Participants:
Series Code: HCAU
Program Code: HCAU200007S
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00:11 And this is the record
00:13 that God hath given to us eternal life 00:16 and this life is in His Son. 00:20 Welcome to 3ABN Australia Homecoming. 00:30 Welcome to 3ABN Australia Homecoming, 2020, 00:35 and we're in Morisset in New South Wales. 00:37 And it's really good to have you folk joining us. 00:41 I'm sure you're enjoying this program. 00:43 It's a series, Preparing for the Eternity. 00:47 You know, we're going through 00:48 the book Steps to Christ, and our last speaker 00:51 was Justin Torossian and he covered Chapter 6, 00:54 Faith and Acceptance. 00:56 There are six points that he brought out in summary 00:58 that I'd like to remind you of. 01:00 Number one, were you to die tonight, 01:03 would you be saved? 01:05 Are you sure of your answer? 01:07 Number two, the Bible says that 01:10 assurance of our salvation is a necessity! 01:13 Number three, there are two main 01:15 ditches on the road of salvation. 01:18 The devil is happy for us to be in either of them. 01:21 Number four, if you think you're not good enough 01:25 to be saved you're right! 01:27 But Christ is good enough. 01:29 Number five, God is doing everything 01:32 He can to save every person on planet earth. 01:36 And number six, 01:37 if you don't feel saved and forgiven, 01:40 forget your feelings, trust God's promises! 01:44 You know, our musical item will be 01:46 presented by Rosemary and all the years 01:48 that we've been married 01:50 and we've been working together, 01:51 Rosemary has dedicated her voice, a gift from God 01:55 for blessing others in song. 01:57 And straight after her, we will have Peter Watts. 02:01 Pastor Peter Watts is a very interesting fellow. 02:04 His occupation, his full-time occupation 02:08 was being a barman serving others in the bar, 02:12 but you know what? 02:14 He's come to discover that serving Jesus 02:17 and becoming His disciple is his favorite occupation 02:22 and not only his occupation, 02:23 but his dream to help others to be prepared for eternity. 02:28 And Peter will be speaking straight after Rosemary, 02:30 and I'm sure you're going to be very much blessed. 02:33 So we look forward to what he has to say. 02:36 Thank you, Rosemary. 03:09 A wonderful Savior 03:13 Is Jesus my Lord 03:17 A wonderful Savior to me 03:23 He hideth my soul 03:27 In the cleft of the rock 03:31 Where rivers of pleasure 03:35 I see 03:39 He hideth my soul 03:43 In the cleft of the rock 03:46 That shadows a dry 03:49 Thirsty land 03:53 He hideth my life 03:57 In the depths of His love 04:01 And covers me there with His hand 04:08 And covers me there with His hand 04:20 A wonderful Savior 04:24 Is Jesus my Lord 04:28 He taketh my burden away 04:34 He holdeth me up 04:38 And I shall not be moved 04:43 He giveth me strength as my day 04:51 When clothed in His brightness 04:55 Transported I rise 04:58 To meet Him in clouds of the sky 05:05 His perfect salvation 05:09 His wonderful love 05:13 I'll shout with the millions on high 05:25 He hideth my soul 05:29 In the cleft of the rock 05:32 That shadows a dry 05:35 Thirsty land 05:39 He hideth my life in the depths of His love 05:46 And covers me there 05:50 With His hand 05:55 And covers me there 05:58 With His hand 06:03 And covers me there 06:07 With His hand 06:30 Hello everyone, it is great to be with you all 06:33 for the 3ABN Homecoming, 2020, 06:36 Preparing for Eternity. 06:38 Rosemary, that was a beautiful song. 06:40 Thank you for that beautiful song. 06:43 I'm talking to you today about the test of discipleship. 06:49 What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? 06:53 How do you know if you are a disciple? 06:55 How do you know if somebody 06:56 who's claiming to be a disciple of Jesus 06:59 actually is a disciple of Jesus? 07:02 But what is a disciple anyway? 07:04 You know, Jesus, 2000 years ago called people to Him 07:10 and He said, "Follow Me." 07:13 And the disciples were followers of Jesus. 07:15 That's one of the things about a disciple. 07:18 The other thing is that 07:20 I kind of think of them having a sign around their neck 07:23 with a big L on it. 07:25 A learner, a disciple is a learner. 07:28 Someone who is learning from the master 07:31 and Jesus is the master 07:32 and there's no one better to learn from. 07:35 And so a disciple was a follower of Jesus 07:38 and someone who learned from Jesus. 07:41 So what is the test of discipleship? 07:43 We're gonna talk about that in our message today. 07:47 And really a part of, a big part of this message is 07:52 what is the relationship between faith and good works? 07:58 What is the relationship 07:59 between the grace of God and the law of God? 08:05 How did those two interact? 08:07 What is the way 08:09 in which those two things come together 08:11 and we're going to take a look at that. 08:13 And within Christianity, 08:16 that topic has been grappled with for the last 2000 years. 08:20 As you know, we are saved by grace 08:24 so then what place of the law, 08:27 are we expected to keep the law of God. 08:29 And if so, how does that contribute 08:31 or does it contribute to our salvation? 08:35 How do those things come together 08:37 and what indeed is the test of discipleship? 08:40 I'm gonna start with a story, 08:43 a true story of a British woman who few years ago, 08:47 she decided she wanted to leave England 08:52 and go to Thailand on a working holiday. 08:55 And she went to Thailand on a working holiday 08:57 and she was there two, three years. 09:01 Ultimately she had only planned to go 09:04 for three months, but she loved it so much 09:06 she decided to stay and she was teaching English 09:09 and then she'd go down to this beautiful island 09:13 in the Southeast of Thailand called Ko Samui. 09:17 I've been there myself, it's a beautiful island. 09:19 She thought this was paradise. 