Is it Even Possible?

Introduction

Well, good evening. It’s good to be with each of you. If you got your Bible, we’re going to be in Matthew chapter 11 in just a little bit. We’ve got to do a little journey before we get there, but we will be there in just a moment. We hope you’ve had a good day today. Glad we could be together, close this day together in the presence of God and with his holy word as we open it. Good to have each of you with us. Good to have the Terry family with us from Lakeland. I have grown near and dear to them.

Their son and grandson Russell was one of our rock stars back at Charlestown Road. If it was it, he had it down and uh I was always bugging him. I’d see something on TV and say, “Hey, can we do this?” He said, “Let me think about it.” And he’d find figure out some way of doing it. But I just love him. Love that family. It’s good good to have each of you with us today. Mrs. Meer was a third grade school teacher and she was trying to impress upon her students how big the universe is.

So she gave him a homework assignment. They were to go out that day in the backyard and that evening and they were to count the stars. How many stars can you count? And come back next day and we’re going to report. So the next day class gathered together. Miss Meyer said, “Who counted the stars?” And all kinds of hands went up. One boy said there’s 334 stars. Someone else said there was a thousand. One boy who was the smartest one in the class said there’s a million bazillion stars.

One little boy didn’t say anything. And Mrs. Myers said, “Did you count the stars?” And he said, “Yes.” “Well, how many stars did you count?” And he said, “Three.” And she said, “Only three?” He said, “I have a small backyard.” And sometimes our backyard of faith can be kind of small. And sometimes we forget about how big God is. And it’s occasions like this when we open our Bibles and we encourage each other and we see these wonderful hymns that it reminds us how big and powerful and mighty and loving the Lord is.

And that’s what we need to see. Imagine it’s the last day of October. A young boy puts on a cape and a mask, grabs up a little bucket that’s shaped like a pumpkin. For the next two hours, he goes out trick-or-treating. And if you to run across this boy on the street and say, “What is your name?” he would say, “I am an avenger.” And when he’s home, done with this trick-or-treating, he comes home, takes off the mask, takes off the cape, dumps his load of candy, and he goes back to being that little boy.

A lot of us have seen that. A lot of us have been there. A lot of us have our children and grandchildren do such things. But in the parallel that we sometimes don’t want to admit, is that what we do when we come here? bring my Bible. I’m sitting with nice people. I’m having great thoughts. I think about Jesus. And for a couple hours, I’m a Christian. But when we’re done, I throw that Bible in the backseat of my car. I go back home. Nothing changes.

I’m just the same person that I have been. One of the themes throughout the New Testament that the Bible really drives at is that God wants you to be like Jesus. And what we’re going to look at this evening is this idea is, is that even possible? Can I be like Jesus? We’re going to run through some verses in just a moment to kind of emphasize that. But when we think about Jesus and who he is and what he is, we notice he always said the right thing every single time.

There’s not one time when Jesus had to apologize. I can’t say that. There’s not one time when Jesus went up to somebody and said, “Will you please forgive me?” I can’t say that. There’s never a time when Jesus hasn’t gossiped. Yeah, I know I have. There’s never a time when Jesus didn’t never told a lie. He never cussed. Never once. And the Bible says, “Be like Jesus.” Not only that, Jesus always had the right attitude. He was never crabby. He was never moody.

He’s never grumpy. He never complained. No one ever said, “Oh, you don’t want to talk to Jesus today? He’s in a bad mood.” You never see that in the Bible. Not once. Also along this line, Jesus always did the right thing every single time. Not once in your Bible does Jesus say, “You know what? I don’t feel like doing that today.” Or, “You know what? I just don’t want to heal anybody today. Today, I’m taking a day off of miracles.” You never see that.

You don’t find him saying, “I don’t feel like helping people.” Satan couldn’t tempt him away. The Pharisees couldn’t trap him. Interruptions didn’t sidetrack him. Every single time, Jesus was perfectly perfect. There was no improving upon him. You I’ve seen some sports athletes. I’ve seen some musicians. And people will say, “Well, you know, you should have seen him when he came out the rookie year. You should have seen him when he first came on the scene. Man, he was awesome. Now you’re seeing at at the tail end of his career, he’s not quite as good as he used to be.

