016. Is Normal, Normal?

PP Are you normal? Do your friends think you’re normal? (Do you think I’m normal??) It’s nice to be considered normal, isn’t it! 

To be considered ‘normal’ is generally accepted as a compliment. Expectant parents hope for a normal baby. Sick people long to get back to normal. … 

PP Everybody wants to be normal. 

It’s strange though, that in this day and age, there is sometimes great value in being ‘abnormal’. It’s true! You see, … 

PP ‘Normal’, according to the standards in this community, is not determined by the high standards of God’s Word, but rather by what the majority of people in our present society are doing. 

----- The psychiatrists tell us that the human race is afflicted by a problem called the ‘herd instinct’. We tend to follow the herd. We tend to follow the crowd. There are some people who’ll do just about anything, as long as the crowd is doing it. Some people are literally ‘hell bent’ on following the crowd, just to appear ‘normal’. 

Actually, it indicates a basic insecurity and a fear of people. In our desperate attempt to appear ‘normal’, we deliberately forget what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7. … 

PP Matthew 7:13,14. (Jesus said, - who said? - Jesus said,) 

v13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. v14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” 2 

According to Jesus, the majority, who consider themselves to be ‘normal’, will be lost. 

Down through the centuries, what the world has considered to be normal, has never been right. In Noah’s day, only the ‘abnormal’ were saved. Just eight people! And by the world’s standards, only the ‘abnormal’ people were saved out of Sodom and Gomorrah. There were thousands of ‘normal’ people, but none of them were saved. Only the ‘abnormal’ were saved. In fact, only three of them were abnormal enough to be saved. So we’ve got to ask the question today, is ‘normal’ normal? 

And I’m going to appeal to you, today, … 

PP Is normal in your life, normal by the world’s standards, or by God’s Word? 

That’s a question I want you to ask yourself, and if necessary, change what is normal, for the sake of Jesus and for the sake of your eternal destiny. 

Brothers and sisters, ‘normal’ according to the world is not ‘normal’ according to God’s Word. ----- 

---- And another thing - do you realise that the crowd is actually led and guided by just a few people? And do you realise that the majority of those people who are leading the crowd, are either money hungry, or status seeking, or perverted in some way? A few twisted drum beaters make the decisions, and the crowds just follow. 

To illustrate, in Tasmania I watched my uncle trying to round up some cattle. The cattle had chosen one cow as their leader. 3 

Wherever this cow went, the crowd would follow. But the problem was that the leader wasn’t fit to lead. The leader had a twisted eye, and that cow would race off to one side and the rest would follow it as it ran, in circles. Around and around the crowd was going but it wasn’t getting anywhere. They fixed the problem by shooting the leader. And maybe that’s what some people would say needs to happen to a few of the crowd leaders today. ----- 

----- And so the crowds get sucked in. And when they’re all doing the same thing, they consider that to be ‘normal’. 

Friends, the devil is a specialist at leading crowds. The devil knows how to whip a crowd up. Every Saturday night he’s got the crowds in the discos, the nightclubs, and lots of other places, and they think it’s OK. You see, … 

PP The devil’s favourite line is “Everybody else is doing it!” 

In this lawless age, the devil must be fascinated with his own success in handling crowds. He has his few key men, his drum beaters, who lead the crowds in fashion, parties, sexual activities, the dance, the discos, movies – the devil controls the crowd, and the crowd thinks it’s ‘normal’. 

Turn with me in your Bible to Matthew 24:12. … 

PP Matthew 24:12 (Jesus says) 

“And because lawlessness (or iniquity as it says in the old KJV) will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” 

And friends, we live in a time of ‘abounding lawlessness’. You can’t get away from it anymore. It’s in the street, it’s in the papers, it’s in the magazines, it’s now even in our living rooms in the form of an 4 

electronic box. Everywhere you look – lawlessness, or iniquity, is there! 

I remember the time when if you wanted to see a certain kind of literature, you had to go around into a dark alley and knock on a certain door and finally the door would just open a crack with the safety chain, and you’d say “Harry sent me. Said ya got some good books to read” and he’d let you in. Today, all that junk’s paraded publically before our eyes in the supermarkets and servos and newsagents. Iniquity abounds! And sin seems less sinful. We see it all the time and we think it’s normal. But is ‘normal’ normal? 

PP We think it’s OK because a lot of people are doing it. Maybe even our friends who go to church. 

----- I’ve taken garbage to the dump, and the place stinks, especially when it’s wet and in the summer. You wouldn’t dare go bare-footed. You want to get out of the place as soon as you can. Yet you see the men who work at some of these stinking places, sitting down on a drum or something, eating their lunch. It doesn’t bother them -- you see, they’ve got used to it. …. 

PP Friends, let’s not get used to the filth and iniquity and lawlessness that’s all around us. 