09:22 Anyway time went by, she met somebody 09:26 who also was from England, 09:28 who said, "I'd like you to do something for me. 09:30 I'll pay you a thousand pounds, 09:33 if you'll take a parcel to Tokyo for me." 09:38 And she thought about that, 09:39 I wonder what's in the parcel, you know? 09:41 And so in other words, 09:42 he was going to ask her to carry drugs in her pack 09:46 and to go to a trip to Tokyo, to earn a thousand pounds. 09:50 And she thought, well, you know, it's not that big. 09:54 You know, I guess, should I do it? 09:55 Maybe it's not the best idea, anyway, she did it. 09:57 And she got caught. 09:59 And at Bangkok airport, 10:01 she was discovered with 89 grams of heroin 10:03 on her parcel and she couldn't believe it. 10:08 And she was eventually sentenced 10:10 and they were gonna sentence though 10:12 they have the death penalty 10:14 for drug smuggling in Thailand, and she thought that 10:17 she was going to face the death penalty, 10:19 eventually they commuted the sentence to 25 years. 10:23 After serving seven years 10:26 and being a model prisoner regretting 10:31 what she had done, 10:32 the king of Thailand gave her a royal pardon. 10:37 A royal pardon after just seven years 10:39 and she was able to go home back to her parents, 10:43 much rejoicing. 10:44 Here's the question. 10:47 Now that she has a royal pardon from the king, 10:51 is she free to smuggle drugs? 10:54 That might seem like 10:56 an obvious answer to that question. 10:58 Of course not. 11:00 That's not why she received the royal pardon, 11:04 but in a sense, that's the question many ask 11:08 in regards to the way in which grace and law interact 11:13 in the gospel, in the plan of salvation. 11:16 Wants you to turn to your Bibles 11:18 if you have them, 11:19 I'd encourage you to be following along in your Bible. 11:21 We're gonna look at a Bible verse 11:23 in 2 Corinthians 5:17. 11:26 And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read these words, 11:29 Paul is writing to the Church of Corinth. 11:31 He says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 11:36 he is a new creation, old things have passed away, 11:40 behold, all things have become new." 11:43 There is some transformation 11:46 that occurs when a person becomes a Christian. 11:51 When a person is in Christ, 11:53 when they come out of the world, 11:55 in fact, John puts it like this is, 11:56 he says, John writes about the words of Jesus, 12:00 where Jesus says, 12:02 "They've passed from death to life 12:06 when they have accepted Christ." 12:08 And so there is this transformation, 12:11 anybody being in Christ, 12:13 they're a new creation, old things have passed away. 12:14 All things have become new, a new creation. 12:19 I don't know if you ever saw that 12:20 television show called Extreme Makeover. 12:24 People will go on to that show and they would be made up. 12:28 They'd have their hair cut, 12:30 they'd put on different clothes, 12:31 they might go through a fitness regime, 12:33 they might have some plastic surgery 12:36 to make them look different on the outside. 12:42 Well, what God is doing, 12:44 there is an extreme makeover that takes place, 12:47 but it's an extreme makeover that takes place on the inside 12:51 that is then seen on the outside. 12:54 You see, you can do all sorts of things 12:56 on the outside to defer your appearance, 12:58 make you look different, 13:01 but who are you on the inside? 13:04 What difference has taken place there? 13:08 You know the Bible talks, 13:12 Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit 13:14 and its role and that it was like the wind. 13:18 And, you know, 13:20 we know that the wind can change things. 13:24 The United States of America has just experienced 13:26 its second largest hurricane season. 13:30 In fact they ran out of letters in the alphabet 13:33 to call the different hurricanes 13:35 and tropical storms. 13:37 You know, they call them different names. 13:38 I think one was called Hurricane Laura, this season. 13:42 Well, they ran out of English letters 13:44 and so they've gone to the Greek alphabet 13:45 and they've so far, they've had alpha beta. 13:47 What is it? 13:49 Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta so far. 13:51 And then the hurricane season doesn't finish until November, 13:54 but you see, you cannot see the wind, 13:57 but you can see the effects of that wind. 13:59 And, of course, with hurricanes it's destructive. 14:03 But remarkably, when Jesus talked about 14:06 the Holy Spirit and the wind of the Holy Spirit 14:09 that changes the life, 14:10 we see the effects of it, but they're positive. 14:12 They're actually creative. 14:15 The winds of a hurricane are destructive, 14:16 but the winds 14:18 of the Holy Spirit are creative. 14:20 There's a passage from Steps to Christ, page 57. 14:24 It says "Like the wind, which is invisible, 14:28 yet the effects of which are plainly seen and felt, 14:32 is the Spirit of God in its work 14:34 upon the human heart. 14:35 That regenerating power, which no human eye can see, 14:40 begets a new life in the soul, 14:42 it creates a new being in the image of God. 14:48 While the work of the Spirit is silent, 14:51 the imperceptible effects are manifest. 14:54 If the heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, 14:57 the life will bear witness to the fact." 15:03 In the plan of salvation, of course, we need a Savior 15:06 because we've all sinned 15:08 and fallen short of the glory of God. 15:11 And we understand that Jesus came 15:13 and He went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. 15:16 We understand that about why Jesus came. 15:21 But the question is, 15:23 how do we as Christians respond to that, 15:26 when we have accepted 15:28 the salvation freely given by God. 15:30 When the Holy Spirit enters life, 15:34 how do we respond? 15:36 What should we look for? 15:39 I was watching a video on creationism talking about, 15:44 I used to be an evolutionist. 