Transformed Life
Series: THE TRIUMPHANT LIFE
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 16th March 2019
Passage: John 15:1-17
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hopefully in front of you you've got a service outline.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:11 If not on your phone, you can see a sermon outline there on the St. Paul's app.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 I'm going to pray as we launch into this because John's gospel,
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 when you start learning the Greek language,
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 John's gospel is often where you start
00:00:22 --> 00:00:26 because Greek language in John is relatively straightforward.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:30 But the difficulty is while the language might be easier,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:35 Greek language, the ideas in John are very complex.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:40 And so he sort of leads you into thinking the gospel is going to be easy,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 but the ideas are quite complex as we launch into this.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:43 Let's pray.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:49 Gracious Father, we pray that you would help us to capture some of the essence
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 of what the Lord Jesus is requiring of his disciples here.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:59 I pray that you would transform our lives as we remain in Jesus.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:06 Help us to see what you require of us between your first arrival and your second arrival.
00:01:07 --> 00:01:13 Help us to remain in the vine and there bear fruit, fruit that will last.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 So help us understand this passage so that we might live lives that glorify you
00:01:17 --> 00:01:18 until you come back.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:19 Amen.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23 In less than two weeks, James and I are heading to the US.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:27 We're attending a conference, visiting a church and doing some other ministry things.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 And it's a trip that I've done a few times.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:36 I've slipped through the departure doors and into customs a number of times.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:41 And I've got to tell you, every time it happens, it never feels, it's never easy.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:45 I never find that journey through two doors that easy.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 It's the feeling of leaving behind loved ones.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:55 Whenever Nat and the girls come with me to send me off, I find it particularly difficult.
00:01:55 --> 00:02:00 I hang on this side of the customs doors for as long as I possibly can.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 I try to busy myself with paperwork and details.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:13 But I know that at some point real soon, I've got to embrace, I've got to say goodbye, and I've got to depart.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:20 Of course, it's the exact opposite in the experience in the arrivals hall.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 You can't wait to get through customs to see your loved ones if they're there.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 Hopefully they're not later or something like that.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:27 You just can't wait.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 It's a moment of excitement.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:30 It's a moment of joy.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:32 It's not apprehension.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:39 As we pick up John's gospel today, we're in the departure terminal with the disciples of Jesus.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 That's where we're sitting.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:46 In John 13, Jesus tells his disciples he's about to depart.
00:02:46 --> 00:03:00 And their world is rocked because they had hopes that Jesus would be the one who would overthrow the occupying Roman Empire and restore the promised land to Israel.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:09 In John 14, what we looked at last week, Jesus comforts his disciples by telling them three things.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:17 Number one, his departure will secure for them an eternal dwelling in the presence of God.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:28 Number two, his departure means that he can send another advocate, one just like him, who will permanently dwell with them.
00:03:29 --> 00:03:35 Not just the presence of God in the future, but the presence of God with them now.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:46 And Jesus says when this other advocate comes, it's going to be better because Jesus is beside them, but the spirit will be in them.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:54 They will even know and experience the father personally in prayer.
00:03:56 --> 00:04:01 Instead of just knowing the father through what Jesus reveals about him.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:11 And number three, Jesus will come back and take them to be with him, with God forever in perfect peace and joy.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:18 So there's a departure and there's a return.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 So what happens in the meantime?
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 What are the disciples to do?
00:04:26 --> 00:04:27 What are they on about?
00:04:27 --> 00:04:38 Do they just sit in the departure lounge or make the way to the arrivals hall upstairs or downstairs or wherever it is and just wait for Jesus to come back?
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 What are Jesus' plans for his disciples?
00:04:41 --> 00:04:42 Why they wait?
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 What does he expect of them?
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 So there's three things I want to draw out from John 15 this morning.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 Number one, the necessity of transformation.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 Number two, the organic nature of transformation.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 And number three, the means of transformation.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:06 In 15 verse one, Jesus says, I am the true vine and my father is the gardener.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:14 And then again in verse five, he says, I am the vine and you are the branches.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:21 Now, all the conversation stopped at this powerful pronouncement.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:27 You see, the force of Jesus' words to his first disciples is something like this.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:38 You know how all of Israel, God's historical people, is pictured as a vine that is meant to produce refreshing fruit.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:47 Well, I, Jesus Christ, am the fulfillment of everything that that symbol suggests.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:53 And the key word here is the word true.
00:05:54 --> 00:06:04 Those who follow Jesus belong to Jesus so that together with him, they become the true vine.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:12 Now, the word true is important because it replaces the old vine.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 Israel was the vine that God rescued from Egypt.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:24 Psalm 80 says that they were the root that he planted and grew throughout the land.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:30 But it was a vine that was condemned by God because it produced bad fruit.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 As we just saw in Isaiah 5.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 Isaiah 5 says that God looked for justice, but saw bloodshed.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 He looked for righteousness, but only heard cries of distress.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 Jesus Christ was the vine that was condemned by God.
00:06:46 --> 00:07:00 And the point throughout this passage in John 15 is that branches, those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus, must produce good fruit.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:09 Jesus makes it the edifying mark of a true believer.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:17 It is how you identify a true believer.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:30 Not by what they do, not by how successful they are, not by the things they do in the name of Christ, but who they are.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:39 Jesus says, the father who's the gardener, cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:50 If there is no fruit in our life, then we had better reconsider the authenticity of our Christianity.
00:07:50 --> 00:08:03 And the fruits, the fruit that God was looking for in Isaiah 5 were the qualities of justice and righteousness.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And they are both inequalities.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:19 In John 15, the fruit Jesus speaks of is simply the reproduction of the life of the vine in the branch.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:26 Jesus is looking for the fruit of his life in us.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:32 Jesus is looking for change, transformation of our character.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:41 Which is what fruit in the Bible is, and especially so in the New Testament, where it's explicit.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:47 One list of such fruit is Galatians 5.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 The fruit, one fruit with a bunch of characteristics.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:57 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:02 Which is patience and forgiveness of those who have wronged us.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 Kindness, that's unselfishness.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 Goodness, which is transparency and integrity.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 Faithfulness, which is courage.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 Gentleness, which is humility and self-control.