Let’s not get comfortable in amongst the stench. I’m so glad that God has called us to be ‘peculiar’ as the KJV says it. And in the old English, it doesn’t mean ‘queer’, it means ‘distinguishable’, ‘different’. --- Let’s not get used to it. Let’s not fall into the trap of following the crowd. Let’s be ‘queer’, according to the world. Let’s be distinguishable, different. ------ 

The crowd is full of unstable individuals who don’t think for themselves, who’ve lost their individuality. Because they are 5 

yellow, they are too scared to buck the crowd. And they try not to think they’re yellow by telling themselves, “Well, it’s ‘normal’.” But is ‘normal’ normal? 

We see a lot of yella people in the Bible. The Bible says that Pilate feared the crowd, so he let Barabbas the robber, go free. Pilate was scared to be different. The crowd has been drum -beaten up into a frenzy, until all together they cried out “Crucify Jesus, crucify Him!” Everyone else in the crowd was starting to shout it out so it must be ‘normal’. That must have really hurt Jesus, to see the people He loved, to see the people He came to help and to save, reject Him. 

As usual, the individuals in the crowd were influenced, worked up, until they allowed themselves to be stampeded. The crowd finally cried out for the blood of the best friend they could have ever had. 

PP Jesus loved the crowd. (The Bible says in Matthew 9:36) 

“He looked at the multitudes, and was moved with compassion.” 

He just looked at them and His heart was deeply moved. 

Yes, Jesus loved the crowds. He was the friend of the crowd. He walked with them and talked with them. Always in the crowd, speaking with them and for them. Jesus always took the crowd’s part. Always sticking His neck out for the people, and now the crowd cries for His blood. 

Just a little earlier than that, Jesus had looked down the corridor of time and seen the future of that crowd clearly. He saw the destruction of Jerusalem that would happen just forty years later, all brought about by their own reckless course. Josephus the historian who lived around that time, said that, “There was such a 6 

horrible carnage that I conclude it was unmatched at any time in the history of the world.” 

History records that the women roasted their own babies on altar fires and ate their flesh. They were starving! The priests were stripped nude and fed to wild animals. While men and women and children clung to altars in the synagogues, the Roman soldiers hacked them down with their broadswords. 

Jesus looked forward down the corridor of time and saw that all this would happen. And when He thought of the crowds, He cried out in … 

PP Matthew 23:37 

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, …. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you wouldn’t let Me.” 

And in spite of His great compassion, and in spite of His love for them, the crowd wanted Him crucified. 

If there were people in the crowd who didn’t want Him crucified, then you never heard about them. There’s nothing in the record that says anyone stood up against the crowd and said, “Spare Him!” instead of “Crucify Him!” 

It seems that ‘yellow’ was the colour of the day. … 

PP Sometimes friends, the greatest crime is to do nothing and to remain silent when a defenceless person is being oppressed. 

----- It was a typical crowd just like we see today. So often the crowds will stick up for the wrong; they will defend the rock stars, they will defend the Hollywood degenerates, they will defend the homosexuals, but they’ll rarely stand up for Jesus. 7 

Well, Pilate wanted to be a friend of the crowd too. He wanted to let Jesus go free, but was too yellow to stand up for right in front of the crowd. 

So he had an idea. On this special day it was customary to let one condemned man go free, so he told his guards what to do. Down went his guards into the bowels of the earth and unchained a man in the subterranean cells. His name was Barabbas, a hardened criminal. They brought him up to Pilate, and stood him before the crowd, beside Jesus. 

Pilate thought the people would see the difference and choose to let Jesus go free. They saw Barabbas, with hatred burning in his eyes, evil, rebellious. And beside him they saw Jesus – clean, humble, good. 

PP Righteousness on one side and unrighteousness on the other; light on one side and darkness on the other; salvation on one side and damnation on the other. 

Pilate knew the crowd would recognise the difference and he said “Whom shall I release unto you this day?” And the crowd chose Barabbas, and still said, “Crucify Jesus.” And the crowd is still choosing the same way today. 

Some are asked to choose between Jesus and the movies (in the theatre or in the lounge room theatre, doesn’t matter). And when it comes to a choice between Jesus, the ‘Bright and Morning Star’, and a movie star, they cast their lot with the movie star. When it comes to a choice between Jesus, the Pearl of Great Price, and a string of pearls around the neck, they choose Barabbas still. When it comes to a choice between the King of Kings and a filter king, 8 

they choose Barabbas still. --- “But Ray, everybody’s doing it, so it’s normal.” But is ‘normal’ normal? 

The crowd goes for false answers and false solutions, rather than truth. Just because a lot of people say, “It’s OK”, then they think it’s right, and people’s attitudes are changing to allow the filthiest vices. Fornication, indulging in sex like animals and with animals, adultery, drugs, stoned rock degenerates. ---- 

PP Along with Jesus, we want to say, “Some things cannot be decided by the crowd or by popular vote --- neither outside the church, nor inside the church.” 

