1 00:00:09,850 --> 00:00:12,890 Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South 2 00:00:12,890 --> 00:00:17,490 Australia. Can we open our Bibles to second 3 00:00:17,530 --> 00:00:20,010 Peter? This is actually a scripture 4 00:00:20,010 --> 00:00:24,090 that Peter, our Peter bought us this morning in our prayer time. 5 00:00:24,210 --> 00:00:27,090 So it starts in verse. Well, we're going to start in 6 00:00:27,090 --> 00:00:30,290 verse 3, but it does start in verse one to second Peter 7 00:00:30,290 --> 00:00:37,960 chapter one, verse 3. His divine power, whose power? 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:46,560 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to 9 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,880 life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us 10 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:59,680 to His own glory and excellence, Verse 4, by which He has granted 11 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:06,480 to us His precious and very great promises, so that through 12 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,640 them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having 13 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,200 escaped from corruption that is in the world because of sinful 14 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,200 desire. So Liza just shared, there's 15 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,920 something in here that when we can't, He can. 16 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,080 Why? Because His power has granted to 17 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,760 us all things when we can't, he can because it's his power at 18 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,440 work in US. Why? 19 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,640 Because of our knowledge of him who called us through his glory 20 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,720 and excellence. Earlier on Paul, Peter writes 21 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,360 and he says like to those he opens a letter saying to those 22 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,760 who have obtained a faith of equal standing to ours. 23 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,200 Peter, an apostle building the church, he goes, I'm writing to 24 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,520 all those believers. You have an equal standing with 25 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,600 me because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 26 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,480 And then he goes on and says, and he's given us all things 27 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,680 through his divine power, through our knowledge of him, 28 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,760 and he has granted to us precious and very great 29 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,080 promises. Now something about this verse 30 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,760 which is quite interesting. We often when we claim this and 31 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,120 we claim it and it's OK to do this as well when we claim the 32 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,680 promises of God and we say, you know God, you've you've given me 33 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,720 the divine power like you've granted to me the divine power, 34 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,120 the his divine power has granted to me all things that pertain to 35 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,080 life and godliness. And it's not wrong necessarily 36 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,400 to quote it like that, but the Scripture doesn't use the word 37 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,200 me, which is, I found this very interesting when I was reading 38 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:42,760 this after Pete shared it this morning. 39 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:51,240 Says his divine power has granted to us all things that 40 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,600 pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who 41 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,000 called us to his own glory and grace. 42 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,440 And then it goes on. It says he has granted to us his 43 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:04,240 precious and very great promises. 44 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,440 Over the last couple of weeks we've been talking about this 45 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,760 idea of community and fellowship and stuff like that. 46 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,600 And just even reading this, it made me realize again that 47 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,840 actually the only way that I can fully take hold of everything 48 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,800 that God has for me is by the US. 49 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,160 It's by walking with us. The only way that I can actually 50 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:36,600 truly experience all of God's promises is to actually walk in 51 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,840 the togetherness of God's people. 52 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,120 So this isn't just me claiming the promises of God, but it's us 53 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:45,800 together claiming the promises of God. 54 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:52,000 It's us together taking hold of his divine power and we, we 55 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,720 think about that his divine power has granted to us all 56 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,000 things he's granted to us and, and to me when we, when we're 57 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,040 standing alongside each other, like as as Dave was sharing 58 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,160 today, like across our city, there are churches exulting 59 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,640 Jesus. Across our city, people are 60 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,280 getting saved. Across our city, people are 61 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,720 getting baptized. Across the world, people are 62 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,399 getting saved. No church can exist and take 63 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:19,720 hold of everything that God has for it without also standing 64 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,560 shoulder to shoulder with other churches in that city. 65 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,920 There is something that God has created in all of us that says 66 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:30,480 the only way you can fully take hold of all of God's promises is 67 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,920 when you actually come shoulder to shoulder with God's people 68 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,520 and standing together in the US. His divine power has given us 69 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,880 all things. And so as we're going to unpack 70 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,440 this, we're going to look at this thing when when Paul writes 71 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,360 and other writers as they write through the New Testament, they 72 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,760 sometimes they write to leaders and say, leaders, you need to do 73 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,920 this and to to parents and to Saints. 