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 Against such things there is no law.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:23 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:33 And so what Jesus is saying in John 15 is that my expectation of you is for transformation.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:39 And I, Jesus, am the key to that inner change of your life.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 How does the selfish person become unselfish?
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 How does the controlling, manipulative person become a liberator?
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 How does the coward become courageous?
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 How does the whiner become grateful?
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 How does the taker become a giver?
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 How does the worrier become a rock?
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 How does the bigot become understanding?
00:10:00 --> 00:10:06 There is no more relevant question for our society, for our culture.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 There's no more relevant question for our city.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:13 There's no more relevant question for your family, for your marriage, for your friendships.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:20 There's no more relevant question for this church as we seek to grow together in humility and unity.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:26 How do you get such transformation?
00:10:26 --> 00:10:36 And when Jesus says, I am the true vine, he's saying I am the key to growth and change for good.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:47 Now, every bookstore in this city is filled with material on how to change and develop your inner potential.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:54 They are mechanical books that give you a technique.
00:10:55 --> 00:11:00 Or they are moral books, morality books, calling you to try a bit harder and be a bit more virtuous.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:08 Or they are magic books telling you how to tap into some kind of power that you currently don't have.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:15 The Bible, Christianity, Jesus offers something different.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 It's not a technique.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 It's not traditional morality.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 It's not new age spirituality either.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:38 Christianity says you need a vital connection with Jesus Christ, the only cosmic and concrete person who ever lived.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:54 Christianity is about a personal relationship with Jesus who is the cosmic Lord of all and drawing on his never-ending pulsating life.
00:11:54 --> 00:12:03 And the promise here from Jesus is that change is actually possible.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:08 Don't you want that when you've been struggling with the same issue for 40 years?
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 Notice verse 16.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:24 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:33 In fact, in Romans 8, we are told the entire work of Jesus in choosing us, in making us right with God,
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 is so that we would change to be like him.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:38 That's his purpose.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:41 Everything he did.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 All of his plans.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:46 All of it.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 The loss of his glory.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 The coming to be one of us.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:50 His death on the cross.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:51 His resurrection.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:56 Everything he has done is for the purpose of fruit.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:09 His goal in Romans 8 is to change us into his image until we reflect his glory.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:20 His goal is to take us from the squalor of sin and brokenness and make us great in his presence.
00:13:21 --> 00:13:26 His goal is to glorify us and to put his beauty into our lives.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:30 He's committed to taking his life and putting his life into us.
00:13:30 --> 00:13:38 We may be pessimistic about being able to change.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 And Jesus Christ says,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:47 I am the one who brought the universe into existence by just by the sound of my voice.
00:13:47 --> 00:14:00 And all of my power is committed to changing you and dealing with every flaw, every problem, every weakness, every sin in your life.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 All of my power is directed in dealing with that.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:13 So there's the necessity of transformation because that's what God, that's what Jesus is doing in working in your life.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 Secondly, there's the organic nature of transformation.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 This is, this is really important.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:28 In the last paragraph where Jesus leaves behind the vine and the branch metaphor,
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 he says that we need to hear his word and we need to obey his commands.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:41 Now, if we had just got that, if we just got that bit,
00:14:42 --> 00:14:46 you could easily conclude that Christianity was basically a mechanical and a moral thing.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:51 In other words, to be a Christian, you just need to discipline.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 You just need the discipline to do a whole bunch of stuff.
00:14:56 --> 00:15:00 And it's just the discipline to be compliant to a whole set of rules.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:14 But the first part says that what Jesus is really after is to hook us into a vital and organic connection with him
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 so that his life becomes our life.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:28 Jesus is after organic change through a brand new internal dynamic,
00:15:28 --> 00:15:32 not mechanical compliance through external force.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 I'll say that again because it's profound.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:43 Jesus is after organic change through a brand new internal dynamic,
00:15:44 --> 00:15:48 not mechanical compliance through external force.
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 What I mean is this.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 Imagine a work colleague.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 And maybe we've all dealt with these work colleagues over the years.
00:15:57 --> 00:16:03 A work colleague who isn't, let's say, not committed to their job.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 They arrive late.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 They leave early.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:11 Anytime there's lots of work on, the team's trying to work together,
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 this person calls in sick.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 They're just not there.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:20 They're constantly undermining members of the team, gossiping about them.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:26 They're constantly complaining about the company, about the systems.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 They're constantly looking for pay rises.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:39 And then one day, human resources, call them in and read out the list of you've done this,
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 you've done this, you've done this, you've done this.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 We've got a few issues with you.
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 We need to...
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 Unbeknownst to them or maybe known to them,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 they have been kind of being performance managed for a bit
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 and these issues have been raised over some time.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:57 But in this moment in front of human resources and the boss is sitting there,
00:16:57 --> 00:17:01 all of a sudden your colleague realizes for the first time,
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 these guys actually think my behavior is really bad.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 They actually are taking this seriously.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 And I am about to lose my job.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:18 And all of a sudden their behavior, they just realize for the first time,
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 there's consequences here.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 And they break down in tears and they're begging for the job.
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 They're sobbing and they're pleading.
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 They've got bills to pay.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 They've got mouths to feed.
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 They need this job.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 They'll do whatever it takes.
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 Just give me one more chance.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:34 I'll change.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 I'll change.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 Just give me one more chance.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:46 So HR are kind and they decide not to fire him in that moment.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 And the person just walks out of there going,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 wow, I just dodged a bullet.
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 The crisis has been averted.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 What happens now?
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 They change.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 They start to arrive on time.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 They leave when others leave.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 For a while.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:13 When they think things have settled back down,
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 they start to slip back into the old habits.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 First opportunity to gossip against someone.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 Yeah, I'll jump in on that one.
