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[Silence] We pray. Almighty God, the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ,

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maker of all mankind, lover of all. Oh, Father in heaven, we come this morning asking for thy blessings. We ask that thou would direct our thoughts and control our actions.

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We ask that thou would forgive us for our sins, those sins that we openly confess to thee, and those sins that we are unaware of. Take us through this day as you would have us to go and make this program, this Men's Day program a success. if it is our will, lead us and guide us through this day, we pray. Help us, oh Father, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

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[Music] (dramatic music) [Music] [Music]

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♪ Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, what shall I do ♪

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[Music] [Music] ♪ Somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Somebody's calling my name ♪

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♪ Somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Oh my Lord, oh my Lord ♪ ♪ What shall I do ♪ If I were you, I'd stop right here and pray.

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If I were you, I'd stop right here and pray. If I were you, I'd stop right here and pray. Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, what shall I do? Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name.

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Hush, hush, somebody's calling my name. ♪ First, first ♪ ♪ Something I'm calling back ♪ ♪ Oh my Lord, my Lord ♪

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♪ What shall I do ♪ ♪ Well I'm so glad ♪ ♪ I got my religion inside ♪ ♪ I'm so glad ♪

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♪ I've got my magic in China ♪ ♪ So bad ♪ ♪ I've got my magic in China ♪ ♪ What shall I do ♪

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♪ Somebody's gonna have a day ♪ ♪ Somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Somebody's calling my name ♪ ♪ Oh, my Lord ♪

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♪ Oh, my Lord ♪ ♪ Won't you hear me ♪ [MUSIC] >> On the revised standard, whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and

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teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven for I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven

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[Music] [Music] ♪ Oh, what a time of healing, brother ♪ ♪ How good the day was for us ♪

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♪ What a life to get the power of the eternal ♪ ♪ And a life to love in the eternal ♪ [choral singing] [choral singing]

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♪ Is from every land ♪ ♪ The Lord of Israel ♪ ♪ When there's an angel ♪ ♪ That calls with a spirit ♪

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♪ And mercy forever has fallen ♪ ♪ Oh, what shall it profit me from the ♪ ♪ Friendship to care and to faith ♪ ♪ And all the good friendship of Jesus, my Savior ♪

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♪ Of Jesus, who died for my faith ♪ [Music] ♪ Walk to him from their pleading ♪ ♪ Father, we'll be thy home ♪

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♪ With an earthling's comfort, comfort and spirit ♪ ♪ And mercy forever and more ♪ [Music] ♪ What shall his promise be, brother ♪

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♪ Early and in certain days ♪ ♪ If Christ is our life, the cross of eternal ♪ ♪ Has never been for his life's sake ♪ ♪ God shall be proud as he stands ♪

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♪ God of all the world be I, Lord ♪ ♪ With the deathless truth and strong ♪ ♪ For thy spirit and mercy forever and more ♪ ♪ The one who is profiting ♪

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♪ The one who will be my God ♪ ♪ With earth and heaven ♪ ♪ And God with the spirit ♪ ♪ And mercy forever and more ♪

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(gentle music) (dramatic music) [Music] (gentle music)

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[Music] ♪ Bless the Lord, O my soul ♪ ♪ Bless His holy name ♪ ♪ And all that is within me ♪

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♪ As His holy name ♪ ♪ As the Lord ♪ ♪ And all that is within me ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord, O my soul ♪

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♪ Bless the Lord, O my soul ♪ ♪ Bless my life ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul ♪ ♪ I'm forgetting ♪

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♪ I'm forgetting ♪ ♪ I'm forgetting the Lord ♪ ♪ And forget not all his commandments ♪ ♪ And forget not all ♪

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♪ And forget not all ♪ ♪ His commandments ♪ ♪ And forget not ♪ [Singing]

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Forgive it all by iniquity. Regaineth my life from destruction. Be satisfied, I'm bound with God's will. ♪ Christ the Lord on my side ♪

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♪ I know what is within me ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord, O my soul ♪ (Music) Amen.