No one could ever say that about Jesus. He was always a 100%. The day one to the last day, he was always exactly the same. And so the question before us this evening, is it even possible for you and I to be like Jesus? Or are we just pretending? Are we just saying, you know, God tells us to be this way, but you know, we really can’t do that. Now, let’s look at some verses that kind of emphasize this concept. As we think about this, 1 Peter ⁠1:15, but like the holy one who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.

Like him you be. 1 Corinthiansap 11, be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ. Romans chapter 8 29. For those whom he forneew, he also predestined to become for com to be conformed to the image of his son so that he would be firstborn among main brethren. Be conformed to the image of Jesus. Luke chapter 6, the pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he’s been fully trained will be like his teacher. Are you like Jesus? Am I like Jesus? And I think as we think about this, we we we even see this in some of our hymns.

We have hymns that say, “Oh, to be like thee, blessed redeemer, let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.” Or, “Christ liveth in me.” And so, we need to see, is this really possible? I’m a huge, huge, huge, massive LA Dodger fan. I would I was in LA last Monday going to the Dodger game. First time I ever been to Dodger Stadium. Ate a Dodger dog in Dodger Stadium. Man, that’s a highlight of my life. I just love doing that. I can throw a baseball, but I can’t be Otani, the billionaire player for the Dodgers.

And I can spend the rest of my life practicing and practicing and practicing and practicing, but there’s no way I can be like him. Are we saying the same thing here? We comfortably convinced ourselves that no one is perfect. And we say that all the time. No one is perfect. And what that does for us, it allows us to have substandard service. It allows us to have a life of guilt and the belief that God really doesn’t know what he’s talking about because no one can be perfect and and I cannot be like Jesus.

And so instead of the joy of the journey, there’s guilt. Instead of rejoicing, we feel like a failure. We sometimes feel like our Christian life has a big L in our hand mean that we are the loser. And so when we think about being like Jesus, we need to understand first of all, it’s a process. And like any process, it’s something that’s going to take some time. Now, had God said, “Be like the apostles. Be like Peter.” Man, I can be like Peter. I mean, Peter denies, Peter’s always talking out of turn.

1. Come, Take, and Learn

Peter messes up. I can be like Peter. Be like Thomas. Well, there’s times when Thomas was doubting. I can be a Thomas. But he says, “Be like Jesus.” Be like Jesus. And so that takes us to our passage in Matthew chapter 11 this evening. And I think it’s helpful for us to see this. And we notice as we read this, we see these three wonderful expressions of rest, easy, and light. Come to me, he says, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Let’s stop there for a minute. He’s not talking about someone who’s just tired. You know, I stayed up way too late last night playing video games and I’m just tired. I’m weary. That’s not the type of weary he’s talking about. Or, you know, I worked real hard today and I’m just tired to the bone. Well, that’s not the type of weary he’s talking about. He’s talking about the weariness from trying to do this on my own. The weariness of carrying the burden on my own.

The weariness of guilt, of sin, the weariness of trying to figure everything out and I don’t know the answers. Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I’m gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Three things we need to notice is number one, the source is Jesus. Come to me. You’re not going to do this on your own.

If you want to be like Jesus, you got to come to Jesus. You got to be like Jesus. That’s the way it’s going to be. Then we notice the idea of the yoke. take my yoke. Now, for us in our culture today, unless you grew up in the country, you have no idea what a yolk is. We think about an egg and an egg yolk, but he’s talking about something that you’d put around an ox and you’d hook up a wagon and he’d pull or it’s used for direction. And that’s what he’s talking about. If I want to be like Jesus, I got to start following his direction.

I got to understand his way is the right way. And then he tells me to learn. Learn from me or learn of me as some other passages talk about. It’s the idea that not only is he the teacher, he is the subject. Learn to love. Learn to forgive. Learn to be like Jesus. Learn to have open eyes. Learn to have the servant’s heart. Learn to be focused. Learn to stay in true. Learn to be faithful. How is it I become like Jesus? I come, I take, and I learn.