00:18:20 --> 00:18:24 You see, in that moment,
00:18:25 --> 00:18:30 the short-lived changes were mechanical compliance from external force.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 They weren't driven by any form of internal change.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:39 The alternative is they don't slip back into the old habits,
00:18:39 --> 00:18:44 but they get more and more unhappy about the mechanical compliance.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 And they'll start looking for another job where they can get away with their behavior.
00:18:49 --> 00:18:55 You see, external force can restrain the heart,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 but it can't change the heart.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:05 For a short time, it, in fact, might look like real change.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 It may look like real change.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 But if there's no connection to the vine, to Jesus,
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 then it will show over time.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 So here it is.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:24 It is very typical when you first get into Christianity
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 that without realizing it,
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 you move into all sorts of mechanical compliance
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 instead of organic change.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:41 How does this body, family, this church work?
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 What do I need to do to fit in?
00:19:45 --> 00:19:49 We often put all of our focus on getting busy serving Jesus
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 instead of friendship with Jesus.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:58 We put all of our focus on getting busy serving Jesus
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 instead of friendship with Jesus.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 And when you first become a Christian,
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 you embrace the truth.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 You're not saved by good works,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 but you're saved by the grace of God
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 to you in the Lord Jesus.
00:20:10 --> 00:20:18 But that truth is so, so foreign to the human heart,
00:20:19 --> 00:20:22 it is virtually impossible to believe it.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 And so we get busy doing Christian things
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 like helping people, getting involved in the church
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 and studying lots of stuff about this newfound faith that I have.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:37 You get rid of the obvious ones, the big sins,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:39 the juicy sins in your life.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 And if you're not careful,
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 you can subconsciously start to think,
00:20:43 --> 00:20:46 surely God must love me because I'm doing all this stuff.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 I'm making some big changes in my life.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:53 And if you're not careful,
00:20:53 --> 00:21:00 what you're actually doing is you start moving into a pattern
00:21:00 --> 00:21:04 of inferring the love of God
00:21:04 --> 00:21:09 rather than experiencing the love of God.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 Surely God must love me.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:16 inferring his love
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 rather than drawing on his love.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:24 And without really drawing on Jesus' life
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 and listening to his words
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 and praying to him and knowing him
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 and walking with him and spending time with him,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:32 we are really just busy doing stuff for him.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 And when you do that,
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 after a little while,
00:21:41 --> 00:21:44 you start to realize
00:21:44 --> 00:21:48 that you aren't actually really changing much at all.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 It's possible to discover
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 three years, 13 years, 33 years,
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 down the track, sitting in church,
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 there's not much...
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 I'm really not much more loving.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 I'm not much more...
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 I've still got the same passions and desires
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 that I've had for the last 20 years.
00:22:11 --> 00:22:13 I'm no more joyful.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 I'm no more patient.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 I'm no more humble.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:21 No better at taking any criticism.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:24 I'm just as sensitive as I've always been.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 I'm not overcoming the bad habits.
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 There is, in fact,
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 very little ongoing fruit.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 Just settle.
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 Got to a point and just settle there.
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 Just been sitting there for decades.
00:22:41 --> 00:22:47 Friends, it's essential to keep coming back
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 to the center of the Christian faith.
00:22:50 --> 00:22:51 The branch is fruitful
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 because it has the life of the vine.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 It doesn't get the life of the vine
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 because it's fruitful.
00:23:00 --> 00:23:04 We are saved by grace
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 and without His grace,
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 we are not capable of producing
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 the change that God requires.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 Without His grace,
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 without His life,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:16 we can't change.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 Jesus says,
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 without me, you can do nothing.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 You can't change on the inside without me.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:26 The Paris Peace Conference,
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 also known as the Versailles Peace Conference,
00:23:30 --> 00:23:34 was the meeting of the victorious allied powers
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 following the end of World War I
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 to set the terms of peace
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 for the defeated central powers.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:44 The peace conference began in January 1919,
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 so 100 years ago now,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 and it ended a year later.
00:23:49 --> 00:23:50 That's a very long conference.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:54 I suppose they had lots of things to talk about
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 that were important.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:58 One of the delightful side stories,
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 which is not recorded,
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 I mean, the outcomes are recorded
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 about the Paris Peace Conference.
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 One of the delightful side stories
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 from the conference
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 was about members from the delegation of Arabia.
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 These delegates,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 who were connected with Lawrence of Arabia,
00:24:13 --> 00:24:17 came from a harsh desert environment,
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 nomadic life,
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 living in tents,
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 where, as you can imagine,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 food and water were relatively scarce.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 They take them from that environment,
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 and they put them in hotels in Paris
00:24:29 --> 00:24:32 for this conference.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 And the biggest thing for them
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 was that there was running water
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 in the hotel room.
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 Never discovered it before,
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43 never seen this before in their life.
00:24:43 --> 00:24:46 And when they vocated their hotel rooms,
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 the hotel discovered
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 that instead of taking the soaps
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 and the pens like the rest of us,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:53 these guys from Arabia
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 took the taps off the walls
00:24:55 --> 00:24:58 to take them back home.
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 I think they had the assumption,
00:25:01 --> 00:25:02 they had the vision of running water
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 in their tents.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:06 Get these taps and put them in the tents,
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 and we'll have running water.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 It's cute.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 They didn't know the taps were useless
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 unless they were attached to the water supply.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21 And that's what Jesus says in verses 5 and 6,
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 I am the vine,
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 you are the branches.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 If you remain in me,
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 and I in you,
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 you will bear much fruit.
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 Apart from me,
00:25:32 --> 00:25:35 you can do nothing.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 A Christian is someone
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 for whom Jesus is their life source.
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 As C.S. Lewis put it perfectly
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 in his book,
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 Mere Christianity.