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Bless the Lord, O my soul. Thank you, Brother Richard James, for that lovely message in song. The subject of the message, "The Right to be Different." "But I warn you," said Jesus,

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Unless your goodness is greater than the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, you can't get into the Kingdom of Heaven. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much.

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If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that. But if you are to be perfect,

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Be as your Heavenly Father in heaven who is perfect. You are to be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect. The right to be different. The pressure to conform is the temper and tone of our society.

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The popularity of sameness is all around us. There is the pressure to keep up with the Joneses. Everybody is doing it. Why shouldn't I?

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To do otherwise is to be considered an oddball, a queer. It is to run the risk of being misunderstood, run the risk of being ostracized, persecuted, pushed into a corner and relegated to the periphery of human existence.

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Jesus speaks a word of encouragement to those who would live the good life. It's a command, it's an order, it's a warning. It is a prescription for Christian discipleship. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,

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you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus surveys and evaluates the prevailing standard of righteousness. He passes judgment on that which the public accepts as the norm. It is an attack on mediocrity,

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on being content just to get by. Oh, how prevalent, how popular is the idea to just get by. if I can just barely make it, if I can just ease by,

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if I can just make a passing grade, just do enough to get by. There is a danger in the get-by philosophy. The scribes and Pharisees were the religious leaders of the nation.

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They were considered the guardians of the law. They set the standard for others to follow. They were the ones who told the people what they were to do in order to be accepted.

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They were the interpreters of the law. In order to know the rule by which to govern your life, the Pharisees interpreted that for the people. They had to look to the scribes and Pharisees.

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The Pharisees were the pious ones. They dressed the part. They wore holy clothes, long flowing robes, prayer shawls. They were the kind of persons that went about with the Bible in their hands,

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but it was not in their hearts. So Jesus analyzed their problem. He made a spiritual diagnosis of their life. He was able to see through their hypocrisy.

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He knew them for what they really were. No masquerade, no camouflage, no make-believe, no superficiality, no phoniness could get by him. And so here is a statement which is the result of the X-ray.

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Here are the X-ray results. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." I warn you, unless your goodness is greater than the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

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In other words, except your goodness measures up to the acceptable standard which God has, you cannot enter into the fullness of living. First, Jesus points out here in this word, which I would like for us to consider,

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in the right to be different, the right to excel. For you see, the right to be different Being different involves the right to excel. Jesus recognizes our right to be different.

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He points this up in this word. When God made man and woman, he made them different. So we have a right to be different as far as the sex is concerned. We have a right to be different when we look at the life we live

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as disciples of Jesus Christ, there is so much mediocrity in high places that there is a temptation for many to accept it as a rule of thumb, to accept mediocrity as the standard,

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to accept mediocrity as the guide by which we pattern our lives. Heaven forbid that we do this. Jesus says to his disciples, "You have the right to be different.

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"You have the right to excel. "You've been with me. "You've been exposed to the highway. "To whom much is given, much is required.

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"You've had the light to shine in your life. "You have a right to be different. "You have been exposed to my teachings, training, my spirit, you have a right to be different. Oh I know you will be

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considered peculiar. I know you'll be looked upon as odd. I know that you will be looked upon as being queer. You'll be ostracized. You'll be misunderstood. But remember this, unless your goodness is greater than the goodness of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Righteousness of

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the scribes and Pharisees is the kind of external righteousness. Doing what is right to be seen of men. Praying to be praised of men. It's a kind of righteousness of looking good on the outside. Oh there were men who were good dresses they look good in their clothes. But they were men who somehow liked to be on parade.

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They liked to go about with the long flowing robes and pious faces. They wanted to be seen. They wanted to be honored. They wanted to be appreciated. They were punctual in their attendance at worship services and they remember to consistently put something in the collection plate and all of these things are good, good to do. But Jesus is

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talking about a higher righteousness. He's saying to us that unless your righteousness is higher than this, unless your righteousness is somehow lifted to a a higher level that you cannot really find the deeper meaning of your existence. You ought to excel. You ought not seek to be satisfied with mediocrity, with the get-by philosophy.