2. Just As God in Christ Forgave and Loved Us

That’s how it happens. Now over in the book of Ephesians, three times the Ephesians writer uses this little phrase just as six letters. Three times in the book of Ephesians. First time he uses it here in is Ephesians ⁠4:32. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. Notice the most difficult part of that passage is the words in yellow. It’s not just forgive somebody, but forgive them just as God has forgiven you.

I’m to be like Jesus. I am to be a forgiver like Jesus. Oh, but brother, you will not believe what that person said behind my back. I will never ever forget that. Well, you’re not acting like Jesus, are you? Well, you know what? This person invited everybody, but they didn’t invite me, and I’m not going to get over that. Well, guess what? You’re not acting like Jesus, are you? Forgive one another. In the book of Psalms, it says it this way. As far as the east is from the west, have you ever noticed how important that is?

If you if you look at a globe and you go north, eventually you’re going south, north to south. But if you look at the globe, and I don’t know my directions here. I know you know my way around here, but but if you look at a globe and you go east, you’re always going east. If you go west, you’re always going west. As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far I’ve removed the transgressions from you. Again, that idea. But then the Ephesian writer brings it up again in chapter five.

walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for you us an offering and a sacrifice to God. He says as a fragrant aroma. Again, that concept of loving just as God loved us. Got your Bible, turn with me to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 5. Let’s notice a couple passages here. Romans chapter 5 and let’s begin verse six. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6. Here he says,”For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than having been justified by his blood, having been saved from the wrath of God through him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Notice these these triplets here. First of all, verse six, we were helpless. Verse eight, we were sinners. Verse 10, we were enemies. The second set of triplets. Verse six, while we were helpless. Verse eight, while we were sinners. Verse 10, while we were enemies. You see, God didn’t say, “I’ll send Jesus down to earth to die for your sins after you start going to church, after you quit your bad habits, after you clean up your life.” No. While you know how it is as a parent, kids are upstairs playing and you’re downstairs watching a show or something and you hear a crash and all of a sudden there’s silence.

and you go upstairs, you investigate. But sometimes you just walk upstairs and see what the kids are doing. You just open up the door and see what they’re doing. And there’s one of the kids and he’s got a magic marker. He’s just going up and down on the wall just making wonderful little pictures for you while caught in the act. That’s what he’s emphasizing there. And so when we think about this concept here, God loves us not when we’re pretty and lovable or even good.

Now again, I think sometimes we have this skewed view of what God does for us. I think we get this idea that God’s walking down the street one day and he looks in this little window that says pet store. There we are. And God says, “Oh, look how adorable they are. THEY ARE SO CUTE. I’VE GOT TO have these people.” Wrong. Wrong. And wrong. We were spitting on the Bible. We were shaming the God of heaven and earth. We were living as if we were atheists.

He didn’t even exist. That’s the concept. And while we were doing all that, he still loves us. In Luke 15, when one sheep was lost, it was God who went looking. When one coin was lost, it was God who went looking. And in the prodical son, it was God who was looking for him when he came. And so God loves you even when we’re not doing our best or even trying our best. Again, another passage to grab over in the book of Galatians, if you will. Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19. Again, just to kind of see this idea here.

3. A Changing of Our Mind Called Transformation

Galatians 4 and verse 19, he says, “My children with whom I’m again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” See that? Being like Jesus, that’s what God wants us to do. So, how’s this happen? Well, it happens three ways. Number one, it begins with a changing of our mind called transformation. And so we’ve seen passages like Romans chapter 12, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. The idea transformed is the word metamorphosis. That little caterpillar can never fly.

If that caterpillar wants to fly, it’s got to change. It’s got to change into a butterfly. If you and I want to be right with God and fly to heaven, we’ve got to change. We can’t stay our way. Our thinking hasn’t been right. Our thinking’s got us in trouble. And so we got to change our thinking about these things. 2 Corinthians chapter ⁠3:1 18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding in the mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, the image of God, the image of Jesus.