00:25:46 --> 00:25:46 He says,
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 the Christian way is this,
00:25:48 --> 00:25:51 and he's pushing against
00:25:51 --> 00:25:53 the idea of just mere compliance,
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 and just obedience to rules,
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 and little bits of changes in habits.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 He says,
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 you've got it so wrong.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 The Christian life is much harder
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 and easier.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 Christ says,
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 give me your all.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 I don't want your time.
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 I don't want your money.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 I don't want your work
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 so much as I want you.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 I've not come
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 to torment
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 your ordinary self.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 I've come to kill it.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 No halfway measure.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 Hand over your whole
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 ordinary self,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 both the things you think
00:26:30 --> 00:26:30 are innocent,
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 as well as the things
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 you think are wicked.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:34 I will give you
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 a new self instead.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:36 In fact,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 I will give you myself.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 My own will
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 will become yours.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 My own life
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 will become
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 your life.
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 So,
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 how do we get this
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 vital connection with Jesus
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 so that his life,
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 this change from the inside out
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 is happening in our life?
00:26:59 --> 00:27:01 So,
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 last point,
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 the means of transformation.
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 There are four things
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 in this passage
00:27:05 --> 00:27:05 and,
00:27:06 --> 00:27:06 frankly,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 I could spend
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 a whole lot of time
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 on each one of these things.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 They're all connected
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 in one way or another.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:18 And we need
00:27:18 --> 00:27:20 all four of these things
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 to have a vital connection
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 and to see character change.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:25 All four of them
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 are essential.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 They're interconnected,
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 and they're all essential.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:29 Firstly,
00:27:31 --> 00:27:31 verse 2,
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 there's the knife
00:27:33 --> 00:27:33 of the Lord.
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 He cuts off
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 every branch in me
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 that bears no fruit
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 while every branch
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 that does bear fruit
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 he prunes
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 so that it will be
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 even more fruitful.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 Secondly,
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 there's the joy
00:27:45 --> 00:27:45 of the Lord.
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 In verse 11,
00:27:47 --> 00:27:48 I have told you this
00:27:48 --> 00:27:48 so that my joy
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 may be in you
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 and that your joy
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 may be complete.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 Thirdly,
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 there is the friendship
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 of the Lord.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 In verses 13 to 15,
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 greater love
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 has no one than this
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 to lay down
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 one's life
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 for one's friends.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 You are my friends
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 if you do what I command.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 I no longer
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 call you servants
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 because a servant
00:28:08 --> 00:28:08 does not know
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 his master's business.
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 Instead,
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 I've called you friends.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 For everything
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 that I learned
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 from my Father,
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 I have made known
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 to you.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 A really crucial one.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 Christianity
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 is not,
00:28:21 --> 00:28:21 it's about being
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 friends with Jesus,
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 it's not about
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 being servants
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 of Jesus.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:26 Finally,
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 for number four,
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 there is the love
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 of the Lord.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 Verses 9 and 10.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 As the Father
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 has loved me,
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 so have I loved you.
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 Now remain
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 in my love.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 If you keep
00:28:39 --> 00:28:39 my commands,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 you'll remain
00:28:40 --> 00:28:40 in my love
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 just as I have
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 kept my Father's
00:28:43 --> 00:28:43 commands
00:28:43 --> 00:28:44 and remain
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 in his love.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 I love the connection
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 between commands
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 and love
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 and also,
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 beginning of the passage,
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50 Jesus says,
00:28:50 --> 00:28:52 remain in me.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 And then,
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 here he says,
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 remain in my love.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 So let's just grab
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 one of them.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 One that I think
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 pushes against
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 and rubs against
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 our comfort-loving
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 culture,
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 and that is
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 the knife
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 of the Lord.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 We won't grow
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 in true
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 Jesus-like
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 character
00:29:15 --> 00:29:17 without pruning.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 It won't happen
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 without pruning.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 The end of verse 1.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 My Father
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 is the gardener.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 He cuts off
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 every branch
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 of me
00:29:27 --> 00:29:27 that bears
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 no fruit,
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 while every branch
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 that does bear fruit
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 he prunes
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 so it will be
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 even more fruitful.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:35 Now,
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 Jesus is making
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 a remarkable
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 statement.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 He's saying
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 here
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 that when
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 the knife
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 of the Lord
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 comes into
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 our life
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 and
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 things
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 get taken
00:29:48 --> 00:29:48 off,
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 these are
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 things that
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 we love
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 and hopes
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 that we
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 have,
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 when that
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 knife comes
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 into our
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 life,
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 we think
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 it's a waste.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 We see
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 all the prunings
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 and we go,
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 that's a
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 beautiful flower.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 That's a
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 beautiful
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 looking branch.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 What are you
00:30:10 --> 00:30:10 doing
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 cutting that
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 one off?
00:30:17 --> 00:30:17 Jesus
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 says that
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 God is a
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 good and
00:30:20 --> 00:30:20 skilled
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 gardener
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 and he
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 knows how
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 to prune
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 for our
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 good.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 He's,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 I'm not a
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 skilled and
00:30:32 --> 00:30:32 a good
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 gardener.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 I run
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 into a
00:30:35 --> 00:30:35 branch,
00:30:35 --> 00:30:40 I'm not
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 going to
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 have another
00:30:41 --> 00:30:41 cut,
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 you're off
00:30:42 --> 00:30:42 branch,
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 you're gone.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 I did
00:30:45 --> 00:30:45 that to
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 the tree
00:30:46 --> 00:30:46 out here
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 years ago,
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 ran into
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 it,
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 walking under
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 there one
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 night,
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 bang,
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 next morning,
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 not going
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 to happen
00:30:54 --> 00:30:54 again.
00:30:58 --> 00:31:01 I pruned
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 a plant in
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 my garden
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 about a
00:31:03 --> 00:31:03 month ago,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 it's now
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 dead.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:09 the
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 secateurs
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 get brought
00:31:10 --> 00:31:10 out with
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 a great
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 deal of
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 fear and
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 trepidation.
