thought of trying to sing it to him, but I tried it at home last night, and it didn't seem good.

But listen to it. It's a powerful little message in a song. Now, somewhere in the back of my mind, and I recently thought about it, a Sunday school song. Do you want a pilot? Signal then to Jesus. Do you want a pilot? Bid him come on board, for he will safely guide across the ocean wide until we reach the heavenly harbor.

I must have sung that dozens of times as a wee boy. I didn't quite understand it. I think I understand it better. Because even those of us who say we follow Jesus Christ, we like to rule our own lives, don't we? Some of you are thinking of a new relationship or you're in a relationship and you've never really referred that to the Lord Jesus, have you? Some of you are about to make a decision in business, personal matter, and you've never really referred that to Jesus, have you? You say, well, I've done this, John, in my business, and I'm going to do this. I'm going to move house.

I'm going to do this, and I'm going to go to such and such a college, and I think I'll date this person. And yeah, yeah, you're right. I need to listen.

I need to have good counsel. But all the time, you're the captain of your own boat. Can you stop doing that? It's a tendency for all of us, isn't it? And to realize that if the Lord Jesus Christ is not guiding me, followers of Jesus, we can make disastrous decisions, can't we?

We can get ourselves into a terrible mess. We can find ourselves on the rocks or in shallow ground and we think, how on earth did I get here? I'll tell you how you got there. You didn't ask Jesus to come on board and be your pilot. And to have the confidence that wherever He guides you and whatever circumstances, they are best because as for God, His way is perfect. The Psalmist says, commit your way to the Lord.

Trust in Him and He will act. I'm asking you to do that, to have a living relationship, and a loving relationship, and a lordship relationship with the magnificent Lord Jesus Christ. We bow and surrender to Him.

And then we're going to sing a song expressing that He is Lord of all. Guide us through your Spirit and through your Word this morning that each one of us will respond. There are some here who have never yet received Christ as Savior. There's many here who say they love God, but they love the world, they love their own pleasures.

And there's certainly many here, Father, that are tempted to live our own lives and make our own decisions. We thank You for our magnificent Lord Jesus Christ, who not only saves us, but He loves us with an everlasting love. And He guides us as the Good Shepherd and leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. We thank You in His precious name. Amen.