74 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,520 But then every now and then he uses these phrases and he goes, 75 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:03,080 let us he goes. So it doesn't matter if you're 76 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,480 an apostle, a leader, a parent, a child, a retired person, a 77 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,960 doctor, it doesn't matter. These are things that we do 78 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,400 shoulder to shoulder and as we do it shoulder to shoulder, we 79 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,120 actually grow up and take hold of everything that God has for 80 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,160 us. Does that make sense? 81 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:25,840 And so when when the writers say this, I think it's really 82 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:28,000 important that we say, you know, let us. 83 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,520 Let us. I was thinking about this. 84 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,160 I love my parents. They're married 39 years next 85 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,040 week. But it's quite funny when I ask 86 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,640 my mum and I'm like, hey, what are you doing on the weekend? 87 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:47,280 And she says, oh, we're going to clean the gutters now. 88 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,440 It takes me a SEC because my mum does not clean the gutters. 89 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,520 My dad cleans the gutters. But somehow it's become an us 90 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,200 thing when it's not really an us thing. 91 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:04,040 That's not what Paul's writing. This is an opportunity for me or 92 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,800 Dave or something to be like, well, when we say us, we really 93 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,760 mean you. But it's also not an opportunity 94 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,760 for me to sit here and be like, he's saying us, but he really 95 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:19,600 means, really means you. When we say us, This Is Us. 96 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,280 And there's something precious when the people of God say, you 97 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:24,880 know what? We own us. 98 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,280 Because this thing is not just a vertical thing. 99 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,080 God has called every single believer into a local church to 100 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,520 walk this out horizontally. He's called every local church 101 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,160 to walk it out horizontally with churches in that city. 102 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,360 And he's taught, taught every church in city to walk it out 103 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,080 horizontally in their nation and in the nations of the world. 104 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,400 Because there's something so amazing when church people in 105 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,480 churches work, walk shoulder to shoulder, and taking hold of his 106 00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:00,920 precious promises. And so my calling, what God has 107 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,120 called me to do, can only be fully realized in the context of 108 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,680 the people of God. And what God has called you to 109 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,880 do can only be fully realized in the context of the people of 110 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,680 God, in a horizontal context. And there's two things that 111 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:22,480 Jesus is busy doing in the world today #1 he's rescuing people 112 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,200 from the Kingdom of darkness. He is. 113 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,400 He is saving people from their sins, from the power of death 114 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,920 and darkness. And the second thing he is doing 115 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,040 is preparing a bride. He's calling all of us to be, to 116 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,320 grow up as a mature bride, radiant and spotless. 117 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,040 He's saying, so it's not just enough that you added into the 118 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,480 family. It's that you walk as part of 119 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,560 that family. It's that you own the US thing. 120 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:48,600 There's something about families. 121 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:50,520 We're not. We're not visitors to the House 122 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,440 of God. Like when you're a visitor, I 123 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,760 serve you, I, I, I ministered to you, but when you become part of 124 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,880 my family, we own it together. It's an US thing. 125 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:06,280 Let us, let us. And so we're going to look at a 126 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:11,240 few of these let us statements and we're just going to, we're 127 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,000 just going to go through them. There's quite a few. 128 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000 We're not going to go through all of them, but we're just 129 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:16,440 going to start and say, thank God. 130 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,120 This is an opportunity for us to walk side by side and saying, 131 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,400 let us because for me to stand next to Dave and say, come on, 132 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,000 let us do this. Not me to say, Hey, Dave, you 133 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,880 need to I'm like, no us. Let us step into everything that 134 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,120 God has called us to do. So why don't you open your 135 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:40,480 Bibles to Romans chapter 12. This is the first. 