Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It's great to be here. As Mark said, I'm one of the leaders of the. Of the Rediscover church, Cranbrook, which is a really exciting place to be, and it's just great to be there. If you live on that side of town or you're interested in Cranbrook in any way, you want to be part of that. We meet at 03:00 p.m. On the third Sunday in the month and we would love to see you there. Come and support us. And if you live that way, come and get involved as well. Obviously, use your support. Thank you. So this is session ten of the freedom in Christ course. Now, you may have just have attended church and you've seen these presentations, which are just a summary, just a short picture of what's happening right across the course. If you're in life groups, you'll be doing it at this different levels. If you want to take it further, there are books that you can buy. There are videos that you can access. You can see these summary videos on rediscoverchurch.com or on YouTube. And you can buy the books and dvds and stuff from ficm.org uk, which is freedominchristministries website. So ficm.org uk. So I would urge you, it's an excellent course and there is a lot of information there, a lot of stuff which can change your life, if that makes any sense at all. Thank you. So today I'm going to take a scripture which you may well be familiar with. If you were in Sunday school, at church when you were a kid, you will undoubtedly have read about this story, this piece of teaching from Jesus. It's from Matthew, chapter seven. And it's a time when Jesus was sat on the side of the hill speaking and teaching. The people there included people like the disciples who'd been following him and listening to his teaching on the way. It included some, perhaps religious leaders, okay? People who'd studied the Old Testament scriptures, perhaps who knew a little bit about religion. And also it would include people like fishermen and farmers and carpenters and anybody else, because it was just ordinary people who were coming and gathering around the people gathering around Jesus to hear his teaching. So it applies to you and it applies to me, okay? Whether you are the managing director of some multinational company or whether you are the person who sweeps the streets. Do you know I was a police officer for 30 years.
[00:02:25] For a time I was the inspector at Honison police station. I was in charge of the police station, several police stations, something like 69 men working and the women working under me, who was the most important person there?
[00:02:43] Do you know what? If I didn't turn up on a Monday morning, nobody would miss me.
[00:02:48] If the cleaner didn't come in, they would be moaning and complaining and we are all important. God has called you here today. It's not by any accident that you are sat there and that I am stood here. God has called us to the roles we're in and to work out his gospel, to proclaim his gospel, to make disciples where we are now. That's totally off script. That's nothing to do with what I've got here. But I just felt that we need to know that and we need to say that. So let's read this then. From Matthew, chapter seven, verses 24 to 29. This is from the international children's bible. We use this at Cranbrook because sometimes the language is much easier to relate to. Everyone who hears these things I say and obeys them is like a wise man.
[00:03:38] The wise man built his house upon the rock. Don't start singing, please.
[00:03:44] It rained hard, the water rose, the wind blew and hit that house. But the house did not fall because it was built on rock.
[00:03:55] But the person who hears this teaching things. Sorry. The person who hears the things I teach and does not obey them is like a foolish man.
[00:04:04] The foolish man built his house on the sand, it rained hard, the water rose and the winds blew and it hit that house and the house fell with a big crash.
[00:04:19] When Jesus finished saying these things, the people were amazed at his teaching. Jesus did not teach like the teachers of the law. He talked like a person who had authority.
[00:04:36] I don't know about you, but I used to be involved a lot with tide fights. We used to call them on the beach. At polsess, we'd build these sandcastles. We'd spend hours building these sandcastles. And the tide would come in, and it would come in, and it would come in, and when it went out again, there was nothing there. You soon learnt to take a spade and a shovel and build it higher. Build it higher. The tide came in, the cow came in. By the morning, there was nothing there. So you put rocks in it. In the middle, you put rocks in. It might have taken a bit longer, but come the next morning it was gone. Why? Because the foundations were on sand.
[00:05:18] So I just want one thing I'm going to come down round to is where are the foundations in your life?
[00:05:24] What are you building your life on? Are you building your life on money?
[00:05:30] Savings in the bank, property, friends, fame, acceptance by your neighbor. Are you seeking to be accepted by the people in your community?
