Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Well, a couple of weeks ago we started this series called headship and we looked at the whole thing. What would it look like for us as the church to fully rely on Jesus?
[00:00:19] I know my own life, that I fall short very, very quickly, me when I do not rely on Jesus, when I rely on myself.
[00:00:30] And we looked at what society is made up of. Society is made up of this man made, self reliant kind of culture and self made culture that says, go it alone, don't trust anybody else.
[00:00:48] Set up life as you want to do it.
[00:00:55] And this is the lie that the enemy has sold us.
[00:00:59] He sells us this lie that says, this is true freedom when you go it alone.
[00:01:06] But it's not. It's not true freedom.
[00:01:11] There is greater pain, and I am going to be a bit of a prophet of doom a little bit today, so excuse me for that. But there is greater pressure and pain upon society like never before because we've gone it alone, because we've been our own masters, because we've been self reliant.
[00:01:37] I want to remind ourselves this morning that Jesus is the head of his church.
[00:01:45] Regardless of what we do with our lives, regardless of what we say, Jesus will always be the head of his church. He is the head we looked last time. He is the head over all things.
[00:02:00] Everything is under his feet. Just think about that for a moment. Everything is under his feet. He is the head over every power, over every authority in him. All things were created by him and for him and in him. He is the head of all things. And we're going to read now if you want to turn to Colossians, let's get our paper copies. Let's go for it. We're going to turn to Colossians chapter two. And we're going to read now about the fullness that we have in Christ.
[00:02:41] So, Colossians, chapter two, we're going to start from verse six, so it says. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness. I mean, if I say nothing else for the rest of this sermon, there's your instruction, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith, overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. And in Christ you have been brought to fullness.
[00:03:48] Let's just rewind a little bit there.
[00:03:53] In Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in Christ. You have been brought to fullness. Incredible. He is the head over every power and authority in him. You were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self, ruled by the flesh, was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us, he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. Thank you, Lawson, today for taking us to the cross and the blood of Jesus in our worship and having disarmed the powers and authorities. Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to the religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ.
[00:05:28] Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great deal about what they have seen. They are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. May God bless his word to us. This morning.
[00:06:08] You know, the church didn't start because some great businessman or woman CEO, executive director decided one day that he was going to get a board of people round a table and come up with the idea of the church.
[00:06:28] Okay?
[00:06:30] It didn't start that way by some clever person. The church started because a loving father so loved the world.
[00:06:42] A loving father saw the devastation and the separation of sin, sickness and death that was created on the earth. And a loving father sent his sinless, perfect, selfless, one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die a sacrificial death for you and me.
[00:07:11] See, the point in history when the church started was when Jesus Christ rose from the grave. He came out of that tomb and the Holy Spirit breathed new life upon the believers. That happened over 2000 years ago, the church conceived in the heart of God.
[00:07:36] The church is not man made.
[00:07:40] I think we forget that sometimes.
[00:07:44] I think as leaders, we forget that sometimes it is not man made. It is birthed in the heart of God.
[00:07:53] And I imagine if we are all honest here this morning, if the church was manmade, if the church was a business, how many of us would be here today?
[00:08:11] I believe the sad downfall of churches across the nations, and we have seen the downfall of churches across the nations has been at times the result of man trying to live or lead a business venture rather than a kingdom venture.
[00:08:38] God help us, God forgive us when we treat his body, his church, like a business venture, something we just tap into and tap out of, something we use to our advantage.
[00:08:58] Help us, Lord.
[00:09:02] Where churches have sadly lost connection with the head.
[00:09:08] And if you read the story or the churches in revelation story, sorry, the accounts of revelation and what God will do to the churches who have lost connection with the head, he just wipes them out.
[00:09:21] They shut, they close.
[00:09:25] I believe these churches started with great intention, but somewhere along the way, the journey, they've lost connection with their head. Maybe you are here this morning, you started the journey well in Christ, but somewhere along the journey of life, you've lost connection to the head.
[00:09:53] I want to tell you this morning, don't wait for an appeal where you are right now.
[00:10:02] Bow your head. You can bow your head while I'm talking. You can kneel while I'm talking if you want to come out here, even while I'm talking. And you say, I want to publicly just give my life back to Christ, you do it. You do it this morning. There's no time like now.