And so again, the call of the gospel is not simply to go to church on Sunday, not simply be nice people. It’s to change the way you think. What impresses us? You know, I I’ve moved recently to north side of Indianapolis. It is a very very affluent area. I sometimes wonder why I’m up there. And you see sometimes these cars that has a sticker on the back, student driver, be patient. Well, I pulled up behind one of those and it was on a Porsche. Student driving a Porsche. I mean, something’s just not right with that, you know?

I mean, you know, if I owned a Porsche, no kid of mine is going to be student driving it. You see? Some things just don’t make a lot of sense. But we get impressed with cars. We get impressed with size of houses. We get impressed with money. Success. How does God define it? A poor widow who put in two pennies in the collection plate. That wow Jesus. Somebody had such incredible faith that they would not give up. That impresses Jesus. And so what we do is if I want to be like Jesus, I’ve got to change my thinking and become more and more like him in that regard.

And so in the book of Philippians chapter ⁠2:5, have this attitude or have this mind other translations in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus. Start thinking like Jesus thinks. And so in the book of John chapter 13, as Jesus was washing the disciples feet, if I then the Lord and the teacher washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you should also so do to to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

If you know these things, you’re blessed if you do them. Well, what am I supposed to do? Wash your toes? No, your toes aren’t dirty. Not like first century toes. We wear socks. We wear shoes. We don’t have that problem. What am I supposed to do? I’m supposed to serve you rather than saying, “Here, am I do something for me? What do I get out OF THIS CHURCH? WHY SHOULD I COME? What do you have for me? What programs are there for my kids? It’s rather than how can I help you get to the kingdom of God?

4. Softening of Our Hearts Called Compassion

That’s what it is. And so our softening of our hearts is the second way we do this. It’s called compassion. Look in your Bible, Matthew chapter ⁠9:36. Seeing the people, it says he felt compassion upon them. And as because they were distressed and dispirited, sheep with eye a shepherd. Again, understanding how this was, Jesus understood that. Now, I want you to look with me at three passages real quickly. Turn with me to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18.

And I want you to notice something that I stumbled upon not too long ago. And that is many times Jesus stopped. And that’s an interesting thought. Jesus stopped. Luke 18 and we begin with verse 35. Here we find Jesus in Jericho heading to Jerusalem. He has an appointment with the cross. Rather than being so focused he does not see anyone else. He on the way is doing all kinds of miracles. This is one of them. It says it came about Luke ⁠18:35 as he’s approaching Jerusalem a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging.

Now hearing a multitude going by and be to inquire what this might be. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out saying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” And those who led the way were sternly telling them to be quiet. But he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” And Jesus stopped. See that? Jesus stopped. What is it you want? I want to be able to see. And Jesus healed him. Now turn your Bible to the next page.

Chapter 19. Chapter 19. We’re on the other side of Jericho, still heading to Jerusalem. And there’s a short guy by the name of Zakius, chief tax collector. And he’s up in a tree. And we get to verse five. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to Zakius, “Hurry and come down for today I’m going to stay at your house.” This is one of the only times in the Bible Jesus invites himself to someone’s home. But what did he do? He stopped.

He stopped and had a conversation with this guy in a tree. Jesus stopped. And then over in the book of Mark in chapter 5, this is our morning class this morning. Mark chapter 5. And we look in verse 32 here as Jesus is in a hurry to get to Jerus’s house because his little girl is dying. A woman with the issue of blood come up behind him and touches him. Verse 32. He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, fell down before him and told him the whole truth and said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

What did he do? He stopped. And I think one of the greatest things you and I can do is stop. Stop my busy life. Stop my schedule. Stop I don’t have time for you. Stop thinking, you know what? I’m I just I’m just too busy. Stop and listen to you. Stop and serve you. Stop and be there for you. Stop talking about myself and start listening to your story. Jesus, stop. And so when we think about how can I be like Jesus, I’ve got to put the mirror down that always shows myself.