136 00:08:40,840 --> 00:09:07,440 Let us. Romans 12 verse 6 having gifts 137 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:15,000 that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use 138 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,960 them. So Paul is not saying, hey, 139 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,480 according to the gifts that God has given you use the gifts. 140 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,000 He's not saying according to the gifts given to me, I'm going to 141 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,200 use my gift. It's going to go actually, God 142 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,840 has given every single person a gift, something that they bring 143 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,200 to the table to build the body of Christ, every single one of 144 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,720 us. God has brought us to this local 145 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,960 church in this city in this time, in this season, in this 146 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:50,000 day and age, in this century. God has brought us together to 147 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:56,080 build his church. Every single one of us having 148 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,720 gifts that differ according to the grace given us. 149 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:05,680 Let us use them as we walk together in as shoulder to 150 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:07,520 shoulder. As I say, it's not just about me 151 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:12,160 and the gift that God has given me, but it's about me walking 152 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:14,160 shoulder to shoulder with Dan and be like, what's the gift 153 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:15,720 he's given you, man? Go for it. 154 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,760 Use it. Use it with everything that you 155 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,040 have. Find out what God has given you 156 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:22,920 and give yourself wholeheartedly to that. 157 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,520 I said, God, you've given me a grace, you've given me a gift, 158 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,080 you've given me something. And in the, the context, I can 159 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,800 go to God and say, God, you know, what's the gift you've 160 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:36,280 given me? But I can also go to other 161 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:37,680 people and say, Hey, what do you think the gift is? 162 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,200 God has given me. And they say, man, you know, God 163 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,960 has given you this gift. Go for it, run for it. 164 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,080 You know, the church should be the most encouraging place on 165 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,760 the planet because we're all walking around and saying, Hey, 166 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,560 God has given you this gift to run. 167 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,520 Run in the gift that God has given you, find a way to use it. 168 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:59,360 Find a way to use it. And I'm sure many of you are 169 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,000 obviously a little bit younger, but I'm sure many of us know 170 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,000 that if you don't use a particular part of your body, it 171 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,240 begins to get a bit stiff. And so Paul's saying he's kind 172 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,280 of going, man, you need people alongside of you who say just 173 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,040 just start working that gift. Just start using it. 174 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,960 Find a way to use it. I love some of the guys in our 175 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,880 church, even though they can't do what they used to do as 176 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:28,560 saying, God, you've given me a gift to use, find a way to use 177 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:30,840 it. And so they've found ways to use 178 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,280 the gift God has given them, even though it might be the 179 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,720 season of life or restrictions or whatever have limited them in 180 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:39,640 being the way that they actually use it. 181 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,200 Does that make sense? And so we say to God, and we 182 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:44,960 say, God, you've given me a grace. 183 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:49,640 It says according to the grace given to us, let us use our 184 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,800 gifts. And so you go, God, I'm not sure 185 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:57,160 how to use my gift. Find a way, God, help me to find 186 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,120 a way and go to people and say how, how can I use my gift? 187 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,560 And we should also be walking around to each other and say, 188 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,400 hey, what's the gift that God, God has given you? 189 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,040 He said, my gift, is this OK? Do it with all your mind. 190 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,440 Do it with all your mind. Throw yourself at what God has 191 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,560 called you to do. They say we are meant to be the 192 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:23,320 most encouraging people on the planet to say, hey, God has 193 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,920 given you a gift to run for it, go for it. 194 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,160 Throw yourself wholeheartedly at that thing. 195 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,720 It's interesting when you read this list. 196 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,720 It's not church rosters. It doesn't list music team, 197 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:37,760 doesn't list greeting at the door. 198 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,800 It's things like prophecy, leadership, and teaching. 199 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,880 It's gifts of mercy. It's gifts of generosity. 