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 I'm not
00:31:13 --> 00:31:13 sure if I'm
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 killing it
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 or not.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 God is
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 not like
00:31:15 --> 00:31:15 that.
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 He knows
00:31:16 --> 00:31:16 what to
00:31:16 --> 00:31:16 prune for
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 our good.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 Now,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 let me
00:31:18 --> 00:31:18 clarify here,
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 God isn't
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 looking out
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 amongst
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 people and
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 asking
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 himself,
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 what will
00:31:30 --> 00:31:30 it take
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 to make
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 them look
00:31:32 --> 00:31:32 great?
00:31:33 --> 00:31:33 What will
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 it take to
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 make them
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 be great?
00:31:35 --> 00:31:38 I'll
00:31:38 --> 00:31:38 send terrible
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 things into
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 their life.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 That's not
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 what's
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 happening
00:31:43 --> 00:31:43 here.
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 This is
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 not what
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 Jesus is
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 saying.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 What
00:31:46 --> 00:31:46 Jesus is
00:31:46 --> 00:31:46 saying here
00:31:46 --> 00:31:47 is the
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 knife
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 comes on
00:31:49 --> 00:31:49 everyone.
00:31:50 --> 00:31:50 For some
00:31:50 --> 00:31:51 it prunes,
00:31:51 --> 00:31:51 for some
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 it cuts
00:31:52 --> 00:31:52 off,
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 but the
00:31:53 --> 00:31:53 knife comes
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 on everyone.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:55 He's
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 saying the
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 same knife
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 is on
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 every branch.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 God's
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 is the
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 way.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:01 It's
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 because we
00:32:02 --> 00:32:02 wrecked the
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 world at
00:32:03 --> 00:32:03 the beginning
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 of the
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 true garden
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 in the
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 garden of
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 Eden when
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 we decided
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 to reject
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 God and
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 run it
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 our way.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 And because
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 of that,
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 this world's
00:32:15 --> 00:32:15 wrecked and
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 we face the
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 consequences of
00:32:17 --> 00:32:18 living in a
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 wrecked world.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:22 because we
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 don't know how
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 to run the
00:32:23 --> 00:32:23 world.
00:32:24 --> 00:32:25 In the
00:32:25 --> 00:32:25 same way if I
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 got the
00:32:26 --> 00:32:26 keys of my
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 car and
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 handed them
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 to a
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 five-year-old
00:32:29 --> 00:32:29 and said,
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 there you
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 go.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 It won't
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 be long
00:32:32 --> 00:32:32 and the
00:32:32 --> 00:32:33 car will
00:32:33 --> 00:32:34 be wrecked.
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 Not long
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 at all.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:39 Everyone
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 faces trouble
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 and evil
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 because of
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 living in a
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 broken world.
00:32:43 --> 00:32:43 And what
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 Jesus is
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 saying here
00:32:45 --> 00:32:45 is that if
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 we are
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 hooked into
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 him,
00:32:47 --> 00:32:47 the same
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 troubles and
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 the same
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 evils,
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 that happen
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 to everyone
00:32:50 --> 00:32:50 in this
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 life,
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 will make
00:32:52 --> 00:32:52 you soft,
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 not hard.
00:32:53 --> 00:32:53 They will
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 make you
00:32:54 --> 00:32:54 more human,
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 not less
00:32:55 --> 00:32:55 human.
00:32:56 --> 00:32:56 They will
00:32:56 --> 00:32:56 make you
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 wise,
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 not stupid.
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 They will
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 make you
00:32:58 --> 00:32:58 into a
00:32:58 --> 00:32:59 great person,
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 not into
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 a small
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 person.
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 That's
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 what he's
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 saying.
00:33:04 --> 00:33:05 If
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 connected to
00:33:06 --> 00:33:06 Jesus,
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 the knife
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 will cut
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 us and
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 make us
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 for more
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 growth and
00:33:12 --> 00:33:13 for more
00:33:13 --> 00:33:13 inner
00:33:13 --> 00:33:13 transformation.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:15 But if
00:33:15 --> 00:33:15 we're not
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 connected to
00:33:16 --> 00:33:16 Jesus,
00:33:17 --> 00:33:17 the very
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 same
00:33:18 --> 00:33:18 troubles,
00:33:18 --> 00:33:18 the very
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 same
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 evils that
00:33:20 --> 00:33:20 come to
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 everyone's
00:33:21 --> 00:33:21 life will
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 cut us
00:33:22 --> 00:33:22 off.
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 It will
00:33:25 --> 00:33:25 cut us
00:33:25 --> 00:33:27 off if
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 the things
00:33:28 --> 00:33:28 that are
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 being cut
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29 off,
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 the branches
00:33:31 --> 00:33:31 that he's
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 cutting off
00:33:32 --> 00:33:34 are our
00:33:34 --> 00:33:35 vine.
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 If those
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40 things are
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 our life,
00:33:42 --> 00:33:45 if they are
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 our life
00:33:46 --> 00:33:46 source,
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 when they're
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 taken,
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 they destroy
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 us.
00:33:56 --> 00:33:56 Like the
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 person who
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 must be
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 married,
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 when they
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 finally get
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 married,
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 this is my
00:34:01 --> 00:34:01 life source,
00:34:01 --> 00:34:02 and all of a
00:34:02 --> 00:34:02 sudden the
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 marriage is a
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 disaster,
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 and they
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 grow in
00:34:06 --> 00:34:07 more and
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 more in
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 bitterness.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 happiness.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 It's the
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 difference
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 between
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 enjoying and
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 feeling the
00:34:15 --> 00:34:15 loss of the
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 thing that's
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 been taken
00:34:16 --> 00:34:18 away, and
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 that thing in
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 fact being
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 your joy.
00:34:23 --> 00:34:23 When Jesus
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 isn't the
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 vine, but
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25 something else
00:34:25 --> 00:34:28 is, that is
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 it's your
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 meaning, it's
00:34:29 --> 00:34:29 your hope, it's
00:34:29 --> 00:34:31 your joy, we
00:34:31 --> 00:34:32 are crushed
00:34:32 --> 00:34:32 when it's
00:34:32 --> 00:34:33 lost.