15:46 I used to be an atheist 15:47 and an evolutionist, hard to imagine, 15:51 but I was, and I really believe that 15:54 that's the way we all arrived here on this planet. 15:59 And, of course, we do believe in change over time. 16:01 We believe in adaptation 16:02 and God has built an incredible variety 16:05 and adaptation within creatures, 16:08 but I marvel at the design that we see in the natural world 16:13 in so many different places, 16:14 and I was watching a video called metamorphosis, 16:17 which is about butterflies 16:19 and we're in the spring here in Australia. 16:21 And so, you know, you see a few, 16:23 I saw a butterfly today 16:24 fluttering around the garden hedge 16:27 and it was great to see, but it was talking about 16:30 the incredible design of first the egg, 16:34 and then the caterpillar, 16:36 and then the chrysalis, and then the butterfly, 16:41 and then the egg, and then the caterpillar, 16:43 and then the chrysalis, and then the butterfly, 16:45 the cycle, the life cycle. 16:48 And the amazing transformation 16:50 that takes place from this caterpillar 16:51 that turns into a beautiful butterfly 16:54 that's able to fly, 16:56 and in a sense that's God's plan 16:58 for all of us. 16:59 We might feel like caterpillar sometimes, 17:02 but God wants to transform us into butterflies. 17:05 And that's what happens 17:07 when the Holy Spirit takes hold in the life. 17:11 So the first point I would make in regards to 17:14 the test of discipleship is that disciples 17:17 are new creations in Christ. 17:20 We are new creations. 17:21 It's not simply same old, same old, you accept Christ 17:24 and you just live the same old life 17:25 that you've always lived. 17:27 There is a transformation 17:29 that takes place that is born of God. 17:31 It is created through the Holy Spirit 17:34 working in the life. 17:38 Second point I wanna make is 17:39 that disciples love to dwell on Christ, 17:44 upon His will and upon His Word. 17:49 That is what they like to spend time talking about 17:54 and enthusing about. 17:55 You know, everybody has a passion for something. 18:00 Everybody has a hobby, right? 18:02 Some are very passionate about sport. 18:04 I was very passionate about sport. 18:06 I used to be a season ticket holder 18:08 for a football club in the UK. 18:11 I lived there for 26 years. 18:13 And there, I know 18:17 the devotion of football fans. 18:21 I know the passion of football fans 18:22 that, you know, 18:24 I remember when I was a teenager, 18:26 I would go and I would wait for the gates to open. 18:30 And I would go in there, 18:32 I pay my money, well, I'd already paid my money 18:33 because I was a season ticket holder 18:35 you put the ticket in. 18:38 And you would stand there 18:39 and you'd read the program before the teams came out 18:43 and you'd sing all the songs 18:44 and you didn't need any prompting 18:47 as to the words of the song. 18:48 Everybody seemed to know the words of the songs. 18:52 And I played every Saturday. 18:54 So that's where I would be. 18:56 I remember one time they got 18:58 to the quarterfinal of a cup competition, 18:59 and I queued along with others outside the ground, 19:03 slept outside overnight, 19:05 waiting for the ticket office to open, 19:06 to get a ticket, to go to a ground, 19:08 that's devotion, friends. 19:11 And I know lots of people who do that. 19:13 But what is our passion as Christians? 19:17 Are we passionate about Jesus, 19:20 like some people are passionate about football? 19:23 Are we passionate about Jesus, like some people are passionate 19:26 about music or movies or whatever your hobby or... 19:32 Are we as passionate about Christ? 19:34 What is your passion? 19:38 You know, a lot of the conversation, 19:42 I guess, about grace and law. 19:47 You know, we talk a lot about whether, 19:51 whether a person can obey, right? 19:56 And we'll get into this a little bit more 19:57 as we go through, 19:58 but my question would be 20:01 is do you want to, 20:04 as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus Christ, 20:06 as a disciple, 20:08 born again through the Holy Spirit, 20:10 do you want to do God's will? 20:13 That to me seems to be really at the heart of it, 20:17 because God has the power, 20:21 we have the choice, 20:24 but do we want to do His will? 20:29 Who has the heart? 20:31 Who do we love to talk about? 20:33 In Steps to Christ, page 58, we see this quote here. 20:36 It says, "Who has the heart? 20:38 With whom are our thoughts? 20:41 Of whom do we love to converse?" 20:43 Think about it. Think about it. 20:46 You know, sometimes when you're, 20:48 maybe you're on public transport, 20:50 you're on a train or a bus or whatever, 20:51 and somebody's got their football shirt on. 20:53 They don't even have to tell you 20:55 who they support, 20:56 but they're very happy to do so. 20:58 Right? 21:00 Even though they don't have to tell you 21:02 because it's written all over them, 21:05 they're very happy to talk to you about their passion. 21:09 Are we as happy to talk about Jesus? 21:12 "Who has the heart? 21:13 With whom are our thoughts? 21:14 Of whom do we love to converse? 21:16 Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? 21:19 If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, 21:22 our sweetest thoughts are of Him." 21:26 And I think that is true. 21:29 And, of course, 21:30 all of this is in response to the grace 21:33 that God has poured out upon us. 21:37 I've heard this illustration about grace before, 21:40 and I'm gonna use it here 21:42 'cause it actually happened to me. 21:44 This is a true story. 21:45 I used to work in the restaurant industry. 21:49 John mentioned earlier, 21:50 I used to be a cocktail bartender. 21:52 That's what I did for a living for four years. 21:54 I was working in this restaurant 21:57 in the middle of Birmingham, England. 