[00:10:20] Return to Jesus. You know Austin's in Newton Abbott? Anybody know Austin's in Newton Abbott? What? A flagship store for Newton Abbott. I love the perfume section, it's so expensive. So I literally just look and go. But it's beautiful. The store is amazing. Well, recently, if you know of what's happened in Newton Abbot, they have celebrated a hundred years in business.
[00:10:46] A hundred years. And Mr. Austin, I think he was the third generation, if I'm right. Am I right? He was the third generation. He was given a speech in the town center saying how great Austin's had done over a hundred years.
[00:11:03] Unfortunately, I don't think Austin's will be here in 2000 years time.
[00:11:08] But let me, I guarantee the church of Jesus Christ will. If the return of Christ has not happened, the Church of Jesus Christ will still be here. And you know, in every generation we have a responsibility as the church, we have a responsibility to say not only do we believe that Jesus is the head, but we are going to throw all our lot in. We're going to put all our eggs in his basket. We're going to be the generation that fully trusts Jesus as the head. We're not just going to know it in our knower. Our lives are going to reflect it. You know, we are soldiers. We are soldiers of Jesus Christ.
[00:11:58] If some days you don't feel pretty and the battle is raging, you must be doing something right.
[00:12:07] Because we're soldiers. I think sometimes the church thinks we're all pretty angels just floating around, just turning up, doing our thing.
[00:12:18] The enemy is out to take us.
[00:12:22] He's out to get us.
[00:12:26] But Jesus is the head.
[00:12:30] He's the commander in chief. He's the CEO.
[00:12:34] He's so amazing. He's so great.
[00:12:39] But we have got to stop relying on ourselves. Church.
[00:12:45] What would it look like for the church to fully rely on Jesus, to fully rely on him in a world. And here's a bit of doom and gloom, but I believe a generation coming up is going to see some wild things.
[00:13:04] God is on the move.
[00:13:06] And at the greatest point of tension across the face of the earth, there's going to be the greatest point of the church being so glorious. Come on. But the two, it's like the wheat and the tears are growing side by side.
[00:13:26] Are we going to make it?
[00:13:30] Are we going to make it? Fully relying on Christ.
[00:13:36] We cannot lose connection with the head this morning, and I'm not going to be that long. But I want to pick on two things this morning that I believe will help us in our journey as a church, but also two quite serious things that I think the church has lost at the moment. And I don't mean the church new to now, but I mean the church.
[00:13:58] The first thing I want to bring this morning is I believe we've stopped looking at Calvary.
[00:14:04] I think we've stopped looking at Calvary.
[00:14:08] I think we do our communion and we do our bit of okay, yeah, Jesus died for me. Okay. But every single day, the power of the cross has got to mean something to us every single day. Not a little ritual that we do, not a little. Once a year we come to Easter and we look at the sacrifice that Jesus made.
[00:14:37] But it is an everyday power of the cross. Turn quickly to hebrews twelve. That's just. Is it after James or before James? Just before James, right. Hebrews twelve says this really quickly.
[00:14:53] Verses two and three. Are you all still with me like this has been on me all week. It isn't nice for preachers. You know that, don't you? You know it's not easy.
[00:15:03] Hebrews twelve two to three.
[00:15:06] It says this, okay, let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him. He endured the cross, scorning its shame, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I love that. Because obedience always leads you to the throne and presence of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart for the joy that was set before him.
[00:15:42] Can I just spell this out a little bit this morning? If you've not considered what hell looks like in a long time, consider it this morning.
[00:15:53] Because hell and the pit of hell is an eternal torment, separated from the love, the presence, the grace of God, not just for five minutes, but for all eternity.
[00:16:12] And the reality is that my sin outside of Christ was taking me there.
[00:16:21] At this moment in time, there are thousands of people in Newton Abbott who do not know of the saving gospel message of Jesus Christ.
[00:16:37] What a reality.
[00:16:40] And until we fully know the love of Jesus at the cross, until that fully sinks in and we grasp that it was a leader. Remember last time we said it was a leadership of love.
[00:16:53] The thorns in his head, the nails in his hands, the feet washing servant, the leadership of love. Until we fully grasp as the church, the cross of Calvary, we will not live in the fullness of what the cross means.
[00:17:20] Jesus had joy going to the cross, not because, hey, this pain's going to be nothing to me. I used to think that as a child that Jesus had this joy of going because the pain wouldn't hurt him. I believe he suffered.
[00:17:35] I believe he felt every single mark that was on him, inflicted on him.
[00:17:43] Okay? It wasn't that kind of joy.