200 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,480 It's kind of go man, has God-given you an ability to make 201 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,440 wealth? Man, be generous with everything 202 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,480 you've got. Has God-given you a gift of 203 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:54,680 leadership? Please lead. 204 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,000 Go for it. If God has given you a gift of 205 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,840 prophecy, that's why we're we open up the mic, We say, hey, if 206 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:01,960 somebody's got a gift, we want you to use it. 207 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,200 We're going to find a way for you to use it. 208 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,920 We want to encourage you use it. Press into God for the gifts 209 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,880 that he's given you. Amen. 210 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:17,160 First thing, let us use our gifts according to the grace 211 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:25,920 given us. Romans 13, Paul goes on. 212 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:29,840 I feel like Paul writes most of these. 213 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,760 It's a thing. He did write 2/3 in the New 214 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,320 Testament, so we'd expect to find them a lot here. 215 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:44,160 Romans 13 and verse 12 says the night is far gone, the day is at 216 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:52,880 hand, So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on 217 00:13:53,280 --> 00:14:01,520 the armour of light. Verse 13 let us walk properly as 218 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,920 in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual 219 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:10,160 morality sensuality, not in quarrelling and jealousy, but 220 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:15,880 put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh 221 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,560 to gratify his desires. First glance, probably an 222 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,160 interesting scripture, but the point is the context here. 223 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,120 When he starts in verse 12, he's saying the night is far gone, 224 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,280 the day is at hand so that let us cast off the works of 225 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,760 darkness. There's something in this 226 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,880 scripture that pulls saying, man, as the people of God, we 227 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:40,240 should be reminding us all that these are the last days are the 228 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:45,440 last days. Like Paul saying we, we in 229 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:50,840 kindness, we don't have time to mess around like that's a that's 230 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,160 an encouraging thing. Like we, we should be standing 231 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:57,280 alongside each other and saying, Hey, we, we are called to live 232 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,800 differently. So let's live differently. 233 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,760 Like he's saying, let's cast off the works of darkness. 234 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,560 Put on the armor of light, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, live 235 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,520 as a witness to the people around you because the days are 236 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:14,120 short and we should be people who when we're shoulder to 237 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,280 shoulder, we're standing side by side with with Dave and we're 238 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,480 kind of going, mate, we've got to cast. 239 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,640 We've got to live differently. We've got to live as a witness. 240 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:24,440 Why? Because God has called us to 241 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,000 live as a witness. So that because the days are 242 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,760 short and it's an encouraging thing when I'm walking with 243 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,040 David and saying, hey, Dave, we've got to deal with things. 244 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:35,240 Why? Because the days are short. 245 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:36,400 We don't have time to mess around. 246 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,120 It's it's a sobering thought to realize that we're actually in 247 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:42,880 the the last days of the last days. 248 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,040 But the guys in the New Testament, they wrote about it 249 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,440 all the time. They wrote about it all the 250 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,840 time. They wrote about eternities like 251 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,280 this. Heaven and earth is going to 252 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:53,760 wrap up. Jesus is going to return. 253 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,400 And if they wrote it 2000 years ago, we must be a lot closer. 254 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,480 We have to be. It's just logical, right? 255 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,520 But Paul's writing is saying, hey, the night is far gone. 256 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:08,120 The day is almost here, like the day, the glorious day. 257 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,920 So let's cast off the works of darkness and actually show 258 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:15,160 people what the what God's people are meant to be like. 259 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,400 Let's actually live as the people of light. 260 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,920 Let's actually put on Jesus Christ because these people like 261 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:23,880 they're sitting there kind of going, you know, tomorrow I will 262 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,400 do that. Tomorrow I'll change my ways, 263 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:32,000 but I can't today or I won't today or, you know, I just want 264 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,680 to do that thing today. He's going to just cast it off 265 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,680 because the day is short. As the people of God, we stand 266 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,440 shoulder to shoulder encouraging each other. 