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You ought to be satisfied with nothing less than your best. Sometimes we like to say, "Well, what are the others doing?" And we find out what they're doing and we want to get along in the same category where they are.

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And Jesus is saying that you have a right to excel. In other words, he asks a question here in this passage, this chapter. What is it that you do more than others? If you are my disciple, you have a right to be different, you have a right to excel.

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Well, what is it that you do that's more than others? Christian faith is doing more than the ordinary. If a man requires of you one mile, go with him two miles. And Christianity begins with that second mile.

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What is it that you do more than others? Well, most people live by the standard that, "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch your back." But Jesus is saying, "What reward have you?"

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"If you love me, if you do me a favor, well, I have a right to do you a favor." Well, he said, "The heathen do that. Even the scoundrels will live according to that." What is it that you do more than others?

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"How are you different? How do you excel? How do you go beyond the scribes and Pharisees?" "Scribes, they do as I do and not as I do. Do as I say do, rather, and not as I do."

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That was what the scribes said. And one of the things that is very special about Jesus that his contemporaries noted is that he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

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The right to excel in being honest with ourselves. The right to excel by being honest with our fellow man. The right to excel in sympathy and understanding. In having that depth of understanding and that sympathy for others,

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this is the right to excel, the right to be different in the way that we understand and relate to people. The right to excel in service. the right to excel in caring and having compassion for people,

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to excel in redemptive suffering, the willingness to suffer for righteousness. What is it that you do as a Christian, as a disciple of Jesus Christ? What is it that you do more than others? This is the question he asks.

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Sure, we have a right to be different, and that difference is to be shown in the manner of life which we live, the right to excel. Secondly, when he says, "I warn you

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that unless your goodness is greater than the scribes and Pharisees that you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, here is what I call the second point of emphasis, the penalty for mediocrity.

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There is a penalty for being less than we ought to be. There is a danger in failing to be different, in being satisfied with mediocrity of weighing 15 ounces when we ought to weigh a pound, being satisfied with 15 ounces when we know that we ought to weigh a pound,

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of measuring only 11 inches when we know full and well that we ought to measure a foot, being satisfied with just 11 inches. Well, Jesus is saying here, "That's a danger.

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That's the way of the scribes. That's the way of the Pharisees. That's the way of the Jewish leaders. And you ought to be above that.

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You ought to excel because you've been with me." And what is the penalty? Oh, they're like a cup, a cup that's clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside.

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You ought to be different. They're like, they're like whitehead separacos. They're like the tombs that are there that glisten in the radiance of the sun,

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And they look beautiful out there in the cemetery as they appear in the sunlight But inside those tombs are dead men's bones You ought to be different They look beautiful on the outside, but they're dead on the inside

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You ought to be different Men of God ought to be different men who are disciples of Jesus Christ ought to be different Every person who has fellowship with him ought to be different. And as a penalty for mediocrity of just trying to be like the prevailing standard.

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Lastly, there is a reward for exercising the right to be different. The ultimate goal of excelling in righteousness is heaven. In other words, there is that inner satisfaction that comes to an individual when he knows or she knows

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that you've done your best. Others may not know it, but somehow, if by the grace of God, you know deep down in your heart that you've done your best,

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there is a inner satisfaction that comes. Heaven somehow smiles upon us when we've done our best in the human struggle. We have done our best in trying to measure up

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to what is required of us. There is a reward. That if somehow we are to reach forth to that goal which is beyond us, that we have a reward of knowing

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that when we somehow reach, when we somehow do our best best in reaching forth for that goal that there is that reward of heaven of of that blessedness, of that happiness, of that holiness, of that healing help that comes in knowing that we have risen above the commonplace and somehow we have reached for that which is on the mountaintop and

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that's I guess why Jesus must have chosen the mountain as the place to utter these words. Oh if we would reach the plateau of spiritual living, if we would somehow reach the mountain top, Jesus says that we must come from the valley, that somehow even beyond the level places, your goodness must be greater than that of the scribes and other