00:34:33 --> 00:34:35 But if
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 Jesus is your
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 life source,
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 then when you
00:34:38 --> 00:34:40 get pruned,
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 what you do
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 in that
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 moment, like a
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 plant, when it
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 gets pruned, it
00:34:45 --> 00:34:47 draws, it
00:34:47 --> 00:34:49 draws on the
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 life source, it
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 draws on the
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 trunk, it
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 starts to heal
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 and grow
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 again.
00:34:58 --> 00:35:00 We draw on
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 his word, we
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 draw on his
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 promises, we
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 draw on his
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 commands, you
00:35:05 --> 00:35:05 listen to him
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 speak to you
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 through his
00:35:07 --> 00:35:07 word, you
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 draw on his
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 love, you
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 draw on the
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 friendship that
00:35:11 --> 00:35:11 you have with
00:35:11 --> 00:35:12 God, you
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 draw on his
00:35:13 --> 00:35:15 joy for you
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 and over you
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 and of you, you
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 see Jesus
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 Christ was cut
00:35:19 --> 00:35:20 off from God.
00:35:20 --> 00:35:20 See, that's the
00:35:20 --> 00:35:21 thing we've got to
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 remember here.
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 When we are in
00:35:23 --> 00:35:23 that furnace, when
00:35:23 --> 00:35:25 we're facing the
00:35:25 --> 00:35:25 knife of the
00:35:25 --> 00:35:26 Lord, we must
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 see that Jesus
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 Christ was cut
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 off from God.
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 He went to
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 the cross
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 cross for us
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 so that we
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 only ever have
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 to face being
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39 cut back from
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 God, being cut
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 back by God.
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 As Isaiah
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 says, Jesus was
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 cut off from the
00:35:47 --> 00:35:47 land of the
00:35:47 --> 00:35:47 living.
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50 He was only
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 ever cut off, he
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 was cut off so
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 that we only have
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 to face being
00:35:54 --> 00:35:54 cut back.
00:35:56 --> 00:35:57 As hard as it
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 might be for us
00:35:58 --> 00:35:59 at times, it was
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 infinitely harder
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 for him.
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 The more we
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 think about what
00:36:03 --> 00:36:03 he has done
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 for us, the
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 more we're able
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06 to take the
00:36:06 --> 00:36:06 cuts.
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 Through the
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 knife of the
00:36:11 --> 00:36:13 Lord, you
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 draw more and
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 more on the
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 love of the
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 Lord.
00:36:16 --> 00:36:26 recently, I've
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 got to say
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 personally, I've
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 been feeling the
00:36:28 --> 00:36:28 knife of the
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30 Lord in a range
00:36:30 --> 00:36:30 of areas, but
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32 one area
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 especially that
00:36:33 --> 00:36:35 has been really
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 challenging me in
00:36:36 --> 00:36:36 terms of the
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 knife of the
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 Lord in
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 difficulty is as
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 a father.
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 It's been
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 particularly tough
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 lately.
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 God has been
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 pushing me to
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 my limit of
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 my capacity
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 and what's
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 been surfacing
00:36:50 --> 00:36:52 for me is
00:36:52 --> 00:36:52 one of the
00:36:52 --> 00:36:54 controlling idols
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 of my heart,
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 which we've all
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56 got them, but
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 one of the
00:36:57 --> 00:36:58 controlling idols
00:36:58 --> 00:36:58 of my heart,
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 which is
00:36:59 --> 00:36:59 control.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 It's so much
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 easier when your
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 kids are one,
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 two and three,
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 you just pick
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 them up and
00:37:04 --> 00:37:08 you can't do
00:37:08 --> 00:37:08 that as they
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 get older.
00:37:10 --> 00:37:11 And so it
00:37:11 --> 00:37:13 draws up and
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 it pushes you
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 to your limit
00:37:14 --> 00:37:15 and draws up
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 what is
00:37:15 --> 00:37:18 default setting
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 of how I
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 would behave.
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 What I'm
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 finding at the
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 moment is that
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 I'm seeing it
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 more.
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 God is bringing
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 to my life
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 more.
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 I'm not liking
00:37:29 --> 00:37:29 it.
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 I'm confessing.
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 I'm discovering
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 more in God's
00:37:34 --> 00:37:35 word about his
00:37:35 --> 00:37:38 control over the
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 circumstances of
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 my life and
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 everything.
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 I'm finding that
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 I'm praying more
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 for his enabling,
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 for his wisdom,
00:37:45 --> 00:37:45 for his love,
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 for his joy.
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 I'm slowly
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 resting on him
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 more.
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 I've just
00:37:49 --> 00:37:51 realized that
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 what God has
00:37:52 --> 00:37:52 been doing in
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 my life over
00:37:53 --> 00:37:55 here in
00:37:55 --> 00:37:56 drawing an
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 idol of my
00:37:57 --> 00:37:58 heart to the
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58 surface through
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 this circumstance
00:37:59 --> 00:38:01 is absolutely
00:38:01 --> 00:38:02 essential for
00:38:02 --> 00:38:03 St. Paul's
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 right now as
00:38:04 --> 00:38:04 well.
00:38:05 --> 00:38:06 Isn't it good
00:38:06 --> 00:38:06 the way he
00:38:06 --> 00:38:07 does that?
00:38:07 --> 00:38:09 that this
00:38:09 --> 00:38:11 idol is
00:38:11 --> 00:38:13 not just
00:38:13 --> 00:38:13 about me
00:38:13 --> 00:38:14 being a
00:38:14 --> 00:38:14 dad, but
00:38:14 --> 00:38:15 it's about
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15 me being a
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 husband, it's
00:38:16 --> 00:38:16 about me being
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18 a man, it's
00:38:18 --> 00:38:19 about me being
00:38:19 --> 00:38:20 the leader of
00:38:20 --> 00:38:21 this church as
00:38:21 --> 00:38:21 well.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 See, right
00:38:22 --> 00:38:22 now we are
00:38:22 --> 00:38:23 seeking to
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 equip leaders
00:38:24 --> 00:38:25 and to push
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 decision-making
00:38:26 --> 00:38:26 right now.