267 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,160 Hey, remember, these are these are the last days of the last 268 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,320 days. We don't have time to mess 269 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:50,520 around. So it's a, as I say, it's, it's 270 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,400 a very pointed point, but it's a point nonetheless that we stand 271 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,040 next to each other and say, hey, and we don't have time to mess 272 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,040 around. This thing is going to wrap up. 273 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,800 So we don't have time to continue living the way that we 274 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,920 have lived. Like it's time for us to 275 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,960 actually shine our light. And that's, that's the crux of 276 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,760 this encouragement. It's time for us to shine our 277 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,000 light as the people of God. We're walking together and 278 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,400 saying, you know what? I cannot live the same as the 279 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,839 person next to me. I cannot live the same way as my 280 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:22,440 neighbors. I have to live differently 281 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,359 because I have to see something in me that's different. 282 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:32,040 Let us use our gifts. Let us cast off the works of 283 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,400 darkness, put on the armor of light, shine as witnesses to the 284 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:45,760 world around us. Romans chapter fourteen 12/13/14 285 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:53,440 verse 13. Sure, you guys can participate 286 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:59,320 now you know where we're going. Therefore, not pass judgement on 287 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:03,160 one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a 288 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:07,520 stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 289 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:09,560 We're going to skip down to verse 19. 290 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:16,960 It says so then let us, we'll get there. 291 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,880 Pursue what makes a peace. And for mutual upbuilding verse, 292 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,760 we just skipped like 6 verses. I encourage you to read them. 293 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,120 But you know, this, this whole text here, this whole let us 294 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:32,240 it's around pursuing unity. I mean, I don't know if you 295 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:38,040 caught that in that first one. It's pretty, pretty full on when 296 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:40,680 he says, let us not pass judgement on one another any 297 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:45,480 longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or 298 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:46,680 hindrance in the way of a brother. 299 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:52,400 I'd decide never to put a hindrance. 300 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,000 And then going on, you know, let us pursue what makes peace and 301 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,400 mutual upbuilding. There's something in the 302 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,920 togetherness. It's not so much that like we're 303 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,440 coming and saying, you know, you need to fix this relationship or 304 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:06,080 I need to fix this relationship or whatever. 305 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,240 It's actually us coming together again, shoulder to shoulder 306 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,480 saying, man, we're going to walk together. 307 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,600 We got to walk together. Because remember, the only way 308 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,920 that I can take hold of God's promises for my life is not just 309 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,560 my relationship with God, it's my relationship with people. 310 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,720 And so if my relationship with God's people is in any way 311 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,840 fractured, I lose something of what I can take hold of in God. 312 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:39,240 If my relationship with anyone of you is fractured and I've put 313 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:43,840 a stumbling block in the way of us relating to each other, there 314 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,440 is something of the promises of God that I am not able to take 315 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,840 hold of. And there's something in the 316 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:50,880 promises of God that you're not able to take hold of. 317 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,280 It's, it's, it's a pretty big thing this. 318 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,560 And we spoke a number of weeks ago around preserving unity and 319 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,160 chasing that at all costs. Why? 320 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,080 Because if we truly understand that the only way we can take 321 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,240 hold of all of his promises is by walking together, then we're 322 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:10,840 going to say, man, there is nothing. 323 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,680 I cannot afford to put anything in between me and Colin. 324 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,400 I cannot afford to put anything in here because this is way too 325 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,960 important. This is way too important for me 326 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:24,600 to afford to put anything in between. 327 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,680 And so I'm going to do everything at all costs to 328 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,320 preserve unity. And I understand that that's 329 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,880 easier said than done in some cases, but that's where we come 330 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:45,800 together in US, in US who say, man, let's walk out us together. 331 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,320 And if we're struggling to preserve unity, then we go us, 332 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,160 hey, us, we are responsible for preserving this. 333 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,200 So it's, it's all well and good that maybe I don't have an 334 00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,760 issue, but then somebody else has an issue. 