22:00 And we would knock off work 22:01 at about 1:30, 2 o'clock in the morning. 22:04 And my friend and I would go to the car park, 22:08 get in the car and we would drive home. 22:10 It was about a half hour drive. 22:13 And I remember driving home 22:14 and there's not a lot on the road 22:16 at two in the morning, you know? 22:17 So drove and there's a red light 22:19 and we're pulling up at the red light. 22:20 Well, I'm in my, 22:21 I had a sports car, convertible, 22:23 classic British sports car 22:26 sitting there at the lights. 22:27 And my friend pulls up besides me, 22:29 and he's got the equivalent of a Ford Festiva. 22:31 It was a Ford Fiesta in England. 22:34 And he's looking at me and he is revving his engine 22:36 and I'm just laughing at him, right? 22:38 Because he's in this little Ford Festiva car. 22:42 And so the lights changed green and I just take off, right? 22:47 I take off around the roundabout 22:48 and I'm going up the hill 22:50 and he's in my rear view mirror. 22:53 And he only has one headlight. 22:55 One of his headlights is out and I'm sort of, 22:59 he's leaving into the distance, you know? 23:02 And then I look in my mirror 23:03 and I noticed he's gaining on me. 23:05 And I noticed he's got two headlights now. 23:08 And not only does he have two headlights, 23:10 he has red and blue ones as well. 23:14 And I notice that 23:16 I'm being pursued by a police car. 23:19 And I pull over and the police officer 23:21 2 o'clock in the morning, 23:22 he says, "Could you get out of the car please? 23:24 Get out of the car." 23:27 And he said, "You were doing 85 in a 50 zone," 23:32 and that's in miles an hour, not kilometers. 23:35 And he does a breathalyzer test. 23:41 When I worked at the restaurant, 23:43 you couldn't drink and work at the same time 23:45 'cause you're juggling bottles and things 23:46 and you'd drop things. 23:48 So, you know, you couldn't drink. 23:49 And so I hadn't been drinking. 23:51 So there was no problem there. 23:53 And he just said you know, present your insurance 23:56 and stuff at the police station, 23:59 I'll let you off, but you better slow down, 24:01 you're gonna kill somebody, you're gonna kill yourself. 24:05 And he walked away, and I could hardly believe it. 24:09 I guess this police officer 24:10 was about 50 odd, something like that. 24:13 He was an experienced police officer, 24:16 and I could not believe it. 24:19 And you've probably heard this illustration before. 24:20 You know, when you get back in the car, you just take off. 24:25 Now you're cautious about how you drive after that, 24:31 because I almost complained that I didn't get a ticket 24:33 because I thought you surely you'd get a ticket, right? 24:35 I thought I was done, but he didn't give me a ticket. 24:39 He gave me grace, 24:42 which I didn't deserve, but I drove away 24:48 from that conversation very carefully. 24:51 You see, I was grateful for the grace that 24:56 he had provided. 24:58 I was not taking that for granted. 25:00 I wasn't gonna say, well, I'm gonna drive as I please. 25:03 Not at all. 25:05 I was grateful that he had dealt leniently with me. 25:11 Third point, I wanna make today 25:12 in terms of the test of discipleship. 25:16 Disciples exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. 25:21 We've already talked about 25:23 the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart 25:25 and how the Holy Spirit can create a new person 25:28 in the image of God within each of us. 25:32 And if the Holy Spirit is in your life, 25:34 then you are going to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit 25:37 because fruit comes from fruit trees, right? 25:42 The idea here is that if you have the spirit in you, 25:45 you will exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. 25:48 And, of course, the fruit of Spirit is talked 25:50 about in Galatians 5 there, love, joy, peace and so forth. 25:54 All of those things, 25:56 as Christians we should have them. 25:57 Sometimes we have conversations 25:59 about the gift of the Spirit versus the fruit of the Spirit. 26:02 And you won't have all the gifts of the Spirit. 26:04 You'll have the ones that God wants you to have, 26:08 but in terms of the fruit of the Spirit, 26:10 as Christians we should be 26:12 exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. 26:14 And that's how we know that 26:18 there is reformation. 26:21 Now it's interesting in terms of illustrations, 26:24 the Bible uses lots of illustrations. 26:27 And one that's used 26:29 in the Book of Jeremiah is the potter and the clay, 26:32 and how you couldn't mold the clay 26:35 into whatever shape you want into a vessel, 26:38 but then you might drop it. 26:41 And while it's still soft, can mold it again, right? 26:44 You can just start over and you can remold it, 26:50 until it's fired, 26:52 and then it's a permanent fixture. 26:54 You know, some of the archeological 26:57 sites of the Bible, 27:00 some of the cities of the Bible, 27:03 when they were destroyed, 27:04 the invading armies would burn the city down afterwards. 27:10 And sometimes those cities would have libraries 27:12 and they had clay tablets with, 27:15 you know, quote cuneiform script, 27:16 and other things in them. 27:18 And because of the fire that destroyed the city, 27:20 those clay tablets would be baked 27:23 and it would preserve 27:25 the messages on those clay tablets. 27:27 And we're grateful for that 27:29 because it tells us things about the ancient past, 27:32 but likewise, God can mold us 27:38 until the fire 27:39 and then we're fixed. 27:42 God can mold us and He can change us. 27:45 There must be reformation. 27:46 There is a another piece from Steps to Christ, page 59. 27:50 It says, "There is no evidence of genuine repentance 27:54 unless it works reformation." 27:56 That's reformation. 27:58 We are reformed in the image of Christ. 28:01 There is no evidence of genuine repentance, 28:04 unless it works reformation. 