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Jewish leaders, you would have that joy, that happiness, that wholeness, that healing health, you would enter into favor with God, that you must be different. So pay the price. You have the right. Pay the price for being different. Pay the price for being misunderstood. Pay the price by your sympathy and by your commitment to God

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and your loyalty and your love. Pay the price to be different. What do you more than others? Christians were peculiar people. Because they were peculiar people,

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because they somehow were imitations of Jesus Christ, the people in Derision in the first century referred to them as "the little Christ." And they gave them that name, "Christian,"

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because they were different. Pay the price for being strange. Pay the price for being peculiar. Pay the price for being right. Pay the price for having that measure of goodness. Pay the price to excel, to live the good life. What do you more than others? Others love those that love them. others do favors for those that do favors for them. But if you would be a follower of Jesus,

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it means that it is incumbent upon us to love the unlovely, to do good to those that despitefully use us, to somehow be kind to those who persecute us. What do we more than others? The right to be different is the right to be like Jesus Christ. He was different. It's the right to be like that one who reveals God to us in his fullness, the one God, the unique

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one who's holy, who's different and if we would be like him we would be different, we would be holy, we would be righteous, we would be loving and thanks be to God who comes to be with us and to show us how to be different, to live a life that is a model,

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a dynamic model for those in our time. Well, that voice that called to the disciples to be different on the mountaintop, in the hills of Galilee in the long ago,

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is calling now. Calling to the men of Ebenezer, calling to the women of Ebenezer, calling to men, women, boys and girls everywhere,

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calling them to the mountaintop of spiritual living, saying, "You ought to be different. You ought to be better. You ought to lift up yourself somehow.

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you ought to look to the mountain top. You ought to look as you look at life. You ought to look at me and see what you can become. You can be different. You can be better. You can be the best possible self that you can be. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. He's calling for you and for me. He calls now for us to

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exercise the right to be different. He calls for us to walk with Him as we would ascend the mountain top of holiness, of righteousness, of love, of of patience and long suffering is calling us. That's the right that he has somehow made possible

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for each one of us to enjoy. If we would live the redemptive life softly, won't you come now, the doors of the church are open. We invite you to come and accept Jesus

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as the Lord of your life. He's calling right now. wherever you are, whatever may be your condition or circumstance, He's calling you.

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He's calling every one of us. Softly and tenderly, we invite you to come. [music] ♪ Softly and tenderly ♪

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♪ The wind's calling ♪ ♪ Calling for you and for me ♪ ♪ Sweet of the morn ♪ ♪ The wind's bringing and watching ♪

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♪ Watching for you and for me ♪ [music] [Chorus singing] [Music]

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♪ His tenderly Jesus is calling ♪ ♪ Calling ♪ ♪ Oh, there ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah ♪

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♪ In the passion we bear him ♪ ♪ With Jesus in the air ♪ ♪ Leave my illness of fear ♪ ♪ I'm a weary girl and it's a misery ♪

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♪ Waiting for you and for me ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Give you a wish upon a star ♪

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♪ When she sees her dear Jesus ♪ ♪ She'll call him, call him ♪ [Music] ♪ The Lord ♪

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♪ The Lord ♪ ♪ The Lord ♪ ♪ He who was and is ♪ ♪ God ♪

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♪ The Word is peace ♪ ♪ His word is Jesus ♪ ♪ His glory ♪ ♪ Glories ♪

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♪ Of the ♪ ♪ World ♪ - Lord God, Our Father, We thank you for the call to be different, that call that comes to us across the centuries,

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call to be ourselves, to be unique, to be a peculiar person, the right to be different, We live above the common standards of our time, the right to excel, to be the best rather than to be satisfied

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with anything less, the call that causes us to be mindful of the penalty for mediocrity, that enables us to exercise the right to be different in order that we might enter into

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the fullness of the meaning of our lives and the joy that you have in store for us. Help us, O God, to answer that call in our hearts and in our lives. Bless. [BLANK_AUDIO]