335 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,280 And then we've got a third party issue. 336 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:06,200 And like, let us preserve unity. This is an us thing. 337 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,680 And Paul writes and he says, hey, let us not pass judgement 338 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,760 and decide never to put us some. I wonder if you can make that 339 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,960 decision today. I will never put a stumbling 340 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:25,120 block in the way of a brother and I will pursue you peace and 341 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:30,240 mutual upbuilding at all costs. And that's a challenging thing 342 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,120 for the way that we speak, for the way that we act. 343 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:35,280 We say, I'm never going to put something here because then it 344 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,960 stops you in your tracks sometimes and you're like, oh, 345 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,280 hang on, this is an US thing. This relationship is way too 346 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,360 important for me to afford to put something in there. 347 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:55,920 Let us, let us. Galatians 69 skipped a few 348 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:05,010 letters here. It's it just carries on the 349 00:22:05,010 --> 00:22:06,930 back. It carries on the back of this 350 00:22:07,330 --> 00:22:15,250 Galatians 69 to 10. Let us not grow weary of doing 351 00:22:15,250 --> 00:22:20,090 good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. 352 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,680 Let us not grow weary of doing good. 353 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,040 And then it goes on in verse 10. So then as we have opportunity, 354 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,200 let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are of 355 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,080 the household of faith. This is a challenging one 356 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,200 because I don't know how many times I've thought, you know 357 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,240 what, I've done it enough. I should have learned by now, 358 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:56,920 let us never grow tired of doing good, especially to those of the 359 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,720 household of faith. You know how many times are like 360 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,440 you know what I'll just leave it It's it's up to them now I've 361 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,600 done it No, no, no, let us not grow weary of doing good and 362 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:09,400 I'll again. It's one of these things that we 363 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,520 can only walk out together because there's something that 364 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,600 happens when I get tired of doing good, I'm like, man, I'm 365 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,640 going to do it again. And Dave comes alongside, say, 366 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,680 yeah, but let us never grow tired, grow weary of doing good. 367 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,080 I'm like, yeah, you're right, Yeah, you're right. 368 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,200 Because in my own strength, if I try and walk this thing out on 369 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,040 my own in isolation, then, man, I'm going to grow weary and 370 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,920 tired of doing good. You know what happens when they 371 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,040 take a bit of charcoal out of the fireplace and you put it out 372 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,640 by its own? It goes cold very quickly. 373 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,000 And so when I try and live this out and apart from the the 374 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,320 togetherness and I don't reach out and I don't kind of say, 375 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:54,640 hey, guys, I'm getting tired in this. 376 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,560 I'm getting tired of doing good. And I try and take my own like 377 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,440 I'm trying to do this. And they come across, yeah. 378 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:07,880 But let us, let us do good. Let us as a church do good. 379 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,120 Like do you, do you know that this church cannot actually take 380 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:14,720 hold of all the promises of God unless every single person 381 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:22,400 carries an attitude of let us, let us together do good. 382 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:42,730 Let us Philippians 3. So let us use the gifts that God 383 00:24:42,730 --> 00:24:46,010 has given us. Let us live as a witness. 384 00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:47,850 Let us pursue unity at all costs. 385 00:24:51,930 --> 00:25:01,160 And Philippians chapter 3, verse 15. 386 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:07,840 Oh, sorry, no, we're going to start a bit earlier. 387 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:14,200 Sorry. Verse 13, verse 13, it says, 388 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:19,800 brothers, I do not consider that I've made it on my own, but one 389 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:24,320 thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to 390 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:31,920 what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of 391 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,640 the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 392 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:41,080 And now verse 15, let those of us who are mature think this 393 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,120 way. And then it's quite funny. 394 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:44,880 There goes. And if any of you think 395 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,760 otherwise, it's very pointed. Any of you think otherwise? 396 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,080 God will reveal that also to you. 397 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,840 Clearly he's he's realizing some people are not as mature. 398 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,640 But anyway, let those of us who are mature. 399 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,880 I think this way. In what way is Paul referring to 400 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,040 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of 401 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:11,080 Christ. And this one thing I do forget 402 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:16,520 what lies behind straining forward to what lies ahead. 