28:08 You can be sorry, 28:10 but sometimes we can just be sorry, 28:11 we got caught rather than sorry for the sins 28:14 that have sent Jesus 28:17 to the cross to die for us. 28:21 I wanna read a passage now, I didn't put on the slides, 28:25 but I wanna share it with you. 28:27 And Jesus sums it up 28:29 so beautifully in the Sermon on the Mount. 28:32 Just an incredible masterpiece where Jesus is speaking, 28:38 and He's talking about what it means to follow God. 28:42 What that looks like. 28:45 And here in Matthew 7:12-23, 28:51 notice what it says here. 28:53 He says, well, 13-23. 28:57 Verse 13, "Enter by the narrow gate, 28:59 He says, for wide is the gate 29:01 and broad is the way that leads to destruction. 29:03 And there are many who go in by it. 29:05 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way 29:09 which leads to life and there are few who find it." 29:14 He goes on, he says, "Beware of false prophets 29:16 who come to you in sheep's clothing, 29:18 but inwardly are ravenous wolves." 29:20 Here Jesus is saying, there are some people 29:22 who appear to be legitimate believers in God, 29:27 who may even be claiming to be prophets of God. 29:31 They're in sheep's clothing, 29:33 but inwardly they're ravenous wolves. 29:35 Verse 16, "You will know them by their fruits." 29:38 That's the point that I wanna pick up. 29:40 And he's going to repeat that in a moment. 29:42 "You will know them by their fruits. 29:44 Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes 29:46 or figs from thistles, 29:48 even so every good tree bears good fruit, 29:51 but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 29:55 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit 29:57 nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 30:00 Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down 30:04 and thrown into the fire. 30:06 Therefore by their fruits, you will know them." 30:10 And in a way that line alone 30:13 is probably the answer to the question 30:16 of what is the test of discipleship. 30:20 By their fruits you will know them. 30:24 We'll come a little bit further in, 30:26 in a moment. 30:29 The fourth point to make 30:30 in this topic of the test of discipleship is that 30:35 obedience is the fruit of faith. 30:37 It's not manufactured simply from a human choice. 30:43 It is the fruit of faith. 30:45 We've already talked about 30:47 that in our previous point. 30:52 And there is a couple of things we wanna talk about here. 30:56 One person sometime, 30:57 what was said to me one time, they said, 30:59 "The challenge for the natural person 31:02 is to become spiritual." 31:04 And so, you know, when we're out in the world, 31:06 when we haven't encountered Christ, 31:08 that's the natural man, right? 31:10 That's the natural person. 31:11 The challenge for the natural person 31:13 is to become spiritual. 31:15 But the challenge for the spiritual person 31:18 is to become natural. 31:21 In other words, 31:23 the good that God desires to bring out of us, 31:27 that the God places in our hearts, 31:28 He wants to be a natural outpouring 31:32 of who we are. 31:34 We want to do God's will 31:35 because it's also our will 31:38 and not because we just have to. 31:44 The spiritual to become natural. 31:47 Well, there's a passage in Steps to Christ, 31:50 we haven't put on the screen yet, 31:51 but we're gonna read it in a moment, 31:53 but it talks about in this chapter 31:56 that there are two errors in which we can fall down on. 32:00 And it talks about these two areas as number one, 32:04 the idea that we can save ourselves 32:06 through our good works. 32:08 That's error number one, right? 32:10 That somehow, if I'm good enough, 32:13 if I work hard enough, 32:14 if I'm determined enough that somehow 32:18 I can save myself by my own good works, 32:21 that is an error. 32:24 And then the second one, 32:26 similarly, is an error of our works 32:30 have nothing to do with our salvation then. 32:33 Right? 32:34 Because if I can't be saved, 32:36 if there's nothing I can do to save myself, 32:42 then isn't the logical conclusion 32:44 that works have nothing to do with my salvation. 32:47 But both of those two things are in error. 32:51 And I think we can work it out 32:53 as we read scripture and as we read inspired texts. 32:58 I want to read from Steps to Christ, page 59 here. 33:02 Notice what Ellen White writes about this. 33:04 She says, "There are two errors 33:06 against which the children of God, 33:08 particularly those who have 33:09 just come to trust in His grace, 33:12 especially need to guard. 33:14 The first, already dwelt upon, 33:17 is that of looking to their own works, 33:19 trusting to anything they can do, 33:22 to bring themselves into harmony with God." 33:24 That's one of those errors. 33:26 "He who is trying to become holy 33:28 by his own works in keeping the law, 33:31 is in attempting an impossibility." 33:35 Want that to settle in for a moment. 33:37 It's attempting an impossibility, 33:38 it's like riding a bicycle to the moon. 33:42 Okay. 33:43 You're just gonna keep going round 33:45 and round and round. 33:46 You're not gonna get there. Okay? 33:49 Because that's not 33:50 where God wants our focus to be. 33:53 Okay? 33:55 "He who is trying to become holy by his own works 33:57 in keeping the law is attempting 33:58 an impossibility. 34:00 All that man can do without Christ is polluted 34:03 with selfishness and sin. 34:05 It is the grace of Christ alone through faith 34:09 that can make us holy." 34:11 That's an important point for us to understand. 34:16 Think of it like this. 34:17 Anybody been skydiving? 34:21 Look, I got to tell you, 34:22 that's not one of the things that I'd be lining up to do. 34:24 I know there are people who enjoy skydiving. 34:29 They enjoy the adrenaline rush, 34:33 but stepping out of a perfectly good airplane 34:35 is not my idea of fun. 34:38 And so I'm never gonna be a skydiver, right? 