And then I’ve got to put the radar gun down that’s always pointed at you saying, “Oh, you did that wrong. Oh, you shouldn’t have said that. Oh, that’s not right. You’re not doing that right. I need to put that radar gun down and hold out a love hand of love. Say, I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re here. Years ago, we had a young teenager. This back when we were passing the Lord’s supper, and he was wearing flip flops, and after services, an older lady came up to me and she was just furious.

Can you imagine that young man wearing flip flops? And I think she thought I was going to get on her bandwagon and maybe preach a sermon about wearing flip flops. But I said, “Honey, his shoes are more like Jesus than my shoes.” And you know what? He could be behind our building spray painting something or he could be smoking dope. He’s trying to serve in the kingdom. Now, I don’t care. He’s having flip-flops. I think Jesus probably was barefoot a lot of times.

And so, he’s just doing that. And boy, she just went and she thought, “I’m not getting anything out of you, am I?” But what we’re talking about here is compassion. How quickly we love to point that gun at each other. And why is it within our people, we’re known to be so judgmental? Of all people, we ought to give each other the benefit of the doubt. Of all people, we ought to be the most gracious people on the on the face of the earth. But when people say church of Christ, oh Church of Christ, I’ve been there before and I sat in somebody’s seat and was escorted out or oh I didn’t wear the right color tie or I didn’t do this and I didn’t do that and the list is long.

Shame on us. We’re not acting like Jesus, are we? We’re not acting like Jesus. And if we’re converting the world like we should, the world doesn’t look like most of us. The world today has people with all color hair. Flying down here today, I saw a lady older than me had purple hair. I thought, “Honey, you’re not 12.” But you know what? As soon as I thought that thought, I thought Jesus probably wouldn’t have said that. If we’re converting the world today, we’re going to have people with all kinds of tattoos because that’s the world today. Now, we can wrinkle our nose and look at that and say, “Imagine that person.

I sure hope they don’t sit by me.” Or we can be like Jesus. You see, when I talk about being like Jesus, it’s not just sitting in the pew on Sunday morning. It’s how I interact at the grocery store. It’s what I say under my breath when I go to work. It’s how I look at people at school. It’s how I talk about my neighbors. It’s how I think about you. Jesus had a heart of compassion. It wasn’t the disease. It wasn’t the troubles. It wasn’t the problems. It’s the people that Jesus saw.

5. The Redefining of Our Will, Our Purpose

And when we learn and get that, we’re becoming more and more like Jesus. And so then thirdly along this line, how I become like Jesus is the redefining of our will, our purpose. What what’s this all about? John 8 vers 29, the Lord says, “He who sent me is with me. He who has not left me alone. For I will always do the things that are pleasing to him.” I will always do what is pleasing to him. As he got to the cross in the garden, he prayed that this cup pass from me, but not my will, but thy will be done.

6. The Word Shapes, Fellowship Encourages, Grace Sustains

Not just the big things, not just when it’s easy, not just when I like it, not just when I feel like it. All that sounds good, but how how is it that I can be like Jesus? I struggle all the time. I forget and these things happen. So, I want to put up three three concepts here, and we’re going to go back through each of these three and give you some verses to talk about this. Number one, the word of God shapes us. The word of God shapes us. Turn your Bible, if you will, to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 4, 1 Timothy, chapter 4, and notice verse 15.

1 Timothy chapter ⁠4:15. As Paul’s writing to young man Timothy, he says, “Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in them so that your progress may be evident to all.” Now, now look at those three phrases. Man, you’re working so hard, it’s painful. You ever been to a gym and what and watched some guy lift all those big old weights? Man, he’s straining. But we’re doing this with the word of God. We’re working hard with the word of God. And then then in this regard, he says, “Be absorbed with him.

Be be passionate about this. Be obsessed with this. And then let your progress be evident to all. Remember when you went to grandma’s house and when you’re a little kid, you stood against the wall and they put a little mark how tall you were. You came back next summer, you were this tall, then you were this tall, and you kept growing. Your progress was evident. You see, some of us have been Christians 40 years, but we’re stuck in the third grade for 35 years.