403 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:21,480 I press on towards the goal of the upward call of God in Christ 404 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,320 Jesus. Doesn't matter what life stage 405 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,080 we're at or where we're where we're at in anything. 406 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,880 If our walk of God, there is an upward call in him. 407 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,280 There is always an upward call in God. 408 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,320 And as I said earlier, the church is meant to be the most 409 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,520 encouraging place on the planet. When you walk in, not only am I 410 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,760 saying, hey, use the gifts that God has called you to do, but 411 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,920 I'm also saying, man, God has so much more ahead of you thinking 412 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:57,000 you can even think or imagine. Let us press on toward the goal 413 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,640 for the prize of the upward calling Christ Jesus. 414 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:04,400 It's amazing when when Paul even he gets to the end of his life 415 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,240 in Second Timothy and he's writing. 416 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,640 He said, I've I've fought the good fight. 417 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:13,080 I finished the race, Paul. He's right in his last days. 418 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,440 So I've finished the race. You're like cool, Ministry's 419 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,320 done. And then at the end of Timothy, 420 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:19,840 he's like, oh, but get the parchments. 421 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:21,360 Bring them here because I've still got work to do. 422 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:26,200 He's kind of going, I may have, I may have finished this season, 423 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,120 but actually there's still an upward calling God that I still 424 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:30,840 need to pursue. So bring me my parchments 425 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:32,040 because I've still got work to do. 426 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,640 And and we should be people that are walking alongside and 427 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,720 saying, man, there is still more in God for you. 428 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:43,440 There is still more in God for me. 429 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,480 Whenever I kind of go, man, what am I doing? 430 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,200 Have I made it all of this kind of stuff? 431 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,200 God says there's an, you know, people in in the church are 432 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:52,960 like, yeah, but there's an upward call in God. 433 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:55,720 There's an upward call. There's still more. 434 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,160 There's still more. None of us will ever get to a 435 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,360 point. Well, like I've done it all. 436 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,960 I've seen it all. You know, I've bought that 437 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,600 T-shirt. God, Take Me Home and you're 438 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,680 like, no, no, there, if you're here, there is an upward 439 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,720 calling. God, there is an upward call. 440 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,280 There is something greater that God wants to do in this church 441 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,360 in this city than we have ever seen before. 442 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,560 You know, we can, we can be people who can kind of go, oh 443 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,600 man, you know, remember the good old days. 444 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,440 Remember the days when XYZ happened and this happened and 445 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,480 churches were packed and, you know, all of that kind of stuff 446 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,200 going, yeah, forget what is behind. 447 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,840 There's an upward call. There's an upward call. 448 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,240 As I said, Jesus busy building to doing two things. 449 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,200 Number one, saving people, rescuing people. 450 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,880 But #2 he's preparing a bride, radiant and spotless. 451 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,680 And later on in Revelation, it says the bride has made herself 452 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:55,560 ready. The church is still preparing 453 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,560 herself. But it's an US thing. 454 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:03,560 It's an US thing. God has called us to build his 455 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,600 church answer together thing. It's an US thing. 456 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,200 We spoke last week around the canonia, the word canonia and 457 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,160 it's this word partnership. It's this. 458 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,000 It's the same word that Paul writes and he uses this word 459 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,440 partnership. It's not just fellowship. 460 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,560 We think in our meetings we're like, Oh yeah, we got a got a 461 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,560 music time and sermon time and then we've got a fellowship 462 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,240 time. But the word canonia is not a 463 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:36,080 specific time slot in a meeting. It's actually a partnership, a 464 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:39,120 shoulder to shoulder, walking out of what God has. 465 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,360 Can you imagine? Can you imagine a church that is 466 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,480 so encouraging, that is standing side by side? 467 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,200 I said, man, you've got a gift run in it. 468 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,840 You've got this run in it. Hey, we're pursuing unity. 