[00:05:44] Or actually, are you building on things more substantial? Because those things can go. Your friends will soon disappear. When times get difficult, when the economy crashes, your money will go.
[00:05:59] When there's an earthquake or when there's a storm, your house could well fall down.
[00:06:03] The one thing that you can depend on is God and your relationship with him. And we're going to come and talk about that bit further. So who were the ordinary people then that Jesus was talking to? Well, I've said they were farmers. They were ordinary people.
[00:06:20] We were in Israel 18 months ago, and I can tell you there's loads. There's loads of desert, there's loads of sand, there's loads of rock. Where would those ordinary people have built their house?
[00:06:34] They built on the rock, wouldn't they? Because they know that when the wind blows and when it rains, those sand dunes are going to know, just like they do on the beach at Croyd Bay or something like that. The sand dunes move, and those things, other things that you can build your life on will move.
[00:06:51] I'd like to talk a little bit about the religious scholars.
[00:06:55] So if you're a biblical scholar and you've looked back and you think Jesus is referring to rocks and sand, so where does that come from? Actually, I've just picked up three scriptures that refer to rock in the Old Testament, and these are scriptures that they would have understood.
[00:07:11] One Samuel, two. One and one and two quotes. Hannah, she says, there is no one holy like the Lord. There is no God but you. There is no rock like our God.
[00:07:24] First scriptures, those scholars would have known that. Psalm 18. The Lord is my rock, my protection, my savior. God is my rock. I can run to him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength. My high tower.
[00:07:41] See, in the first one, God is to be honored, revered, worshipped. But God is also the place of safety, where I can run to, where I can go to. And he is the person who, at the end of the day, will stick with me. Does that make sense? Yeah.
[00:07:57] This is, I think, is an interesting scripture. And I'm not going to put too much on this because I'm not enough of a religious scholar to understand this, but Isaiah 28, this is what the Lord God says. I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem. This will be a tested stone. Everything will be built on this important and precious rock. Anyone who trusts in it will never be disappointed. Now, I just read this on Wednesday when I was preparing this, and you know what I just thought?
[00:08:33] I wonder if those religious leaders would have related this to Jesus. You know, I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem.
[00:08:49] This will be a tested stone, just like Jesus was tested.
[00:08:55] Everything will be built on this important and precious rock. And God has built his kingdom on what his son Jesus did, and anyone who trusts in it will never be disrupted. It just struck me, that is a terrific prophecy towards Jesus. And I'm not a theologian, but I suggest that that's absolutely true. So what does this passage then teach us?
[00:09:19] First of all, God wants us to understand the truth. He talks in a way which is understandable to those people around him, to those farmers, to those shepherds, to those fishermen. That's how he taught and that's how he speaks to us. He wants us to understand the truth, and he wants us to act on it.
[00:09:39] Now we need to discern who are false teachers and who is teaching us the truth. This section comes after the rest of this earlier part of this chapter is all about false teachers, and Jesus wants us to discern who they are.
[00:09:55] So who do we identify as false teachers? Speaking to us now, who's on Instagram?
[00:10:07] Absolutely. Me not. I'm not either. Are you, Mark? You're on Instagram. He's on Instagram. Okay, who's on TikTok? I've heard of it. I've heard of it. I've got a watch. In fact, we've just bought a clock, and it goes TikTok. And I said to Alison, does this annoy you? Okay, there are loads of people, aren't there, who have little or no qualification, little or no understanding in a human sense or a godly sense, who will claim to be an influencer on social media.
[00:10:37] Wow. Where is this world going?
[00:10:42] I've heard of a program called the Kardashians. Have you heard of that program? I've never seen it, thankfully. I praise God that he's kept me safe from that. But there are programs based upon very little based upon the sound.
[00:11:00] Okay, what about us, then? Because I'm a bit older than that, I'm not quite a Kardashians generation. What do I look to? Who are the people that are trying. What's the pressure on me?
[00:11:13] Who are the politicians that are trying to tell me what's happening and where this world is?
[00:11:20] Know? Who are the people on BBC News? Okay, all the other news channels, what are they trying to tell me? What are they trying to teach me? A lot of the time you hear it, and then subsequently you find out actually, that's a bunch of lies.