00:38:27 --> 00:38:28 And an
00:38:28 --> 00:38:28 idol, sorry,
00:38:29 --> 00:38:30 not idol, a
00:38:30 --> 00:38:31 mentor of mine
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 said some time
00:38:32 --> 00:38:33 ago, one of the
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33 differences
00:38:33 --> 00:38:34 between our
00:38:34 --> 00:38:36 system, the
00:38:36 --> 00:38:37 way we sit,
00:38:37 --> 00:38:37 one of the
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 things that we
00:38:38 --> 00:38:38 love in
00:38:38 --> 00:38:39 Anglican
00:38:39 --> 00:38:40 churches compared
00:38:40 --> 00:38:40 to his
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42 system, which
00:38:42 --> 00:38:42 is a major
00:38:42 --> 00:38:43 hindrance for
00:38:43 --> 00:38:44 us, is that
00:38:44 --> 00:38:46 we love order
00:38:46 --> 00:38:46 and control.
00:38:49 --> 00:38:50 We love it.
00:38:51 --> 00:38:52 Maybe, you
00:38:52 --> 00:38:55 know, so, and
00:38:55 --> 00:38:56 so I've been
00:38:56 --> 00:38:57 reflecting on
00:38:57 --> 00:38:59 that and God's
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 been cutting
00:39:00 --> 00:39:00 back, cutting
00:39:00 --> 00:39:01 back, cutting
00:39:01 --> 00:39:01 back, help me
00:39:01 --> 00:39:02 see, you don't
00:39:02 --> 00:39:03 have control.
00:39:03 --> 00:39:04 You think you
00:39:04 --> 00:39:04 do, but you
00:39:04 --> 00:39:05 don't have
00:39:05 --> 00:39:05 control.
00:39:06 --> 00:39:07 You can't
00:39:07 --> 00:39:08 even control
00:39:08 --> 00:39:09 the people you
00:39:09 --> 00:39:10 brought into
00:39:10 --> 00:39:10 this world, for
00:39:10 --> 00:39:11 goodness sake.
00:39:11 --> 00:39:11 You can't
00:39:11 --> 00:39:12 control that.
00:39:16 --> 00:39:17 And so what I'm
00:39:17 --> 00:39:17 realising is the
00:39:17 --> 00:39:18 big thing, the
00:39:18 --> 00:39:19 big desire of my
00:39:19 --> 00:39:21 heart to develop
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22 here in this
00:39:22 --> 00:39:24 church, to see
00:39:24 --> 00:39:26 people in this
00:39:26 --> 00:39:26 church empowered
00:39:26 --> 00:39:27 and released for
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 ministry, the
00:39:29 --> 00:39:31 hindrances are
00:39:31 --> 00:39:32 not just systems,
00:39:32 --> 00:39:33 systems, they're
00:39:33 --> 00:39:34 not just
00:39:34 --> 00:39:36 structures, but
00:39:36 --> 00:39:36 hearts.
00:39:38 --> 00:39:38 And it
00:39:38 --> 00:39:39 begins with my
00:39:39 --> 00:39:39 heart.
00:39:43 --> 00:39:44 Oh, how
00:39:44 --> 00:39:46 difficult it
00:39:46 --> 00:39:48 was, and yet
00:39:48 --> 00:39:49 how beautiful it
00:39:49 --> 00:39:50 was to, and I'm
00:39:50 --> 00:39:51 grateful for, for a
00:39:51 --> 00:39:53 very quick rebuke
00:39:53 --> 00:39:54 from a brother on
00:39:54 --> 00:39:55 Friday afternoon
00:39:55 --> 00:39:57 that saw this
00:39:57 --> 00:39:58 default setting of
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 mind come to the
00:39:59 --> 00:39:59 surface.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:03 Just very
00:40:03 --> 00:40:04 quickly, uh-uh-uh.
00:40:05 --> 00:40:06 Not your call,
00:40:06 --> 00:40:06 Steve.
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09 That was so...
00:40:09 --> 00:40:13 the sinful side.
00:40:14 --> 00:40:15 What do you mean
00:40:15 --> 00:40:15 not my call?
00:40:16 --> 00:40:16 I'm the senior
00:40:16 --> 00:40:17 minister of this
00:40:17 --> 00:40:17 church.
00:40:21 --> 00:40:21 Control, Steve.
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 Holy Spirit,
00:40:23 --> 00:40:24 control, control,
00:40:24 --> 00:40:25 control.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29 What is it for
00:40:29 --> 00:40:29 you that God
00:40:29 --> 00:40:30 needs to work in
00:40:30 --> 00:40:31 your heart?
00:40:32 --> 00:40:32 C.S. Lewis
00:40:32 --> 00:40:33 writes in
00:40:33 --> 00:40:34 Mere Christianity,
00:40:34 --> 00:40:36 we must not be
00:40:36 --> 00:40:37 surprised if we
00:40:37 --> 00:40:38 are in for a
00:40:38 --> 00:40:39 rough time.
00:40:40 --> 00:40:40 When a person
00:40:40 --> 00:40:41 turns to Christ
00:40:41 --> 00:40:42 and seems to be
00:40:42 --> 00:40:43 getting on pretty
00:40:43 --> 00:40:45 well, he now
00:40:45 --> 00:40:45 thinks it would
00:40:45 --> 00:40:46 be natural if
00:40:46 --> 00:40:47 things now went
00:40:47 --> 00:40:48 on more smoothly.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:50 When troubles
00:40:50 --> 00:40:51 come along,
00:40:51 --> 00:40:52 though, when
00:40:52 --> 00:40:52 troubles come
00:40:52 --> 00:40:53 along, illnesses,
00:40:54 --> 00:40:54 money troubles,
00:40:54 --> 00:40:55 new temptations,
00:40:55 --> 00:40:56 you begin to get
00:40:56 --> 00:40:56 disappointed.