You see, we’ve been around a long time, but maybe we haven’t been progressing. And so, that’s how we do that. Let the word of God shape you. Let it define you. Let it help you. Colossians chapter 3. Let’s grab that real fast. Colossians chapter 3. And again, just just a wonderful passage that helps us see this. Now, we we tend to focus on the tail end of this passage to think about the type of music we have. But notice the front end of this. Colossians ⁠3:16.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching, admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Let this happen. Let your heart be like that. Now, the second phrase there, the fellowship of God’s people, encourages us. Again, we see that over and over in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24 and 25. Not forsaking the assembly, but being together. Christlikkeness does not grow in isolation.

We we feed off of each other. We see each other. We encourage each other. We challenge each other. And then the third aspect is the grace of God sustains us when we fail. Book of First John teaches us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us. More like Jesus. Is it possible? What would it look like to be like Jesus in school? Well, that student wouldn’t cheat. He’d never be a bully. He wouldn’t be a showoff. He’d go out of his way to help those who everyone else ignores.

Yes, it is possible. What would it look like at at work to be like Jesus? Well, I’d show up on time. I’d work hard. I’d go out my way. I’d try to help others. And I’m not gonna be griping and complaining and bad mouthing the boss. What would it look like to be like Jesus on a date? I’m going to be kind. I’m going to be pure. I’m going to be truthful. What’s it going to be like to be like Jesus at home? Well, I’m going to be part of the family. I’m going to be serving. I’m going to be listening. I’m going to be engaged in the family. What would it be like to be like Jesus and worship?

I’m going to be here. I’m going to sing passionately. I’m going to have my Bible open. I’m going to be focused. And through all of that, I can be like Jesus. And when our when our lives reflect that, it changes our home. It changes our congregation. It changes our community. And it changes our hearts. Back in Mark chapter 5, if you go back there one more time with me, Mark chapter 5, we notice that at the front end of this story, as Jesus enters a gentile community, a demon-possessed man comes running at Jesus, screaming and shouting.

Jesus cast the demon into the pigs. The pigs race into the sea, and 2,000 of them are drowned. The people were watching the pigs leave and go tell the masters. And they come back. And notice verse 15 of Mark 5. And they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demonpossessed sitting down clothed in his right mind, the very man who had the legion. And they became frightened. They don’t notice that pigs. They notice a changed man. And that’s what people are going to notice at school. That’s what they’re going to notice at work.

That’s what they’re going to notice in your home. Man, I got a story to tell you. No, I don’t want to hear it because it’s not a good story, man. Did you hear about so and so? No, I don’t want to hear about so and so because that’s gossip. I don’t want to be a part of that. You see, you see it changed life and people start seeing that and they start recognize that and they start changing that. And so when we think about this idea, this proposition, is it possible to be like Jesus? The answer is absolutely yes.

Conclusion

Now, I told you Sunday that my wife studied classical piano in college and we have season tickets to the Louisville Symphony. And several years ago, they would start the season off with what they call the WOW concert. They’d bring in somebody big. They’d bring in a great pianist or great violinist and start the whole season that way. A few years ago, they brought in John Williams, the John Williams, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, you name the movie, he’s he’s written a score to that.

And we sit row eight dead center. I could almost get the sweat off his head. I was so close. It was amazing night. And there’s there’s a piece from the movie Lincoln, which he wrote the score to that that he looks over at the first chair cello player, his name is Nicholas, and he didn’t raise his baton. He just kind of leaned over and looked at him, kind of nodded. And Nicholas started playing. It’s real beautiful. And pretty soon, the whole orchestra filled in. And beautiful piece, standing ovation after it was over.

And John Williams just reached out and kind of shook Nicholas’s hand. And you know, every once in a while in life, you get these moments. I got a moment there because up to this time, every everybody we’ve ever heard are by people who are dead. Beethoven’s dead. Mosart’s dead. Brahms is dead. All those guys are dead. But here’s a guy who actually wrote it. He knows exactly how every note is supposed to sound. He knows exactly the temple. He is the person.