‘Normal’ in the eyes of the peer pressured crowd – is – not – normal. 

Lost people, frustrated and insecure, lonely and tormented, seek shelter in the crowd. Friends, … 

PP There are some things a crowd can’t decide for you, such as where you will spend eternity. 

---- The people who hated Jesus used the crowd. On that morning, in desperation, Pilate asked, “What shall I do with Jesus?” -- I imagine that for a moment, the crowd didn’t know what to say. -- The contrast between righteous Jesus and evil Barabbas was so vivid. What would they do with Jesus? 

And out of the corners of a few priests mouths came the words “Crucify Him.” Almost silently, passed a suggestion – “Crucify Him,” pass it on, “Crucify Him,” and the peer pressured crowd began to pick it up and the word began to pass along. 

The church leaders (would you believe) were stirring up the crowd. A few drum beaters saying, “Crucify Him.” At first only a few lips could frame the words, but then others heard it – and friends, 9 

without thinking they just picked it up like a refrain, the beat of it appealed to them, the rhythm of it moved their emotions and … 

PP “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” (they cried.) 

Perverted cheer leaders moved through the crowd and stirred them up to a delerium of savagery, “Crucify Him, crucify Him” and the stampede was on. ------ 

----- The crowd is easily swayed. It allowed itself to be caught up in this peer pressure madness. It was hypnotised by the excitement, and the cry that started out low, rose and rose, until they were shouting at the top of their voices like a mighty thunder “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”. The rhythmic chant became a deafening roar. The people were possessed. In my imagination I see tears streaming down their faces, they were screaming and biting their lips. Their hands were clenched in fury. Their eyes were dilated in hatred. They were driven, driven. 

Driven by demons. Their faces turned red with emotion, driven to the point of madness by stupid peer pressure, until all Pilate could hear was, “Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him!” -------- 

PP Is ‘normal’ normal? 

------ You see, crowds can’t stand pressure. They always are used, manipulated and twisted. They surrender to the herd instinct. Today we say, “the voice of the people prevailed”. 

“The voice of the people prevailed”, but did it? Sometimes it might appear that the people prevailed and got their way and Jesus was crucified and it was all finished. But brothers and sisters, I want to say today, that nothing is finished until God says it’s finished. 

He has the last word. 10 

The religionists and the crowd thought that if they could kill Him, they would wipe out His name. They thought that if they could put this Jesus on a cross, they would bring shame to His name. And so the saying is, “the voice of the people prevailed.” But friends, God decided differently. 

God decided to give Him a name that is above every name, that “at the name of ‘Jesus’ every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord”, and today, the mob is lost in oblivion. But … 

PP People, one by one, are springing up everywhere and crying out the words of the old hymn, “All hail the power of Jesus name, let angels prostrate fall,” because God decided differently. God decided that ‘normal’ wasn’t normal. 

---- The crowd thought “If we can get Him on the cross and into a tomb, we can wipe out His power. We can take away this strange hold He has had over the people. This ability to stir them up with His miracles. If we can kill Him, we can do away with His power.” And it seemed that the voice of the people had prevailed -- but God decided differently. 

Christ rose up from the dead and proclaimed “All power in heaven and earth is mine!”, and Jesus says to the sorriest sinner today, …. 

PP “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There is power in the blood. Would you over evil a victory win? There is wonderful power in the blood.” The dying thief on the cross beside Jesus rejoiced to know that back then. And friends, as vile as we may be, Jesus can wash us clean too. 

---- That is such-good-news. ---- 11 

Friends, the crowd had gone wild, ---- but crowds still can’t get rid of Jesus. ----- God has decided something else. ---- They’ve tried to get rid of Him. ---- They spat on Him, slapped His face, ripped His beard out, hit Him over the head, roared their insults, scourged Him, placed a crown of thorns on His head, nailed Him naked to a cross, but in His parting breath He cried, … 

PP “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” 

-------- Jesus today doesn’t just love the crowds but He loves you, personally, one by one. Jesus believes in you personally, today. He suffered for you and me personally, one by one. He bled for us, one by one. He died for us, one by one. And now He lives again and represents us to our Father in heaven, one by one. And today He is saying, … 

PP1 “Step out of the crowd and think for yourself, and I will save you, one by one.” 

The thief did, Joseph of Arimathea did, Nicodemus did. Jesus calls for a rendezvous, an appointment, a personal appointment with you today. And you’ve got to answer. To refuse, is to answer. To say “Yes Lord” is to answer. 

My brother, my sister, will you step out of the peer pressured crowd today, for Jesus? ----- Will you? ----- Please say yes. 

PP2 God will bless you as you step out for Him. 

PP 

Friends, if you have been blessed and challenged by this message, 

then please take time now to send it on to your friends.