34:40 But last year they set a new record 34:45 for Australian skydivers. 34:47 There was 130 people together got out of plane. 34:52 They linked hands, 34:54 they're formation falling through the air. 34:57 And I guess that they have to hold on 34:58 for a certain number of seconds for it to be a valid record. 35:02 But 130 Australians, the world record is 164, 35:06 all falling through the air, all hanging on to each other. 35:09 I want you to just imagine that for a moment, 35:12 because that's like humanity 35:16 falling through space. 35:18 Imagine that when you're born, instead of entering this world, 35:22 you fall out of the plane and your life 35:26 consists of that time 35:28 between the plane and the earth 35:33 and you're falling. 35:35 The Bible talks about 35:37 our conditioners as that of the fall. 35:39 We talk about the fall, don't we, 35:41 when we talk about the Garden of Eden. 35:42 Anyway, imagine you are there, you're falling through the air. 35:47 And Jesus decides to come out after you. 35:51 Only Jesus has a parachute on 35:54 and He's falling through the air. 35:56 He hasn't pulled the cord and He comes alongside you. 35:59 And He's saying, "Would you like parachute?" 36:05 And you say, "No, I'm fine, thanks. 36:09 I'm enjoying the trip." 36:13 Or maybe we're not as polite as that. 36:17 And we tell Jesus where to go, 36:21 but eventually Jesus moves around 36:22 and He says to someone, "Would you like parachute?" 36:27 And that person says, 36:30 "Yeah, I think so." 36:34 And then Jesus takes off His parachute 36:39 and gives it to you and you put it on 36:44 and you pull the cord 36:45 and you float down to home 36:50 and Jesus falls to His death. 36:54 In a sense, that's the gospel. 36:57 Jesus trades His life for ours. 37:01 He gives us the opportunity to be saved. 37:05 And that's why we can say there's nothing of ourselves 37:09 that saves ourselves. 37:12 We're completely reliant on Jesus. 37:15 The second error we mentioned it before, 37:18 our works have nothing to do with our salvation. 37:21 I have another quote here 37:22 from page 59 of Steps to Christ. 37:25 It says, "The opposite 37:26 and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ 37:29 releases men from keeping the law of God, 37:32 that since by faith alone 37:34 we become partakers of the grace of Christ, 37:36 our works have nothing to do 37:39 with our redemption." 37:43 And, of course, 37:45 I think sometimes our relationship 37:50 to the law of God or our relationship 37:51 to obedience is sort of based on 37:54 a very legalistic kind of thing. 37:55 Here's the law, you've got to obey it, 37:57 you better step up. 38:00 Whereas if we really examine the law of God 38:02 and I'm thinking particularly of the Ten Commandments, 38:06 you examine those laws carefully 38:08 and they exist to protect all of the important 38:12 relationships in life. 38:16 They exist to protect our relationship with God. 38:20 They exist to protect our relationship 38:23 with our parents. 38:25 They exist to protect the relationship 38:28 with our spouse. 38:30 They exist to protect the relationship 38:33 with our children, with our neighbors. 38:37 And so, God is simply wanting to try 38:40 and help us to understand that His way is the best way. 38:44 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." 38:47 God wants us to follow in the way of life 38:51 and obedience to God's commands is actually good for us. 38:55 It's good for me. 38:57 It's certainly good 38:58 for those who have to live next to me 39:00 or those who have to live in the same house as me. 39:04 It's good for them. 39:05 And so God wants for us to understand 39:11 why He wants us to keep the law. 39:13 It's not a blind obedience. 39:16 It is something that is good for us 39:18 and for our society, for our community. 39:21 Picture it like this, 39:22 imagine you got a letter in the mail, 39:25 don't get too many of those these days, 39:26 unless they're bills I suppose. 39:29 Imagine you get a letter in the mail 39:31 and you have just been gifted two tickets to paradise. 39:37 You decided you wanna go, 39:38 you're gonna go paradise free ticket. 39:40 And maybe the flight's going to Tahiti. 39:42 This is hard to imagine in this current climate, right? 39:44 'Cause nobody's going anywhere, 39:47 but I've been to Tahiti and it's pretty, pretty. 39:50 It's a beautiful place. 39:51 So you're on, you know, you've got your ticket. 39:53 You head to the airport 39:55 and imagine the ticket 40:00 is like justification. 40:02 That's your ticket to paradise. 40:04 You didn't pay for it. 40:05 You didn't earn it. 40:07 You didn't do anything for it, it just came in the mail. 40:10 Free ticket to paradise. 40:13 But you're so overjoyed that you decide 40:18 to hang out at the bar at the airport there 40:22 and you get blind drunk celebrating the fact that 40:26 you got your free ticket, 40:28 but by the time you get to the check-in, 40:34 you're in no fit state to fly. 40:37 Do you think they're gonna let you on? 40:40 I've seen it happen. 40:41 I actually went on a flight from Cyprus, 40:43 from Birmingham to Cyprus. 40:45 I had a little, an opportunity to live and work in Cyprus 40:48 for a short time. 40:49 And there was a whole group of people going 40:51 and there was a girl there on our team 40:55 who got so drunk, 40:57 that they wouldn't let her on the plane. 40:58 She was deemed unfit to travel. 41:02 You know, if you're sick, if you're unwell 41:07 and you become critically unwell, 41:08 they won't let you get on the plane 41:10 and take the flight. 41:13 So in a sense, you've got justification. 41:16 That's your free ticket. 41:19 And then through the indwelling spirit, 41:21 you're fit to fly and you get to go to paradise. 41:25 Does that make sense? 