469 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,080 We're making sure there's nothing in between US, man. 470 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,240 We're living as we're encouraging each other to live 471 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,600 as as with our armor of light to put on the Lord Jesus. 472 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,880 We're walking side by side, shoulder to shoulder. 473 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,400 It's not leaders doing it and telling people to do it. 474 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,680 It's the people doing it to the people and encouraging everyone. 475 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:14,800 Leaders would be so encouraged. Why? 476 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:16,800 Because everyone's encouraging them to lead. 477 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,640 Everyone's saying you've got a gift of leadership, please lead 478 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,080 us. It would be the most amazing 479 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,200 church on the planet. Yeah, that's God's dream. 480 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:34,840 That's God's dream, that we as people in this church across the 481 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,640 city, across the nations of the world, one bride as, as Dave was 482 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,520 referring to, like, this is the glimpse of the end days. 483 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,880 Like we get to live in a glimpse of what God actually wants to 484 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:52,800 do. All across our city, all across 485 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,720 our nation, there are people gathered saying, let us exalt 486 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,600 him together. Let us mature one another. 487 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:05,040 Let us gather together. Let us live as witnesses in the 488 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:09,800 world. Let us use our gifts as we stand 489 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,240 shoulder to shoulder encouraging each other coming together and 490 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,800 say, I'm committed to this as much as I'm committed to this. 491 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,000 I wonder if if you're as committed to building a 492 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,880 relationship with the people in this church as you are to 493 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,680 praying and reading a Bible. Like that's a good vertical 494 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,440 thing. But I'm also like man 495 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,720 fellowship. Let us me encouraging Dave when 496 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:39,840 I'm reading something like man Dave needs to hear this. 497 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:46,120 Let us, let us, and I want to encourage us this morning that 498 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:52,120 this, as we've been talking over the last few weeks on Fellowship 499 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,800 and Canonia, that it goes beyond meeting together. 500 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,880 It's, it's so much more than just this. 501 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,640 It's actually us being partners together in God's call. 502 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,200 It's realizing that every single person has an opportunity to 503 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:16,000 build his church, Capital C, We have an opportunity to build his 504 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,840 church not just here, but across the city, across the nations of 505 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,080 the world. And we should be the most 506 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,000 encouraging people standing shoulder to shoulder to men. 507 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:30,400 Let us do this. Let us take hold of all that God 508 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,520 has for us. We'll read our opening scripture 509 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:38,200 again in Second Peter. It says His divine power has 510 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:44,640 granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness 511 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,160 through the knowledge of him who called us. 512 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:53,040 And if we look around this room, God called us. 513 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,840 God called us. He called you, He called me, but 514 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,160 he called us together. And the early church, they 515 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,720 walked in this thing that was just like, man, it's not so much 516 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:07,040 about me and you, but it's us. He called us. 517 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:12,440 He called us by his own glory and excellence. 518 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,600 He's granted to us precious and very great promises. 519 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,360 It's us. I wonder just in our hearts if 520 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:26,440 we can just hold this thing of saying, man, God, let us. 521 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:29,920 When you pray for this church, do you pray? 522 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,400 Man? God, let us take hold of this 523 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,200 because it's so easy. It's so easy in our prayer time 524 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,920 to be like, man, I pray that you would take hold of this. 525 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:41,880 Thank God, let us take hold of this together. 526 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:45,280 So easy to pray for the leaders and we need to pray for our 527 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:47,200 leaders as well. You know, pray for them. 528 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,280 You say man God, but let us grow up. 529 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,640 Let us become mature. Let us live out this thing 530 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,760 because the more the US together, the more we reflect of 531 00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:59,480 what he's doing in through the world. 532 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:06,840 Thank you for joining us for today's message. 533 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,760 For more information about The Way Church, please visit 534 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,719 ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot AU. 535 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:14,080 Have a blessed day.