00:40:57 --> 00:40:57 Why is this
00:40:57 --> 00:40:58 happening now?
00:40:59 --> 00:41:00 Didn't I already
00:41:00 --> 00:41:01 give myself to
00:41:01 --> 00:41:01 God?
00:41:01 --> 00:41:01 God.
00:41:03 --> 00:41:05 It's because God
00:41:05 --> 00:41:06 is forcing us
00:41:06 --> 00:41:06 onward and
00:41:06 --> 00:41:07 upward to a
00:41:07 --> 00:41:08 higher level.
00:41:09 --> 00:41:10 He's putting us
00:41:10 --> 00:41:11 into situations
00:41:11 --> 00:41:12 where we have to
00:41:12 --> 00:41:14 be much more
00:41:14 --> 00:41:15 braver, much
00:41:15 --> 00:41:16 more patient,
00:41:16 --> 00:41:16 much more
00:41:16 --> 00:41:19 loving, much
00:41:19 --> 00:41:20 less in control
00:41:20 --> 00:41:22 than we've ever
00:41:22 --> 00:41:23 dreamed before.
00:41:23 --> 00:41:25 It seems
00:41:25 --> 00:41:28 unnecessary to
00:41:28 --> 00:41:28 us.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:29 It's only
00:41:29 --> 00:41:30 because we've
00:41:30 --> 00:41:31 not got the
00:41:31 --> 00:41:33 slightest idea
00:41:33 --> 00:41:34 of the
00:41:34 --> 00:41:35 tremendous thing
00:41:35 --> 00:41:35 that he needs
00:41:35 --> 00:41:36 to make of
00:41:36 --> 00:41:36 us.
00:41:38 --> 00:41:38 Imagine
00:41:38 --> 00:41:39 yourself, he
00:41:39 --> 00:41:40 says, as a
00:41:40 --> 00:41:41 living house.
00:41:42 --> 00:41:44 First, God
00:41:44 --> 00:41:44 comes in to
00:41:44 --> 00:41:45 make some
00:41:45 --> 00:41:46 repairs and you
00:41:46 --> 00:41:47 understand what
00:41:47 --> 00:41:47 he's doing.
00:41:47 --> 00:41:49 He fixes the
00:41:49 --> 00:41:49 drains and the
00:41:49 --> 00:41:50 leaking roof and
00:41:50 --> 00:41:51 you understand,
00:41:51 --> 00:41:51 yeah, that
00:41:51 --> 00:41:53 important work
00:41:53 --> 00:41:53 that needs to
00:41:53 --> 00:41:54 be done.
00:41:55 --> 00:41:56 You're not
00:41:56 --> 00:41:56 surprised.
00:41:57 --> 00:41:58 But then,
00:41:59 --> 00:42:00 he starts
00:42:00 --> 00:42:00 knocking the
00:42:00 --> 00:42:01 house about
00:42:01 --> 00:42:03 in ways that
00:42:03 --> 00:42:04 hurt
00:42:04 --> 00:42:05 abominably,
00:42:06 --> 00:42:07 if I can say
00:42:07 --> 00:42:07 that word.
00:42:08 --> 00:42:09 And it makes
00:42:09 --> 00:42:10 no sense.
00:42:11 --> 00:42:12 What's he up
00:42:12 --> 00:42:12 to?
00:42:14 --> 00:42:14 Then the
00:42:14 --> 00:42:15 explanation
00:42:15 --> 00:42:17 comes that
00:42:17 --> 00:42:18 he's building a
00:42:18 --> 00:42:19 very different
00:42:19 --> 00:42:20 house than the
00:42:20 --> 00:42:21 one that you
00:42:21 --> 00:42:21 thought he was
00:42:21 --> 00:42:22 building.
00:42:23 --> 00:42:24 He's throwing
00:42:24 --> 00:42:24 off a new
00:42:24 --> 00:42:25 wing in this
00:42:25 --> 00:42:25 direction.
00:42:26 --> 00:42:26 He's putting up
00:42:26 --> 00:42:27 a tower there.
00:42:27 --> 00:42:29 Now, he's
00:42:29 --> 00:42:29 making this
00:42:29 --> 00:42:30 courtyard.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:34 You thought
00:42:34 --> 00:42:36 you were being
00:42:36 --> 00:42:36 made into a
00:42:36 --> 00:42:37 decent little
00:42:37 --> 00:42:38 cottage.
00:42:39 --> 00:42:40 He's building
00:42:40 --> 00:42:41 a palace
00:42:41 --> 00:42:43 because he
00:42:43 --> 00:42:44 intends to
00:42:44 --> 00:42:44 live in it.
00:42:46 --> 00:42:47 Jesus said,
00:42:48 --> 00:42:49 I am the
00:42:49 --> 00:42:50 vine, you
00:42:50 --> 00:42:51 are the
00:42:51 --> 00:42:52 branches, I
00:42:52 --> 00:42:53 have appointed
00:42:53 --> 00:42:53 you for
00:42:53 --> 00:42:55 greatness, and
00:42:55 --> 00:42:56 I'm fitting
00:42:56 --> 00:42:57 you out to
00:42:57 --> 00:42:58 live with
00:42:58 --> 00:42:58 me in
00:42:58 --> 00:42:59 greatness
00:42:59 --> 00:43:00 forever.
00:43:01 --> 00:43:02 I'm cutting
00:43:02 --> 00:43:04 you back, not
00:43:04 --> 00:43:04 cutting you
00:43:04 --> 00:43:05 off.
00:43:05 --> 00:43:05 I'm cutting
00:43:05 --> 00:43:05 you off.
00:43:05 --> 00:43:06 I'm cutting
00:43:06 --> 00:43:06 you off.