41:27 I hope it does. 41:29 You see when we talk about the test of discipleship, 41:34 there's a statement here in Steps to Christ, 61 41:37 that says, "Here is the true test." 41:41 I guess this is the crux of the matter 41:43 in terms of this particular topic 41:45 of the test of discipleship. 41:46 What is the test of discipleship? 41:48 Here is the true test. 41:50 "If we abide in Christ, 41:52 if the love of God dwells in us, 41:55 our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, 41:58 our actions will be in harmony 42:00 with the will of God as expressed 42:03 in the precepts of His holy law." 42:06 That's an interesting statement, isn't it? 42:09 And I guess what I was saying earlier is 42:13 what I would repeat now is do we want to do God's will? 42:18 God will provide the power. 42:20 You don't have that, neither do I, 42:24 but through the indwelling Holy Spirit, 42:28 God can empower us to walk in His ways 42:32 and do His will. 42:34 There's two verses of scripture I particularly enjoy. 42:38 You know, one is in, what is it, 42:40 John 15, I think verse 4, 42:43 where it says, "Without Me, you can do nothing." 42:46 Right? 42:48 And then Philippians 4: 13, 42:51 "I can do all things through Christ 42:53 who strengthens me." 42:54 Either those things are true or they're not. 43:00 You know, we all want to imitate 43:02 somebody, don't we? 43:04 You look at them. 43:05 We as human beings, 43:07 we are almost innately 43:12 gifted to imitate. 43:15 You know, children imitate their parents. 43:18 They might not think it, 43:22 but children do imitate their parents. 43:23 Then they imitate others that 43:25 they see around them or they imitate their heroes. 43:27 We want to imitate somebody or something. 43:29 You ever seen a Elvis convention 43:33 where everybody's dressed up like Elvis, 43:36 'cause that's their hero, right? 43:37 They wanna look like him, they wanna dress like him, 43:40 they wanna sing like him, 43:43 they wanna do everything like him. 43:48 For Christians, Jesus is our Lord, 43:53 He's our King, He's our Savior, He's our best friend. 43:57 And He's the one that we aspire to. 43:59 The Bible says, "Let this mind be in you, 44:00 which was also in Christ Jesus." 44:02 Not just about what you look like 44:05 on the outside, 44:08 it's about what you're thinking on the inside. 44:13 God wants us to imitate Jesus. 44:17 You know, Paul said imitate me even as I imitate Christ. 44:24 Now, in a way it's kind of mind blowing to me 44:29 how much God has done for us. 44:31 'Cause we talk about the fact that He's paid the price. 44:34 So if you think about it, 44:35 the Bible tells us that all our 44:36 righteousness is as filthy rags. 44:38 Okay? So that's our righteousness. 44:41 That's not our bad deeds. That's all our best bits. 44:45 All our righteousness is as filthy rags. 44:48 So what Jesus does is He cleanses us, 44:51 He takes away our filthy rags 44:55 and He takes them to the cross 44:56 and dies on the cross for us. 44:59 All of our sins. 45:01 Then He clothes us with His righteousness. 45:06 The Bible talks about a robe of righteousness. 45:08 Jesus clothes us with His robe. 45:10 You might wanna think about that as the parachute. 45:14 He clothes us with His robe of righteousness. 45:16 We are given by Jesus a perfect record. 45:20 We're given Christ's record. 45:23 It just blows my mind to think about that. 45:25 He takes away our sins. 45:27 He then clothes us with the record of Jesus. 45:30 So that God looking down 45:31 from heaven says, there's my son, 45:35 because we're clothed with Christ. 45:37 And then not only that, 45:39 but He gives us the Holy Spirit, 45:41 He empowers us 45:43 from within to walk in His ways. 45:46 God has done everything 45:48 He needs to do in order to save us. 45:52 He's paid the price for our sins, 45:53 He's clothed us with His perfect record. 45:56 And He empowers us with the Holy Spirit. 45:59 And that's the wonderful thing that we can contemplate. 46:03 Steps to Christ, page 62, 46:04 it says, "The condition of eternal life 46:07 is now just what it has always been, 46:10 just what it was in paradise 46:11 before the fall of our first parents, 46:14 perfect obedience to the law of God, 46:17 perfect righteousness." 46:19 I have to pause there. 46:22 You read those words 46:23 and you could be terrified, right? 46:28 Because the condition of eternal life 46:33 is perfect obedience to the Lord of God. 46:35 Perfect righteousness. 46:36 Well, hello, I don't have that. 46:40 In and of myself, 46:42 but when God puts Jesus coat on me, 46:46 I have it. 46:49 You see what I'm saying? 46:50 That's why God can look down and say, there's My Son. 46:53 He's not weighing my acts. 46:57 He's saying he's clothed with Christ's righteousness. 47:02 And that you breathe a heavy sigh of relief. 47:06 You know, when we talk about a lot of people 47:09 are afraid of perfection or the word perfection, 47:13 but I see it more as of a promise than a threat. 47:18 God is going to work out 47:20 His perfect holiness in me. 47:24 I just have to let Him do it, right? 47:26 I have to cooperate, I have to say, 47:27 "Lord, I want you to be in my life." 47:30 And the focus is on Jesus. 47:33 The focus is not on me. 47:34 The focus is not in the mirror. 47:37 Mirrors can be helpful, right? 47:40 We need them from time to time to check out where we are at, 47:46 but you're not gonna get saved by looking in the mirror. 47:51 We're gonna have to keep our eyes upon Jesus. 47:53 And then He can work out His will within us. 47:58 And I think that's fantastic. 48:00 Christ's character and all that I'll need to do the rest, 48:02 read the rest of the quote here. 48:06 "The condition of eternal life 48:07 is now just what it has always been, 48:08 just what it was in paradise 48:10 before the fall of our first parents, 48:12 perfect obedience to the law of God, 48:13 perfect righteousness. 48:15 If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, 48:19 then the happiness of the whole universe 48:21 would be imperiled. 