[00:11:35] Or not a bunch of lies, but falsehoods, some of the things we told about Brexit.
[00:11:43] So what are we as our generation?
[00:11:48] What are we looking to for the truth? I just want to say, so where are we building our lives?
[00:11:57] So what does this say to us, this course we've been doing? Freedom in Christ. We want to make freedom a way of life.
[00:12:10] Paul said in Galatians, we have freedom now because Christ has made us free. So stand strong, do not change, and go back into the slavery of the law.
[00:12:20] Because prior to Jesus coming, we were slaves to the law. We had to do what the law said. Jesus has given us freedom and taken that penalty for us, set us free. And John 15 says, you didn't choose me, I chose you. And that's why I said, it's not by accident that I'm here today. It's not by accident that you're here today. God is speaking to me, and he's speaking to you.
[00:12:44] So let's take note.
[00:12:49] If we look into Peter, it says this. Jesus'divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith. Goodness. To goodness. Knowledge. To knowledge. Self control. To self control. Perseverance. To perseverance. Godliness. And to godliness. Mutual affection. And to mutual affection. Love.
[00:13:33] These are the things that God wants for us. If we're going to move forward into a life of freedom, we need to focus on those character traits.
[00:13:43] Faith.
[00:13:45] Faith in God. The rock on which we can build our lives. He's not going to change. Goodness. Knowledge. Self control. Perseverance. Godliness. Mutual love, as Jean Claude referred to. And love. Mutual affection and love.
[00:14:04] So there's a fallacy today that we can be anything we want to be. Just try hard. If you just believe in it, just put yourself into it, you can be anything you want to be. It's not true.
[00:14:14] It's absolutely not true. I will never play in the FA cup final at Wembley, can I tell you that? And I could have told, you know, you could have told me that when, you know, it's no good. Just saying, I'm going to try hard, but what I can do is I can be the best that I can be in the place that God has called me. To. And that sets us free. Because wherever you are, wherever God has called you to be, be the best you can work on your character, not on trying to be something that you can never reach. Okay?
[00:14:48] So let's be free in Christ.
[00:14:53] The spirit of God gives us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It's the holy spirit that will change us to be more like Jesus.
[00:15:09] Okay, so freedom in Christ. What next?
[00:15:15] Let's build our lives upon the rock.
[00:15:19] The word of God, unchanging.
[00:15:23] The teaching of Jesus, unchanging. His example, unchanging.
[00:15:31] Obey his word.
[00:15:33] Listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in you, and let's allow him to renew our minds, to change us to be more like Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[00:15:53] Pray. Okay, when I was sat down, chuck the next one on. I came up with these thoughts as to the things that perhaps we ought to pray for at the end of this course, and particularly if you don't know Jesus, this is the rock on which you need to build your life. He won't change. So let's pray. Come on.
[00:16:19] Father God, first of all, we want to call you, come to you in what the Bible calls repentance. Lord God, we want to admit that we've done stuff and said things and thought things which are not good and which are contrary to what you would want. Lord God. The Bible calls it sin. Father God, we believe that Jesus died on the cross so that we can be forgiven.
[00:16:41] Father God, we want to ask your forgiveness of us now.
[00:16:45] Lord God, whether it's the first time we've prayed this or whether. Lord God, we've tripped up this week or this morning, please. Lord God, we confess these things and we ask you to forgive them.
[00:16:56] Lord God, in the same way that you forgive us. Would you also help us to forgive others for the things that they've done to us?
[00:17:04] Forgive ourselves when we know that we've messed up. And Lord, help us to forgive you, Lord God, when you haven't done the thing that we thought you ought to have done. Lord God, please help us to get into an attitude where we say, okay, Lord, let's move forward.
[00:17:18] Lord, we want to renew our relationship with you today as we build for the future. So we ask you, Lord God, to help us to become more like Jesus, to love him, to serve him, to work with him, to sacrifice like him. Lord God, make us fruitful in every area of our lives as we seek to serve you. We ask all these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