Now, here’s what I got. We don’t call it this. We call it the Bible. But this is God’s score, just like a composer. And when we live it the way God wants us to live it, it’s exactly the way he wrote it. He can look at a couple been married for many, many years and say, “That’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be. They have hit every single note.” You can look at a young person and they’re trying their best in this crazy world when people don’t know if they’re a dog, a tree, a man, a girl. They don’t know what they are. And they’re trying their best just to be a disciple of Jesus. And and they have all this stuff going on and and and they’re doing their best.

And God says, “That’s exactly the way it’s written. Here’s somebody else, and they they’ve they’ve buried the love of their life, and they’re alone now, and it’s hard.” But here they are. And they’re trying to be a disciple of Jesus. And God says, “That’s exactly the way it sounds. That’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be. someone who’s very old, a hundred years old, and he’s still worshiping God. You know, I I heard the story one time of a lady. She was 104 years old. She was at the funeral home making arrangements for her husband who had died.

He was 108 years old. And when she told the funeral director, he was 108 and I’m 104. She said, “You know, it’s hardly worth going home for, isn’t it?” Well, you know what? Still serving the Lord. That’s exactly the way God wrote this. And so when we think about what this is, this is God’s word. This is the Bible. But in many ways, this is God’s score, God’s composition. And when we look at it and we do it, God said that is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.

Can you be like Jesus? Yeah, it’s hard sometimes. It’s hard. You have to bite your lips sometimes. As I said the other day in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, he says there’s a time to speak and a time to be quiet. Our problem is we don’t know what time it is. We get our times mixed up. But and there’s times you want to you just feel like saying something you got to bite your lip because you know what? That’s not written in God’s score to say things like that.

Oh, there’s times thoughts run through your mind and no, that’s not in God’s peace. I’ve just got to get those out of my mind. There’s times your body says, “You know what? I just don’t feel like it.” Have you ever noticed the Bible never uses that phrase? Oh, Noah, you’re going to build this ark and every single human being outside your family is going to die. By the way, how do you feel about that? God never asked that. Abraham, you’re going to take your only beloved son up to there and you’re going to offer him as a burnt offering.

By the way, how do you feel about that? Jesus, you’re going to die on the cross as torture. By the way, how do you feel about that? He never asked that. There’s going to be times when the worst person behind that pulpit, it’s going to be me because I don’t feel like preaching. Like this guy one day, Sunday morning, time to go to services. He’s still in bed. His mother came in there and said, “Time to get up and go to church.” And he said, “Well, give me two good reasons.

Number one, you’re 40 years old. Number two, you’re the preacher.” You know, that happens, doesn’t it? But what do we do? What’s God word say? God’s word say, “Keep going. Keep doing.” And so that’s the thought here. Don’t give up easy. Don’t sell out short. Don’t say, “Well, you know, you know, the world is not perfect. I can’t be perfect, so I don’t really need to try. I I you know, if I get a C, that’s good enough.” No, it’s not good enough. God gave his best and you need to give your best.

So when God says, “Be like Jesus,” you can do that. You got to work at it every day. You got to work at it. Every choice you make involves this. Every thought that goes through your mind, every word comes out of your mouth, it all involves this. Is this what God would want me to do? Is this written in God’s score. Is this being like Jesus? But boy, I know people all over the place, many right now I’ve met this week in this place who are acting just like Jesus.

And it can be done. Young look to the old. Old look to the young. middle. Look both ways because what we need to see is there are living examples among us. Hebrews 11 right among us of peoples who are showing us what it means to be just like Jesus. So, so this evening, where are you? Are you like Jesus? You might say, man, they may they may say a hundred things about me, but being like Jesus would never be on that list. Well, isn’t it time? Isn’t it time? You start by changing your ways.

You start by being baptized. You start by growing in Christ. And maybe some of us have done that, but we have just satisfied oursel that I’m just going to be an average Christian. You will never find that phrase in your Bible. I am just a average Christian. Average is the world, not God. You need to excel as God wants you to. How do I do that? Just like Jesus. If you’re sub, won’t you come? Stand safe.