48:23 The way would be open for sin, 48:25 with all its train of woe and misery, 48:28 to be immortalized." 48:29 If there were no change in the life, 48:31 if I just say I'm a Christian, I'm gonna claim salvation. 48:34 And I'm just unchanged in heart and mind. 48:40 Then I end up going to heaven and behaving 48:41 just the same way as I did down here. 48:44 And heaven would soon become hell 48:47 because essentially 48:49 why would God leave anybody out? 48:52 Just take everybody to heaven. 48:53 And heaven just becomes like it is on earth right now. 48:58 That's a problem. 49:01 "Christ's character stands in place of our character 49:04 and you are accepted 49:06 before God just as if you had not sinned." 49:09 That to me is absolutely jump for joy, good news. 49:14 That I can stand before God, as though I'd never sinned, 49:19 not because of what I've done, 49:20 but because of what Christ is doing, 49:22 has done and is doing in me. 49:30 I want to read Galatians 2:20. 49:32 I think we have that on the screen too. 49:35 And it says, 49:37 "I have been crucified with Christ, 49:39 it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, 49:43 and the life which I now live in the flesh 49:45 I live by faith in the Son of God, 49:47 who loved me and gave Himself for me." 49:51 And it's always that way around. 49:53 Jesus loved me and gave Himself for me. 49:57 It's because He loved me that He gave Himself for me. 50:01 And He has made that ultimate sacrifice. 50:07 You might be thinking at this point, 50:08 but what if I fail? 50:11 You ever failed? Of course, you have. 50:14 I don't need you to answer that. 50:16 I can answer for you. What happens if we fail? 50:26 I don't know if you saw, 50:27 I saw a trailer for a film 50:30 called Man on Wire. 50:34 A man by the name of Philippe Petit, 1974, 50:37 he walked a tight rope 50:39 between the twin towers of New York City. 50:42 I don't know if you've seen the pictures or whatever. 50:44 Incredible. 50:46 He did it without a safety net. 50:50 Don't do this at home, right? 50:52 It's not recommended, 50:53 but I mean it's phenomenal pictures 50:55 to see this man walking on a wire, 50:58 a tight rope between the twin towers 51:00 of the World Trade Center back in 1974. 51:03 And he survived. 51:05 He didn't fall, 51:08 but he did that without a safety net. 51:12 And if he had fell, that was it. 51:15 I mean, there's no hope of surviving 51:17 a fall of 110 stories, 51:21 but what about you and I? 51:24 The Bible provides a safety net for us 51:28 and I'm so glad it does. 51:29 I wanna read Steps to Christ, 63. 51:32 We're going to just read this passage here. 51:35 It says, "There are those 51:37 who have known the pardoning love of Christ 51:39 and who really desire to be children of God, 51:42 yet they realize that their character is imperfect, 51:46 their life faulty, 51:47 and they are ready to doubt 51:49 whether their hearts have been renewed 51:50 by the Holy Spirit. 51:52 To such I would say, do not draw back in despair. 51:57 We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus 52:00 because of our shortcomings and mistakes, 52:02 but we are not to be discouraged. 52:05 Even if we are overcome by the enemy, 52:07 we are not cast off, 52:09 not forsaken and rejected of God. 52:12 No, Christ is at the right hand of God 52:15 who also makes intercession for us." 52:17 I love that little passage in this chapter 52:20 on the test of discipleship, 52:22 because while it's telling us that 52:24 we are incapable of saving ourselves, in Jesus, 52:27 it is the one who's paid for our salvation. 52:29 While telling us that when the Holy Spirit 52:31 comes into the life, the life will be changed. 52:35 If you slip and fall, God does not say, 52:37 that's it for you. 52:40 God is a loving heavenly Father. 52:44 And He has made a way of escape for us. 52:49 In Romans 8:1, He tells us that 52:53 "There is now no condemnation 52:55 to those who are in Christ Jesus, 52:56 who do not walk according to the flesh, 52:58 but according to the Spirit." 53:00 But there is no condemnation when you are in Christ. 53:03 And in 1 John 2:1, 53:06 I'm gonna read that from the scriptures here. 53:13 It tells us that God does not want for us to sin. 53:18 But if we do sin, there is a way of escape. 53:21 I want you to notice what it says here, 53:23 just reading this. 53:24 1 John 2:1, "My little children, 53:27 these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. 53:31 And if anyone sins, 53:33 we have an Advocate with the Father, 53:35 Jesus Christ the righteous." 53:39 It's not God's intention that we should sin. 53:41 But if we do sin, 53:43 we have an Advocate with the Father, 53:44 Jesus Christ the righteous, there is a safety net. 53:47 And finally, I think about John 14:15, 53:51 where Jesus says, 53:52 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 53:56 As a disciple of Jesus our motivation must be love. 54:00 Jesus loved us and we obey Him because we love Him in return. 54:05 We want to do His will. 54:07 He says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 54:10 Let us pray together as disciples of Christ. 54:14 Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, 54:16 please bless us as we seek 54:18 by Your grace to walk in Your ways. 54:21 May we seek to do Your will. 54:23 We know that we are weak, 54:24 but we need Your strength through the Holy Spirit. 54:27 May You be with each person here today. 54:30 May You be with all those 54:31 who are listening and watching, 54:33 and may You help us to understand that 54:36 You are the one 54:38 who paid the price for our salvation. 54:40 You are the one who imparts to us 54:43 Your robe of righteousness. 54:44 And You are the one who gives us 54:47 the Holy Spirit to empower us 54:49 that we may walk in Your ways. 54:51 May we follow Jesus all the way home to heaven 54:54 is our prayer in Jesus' name. 54:57 Amen. |
Revised 2021-06-03