[00:17:46] The joy that he felt is because he saw the redemption of the church being let loose from the power of Satan and the hold of Satan over our lives.
[00:18:04] And I'm not so sure we fully grasped that as the church in his pain and in his punishment. That's what brought us our peace.
[00:18:26] So when you're going through pain and punishment church, where you feel that sense of, I feel like I'm being punished, or I feel like life's not delivering what it should to me. I want you to remember the cross of Calvary, because he knows what pain feels like. He knows what it's like to be scorned he knows the affliction. He knows the rejection.
[00:18:52] And yet he did it for the redemption of the church today.
[00:18:59] There's a redemption today, and there's a final redemption. I haven't got time to go in it now. But the kingdom has come. The kingdom is coming.
[00:19:07] It's the dynamics of the kingdom. But we can live in the fullness of the kingdom and the cross of Calvary today because we are chosen, we are adopted. We know it. Some of us have got to reel this off our tongues this week. Don't feel like it. But it's not about your feelings. It's about the truth. I am chosen. I am adopted. Through his blood, I have the forgiveness of my sins. I'm not carrying shame anymore. I'm not blaming anybody anymore. I have complete grace and forgiveness and kindness.
[00:19:45] See, his death, his sacrifice resulted in many, many souls in many, many souls. Are we believing for the many, many souls in Newton Abbott?
[00:19:59] Let's weep. Let's weep for those who do not yet know him. Come on, church, let's weep together. Let's be the church that says, you know our focus when we planted this church. We will always say that it is for the lost.
[00:20:14] We want to see the lost return home. We want people absolutely saying yes to Jesus and find the fullness of all that God has for them. At the foot of the cross.
[00:20:27] Church, we are his joy. He paid an enormous price so that we would stay connected to the head.
[00:20:37] An enormous price so that we can live life to the full even in our darkest moments.
[00:20:49] Look back at Calvary and walk today in its fullness.
[00:20:56] Look back at Calvary, but walk today in his fullness and fully rely on the accomplished work at the cross. Second thing I just want to bring this morning, I believe we've allowed the voice of Jesus to be drowned out of our lives.
[00:21:16] Deuteronomy one. Phil picked on it. We keep like overlapping, which is brilliant.
[00:21:21] Deuteronomy one. The Israelites, God had rescued them from Egypt. Yeah, he'd rescued them.
[00:21:29] And this is a bit like us sometimes. God has done everything for us at the cross through Jesus.
[00:21:36] But we've got to work out the salvation.
[00:21:41] The Israelites were happy that God had rescued them from Egypt for a certain time, but they would never fully rely on him for the next lap of the journey. This is what they said in verse 26. I haven't got time to turn in it now. They said this. It's shocking, absolutely shocking what they say about God. They said, he hates us.
[00:22:06] God must hate us. In verse 26.
[00:22:12] They said, God has brought us out of Egypt to face the Amorites, and for the Amorites to then kill us.
[00:22:24] If the Israelites had have known the voice of the shepherd, if they'd have known the voice of God, they'd have known that God does not hate them.
[00:22:36] They would have known that God was for them, not against them. They would have known that no matter how difficult life is getting in the natural, God has got this covered.
[00:22:51] Can you imagine a church like that?
[00:22:55] Can you imagine the faith in the room?
[00:23:00] How many of us are guilty at times for living like that? We've seen some miracles, but because we have not known the voice of the shepherd, we're stuck. We can't go any further.
[00:23:18] When we wake up every morning, whose is the first voice that we hear?
[00:23:24] Whose is the first voice when we go to sleep at night?
[00:23:29] Whose is the last voice that we hear during the day, in the middle of the day, when you're at work or you're in that stressful business meeting or something, whose voice are we hearing?
[00:23:44] Jesus said in John, he said, my sheep know my voice.
[00:23:52] My sheep know my voice. Ruben, will you come out this morning and fill. Where's Rue? Has he done a runner? Oh, he's here. Brilliant. Okay. I thought he was going to do a runner.
[00:24:04] Come on, let's give him a round. Applause. Come on out.
[00:24:10] Right, okay, Ruben. And this is purely for illustration this morning, okay? Like, purely for illustration. Ruben, what I would love you to do is we just come here. Let's get a bit of room here. Right, I want you to lift up that chair.
[00:24:23] All right? And you've got one arm. All right, to lift that chair up. Can you go for it? Okay, try and lift that chair up.
[00:24:32] No, you can't do like, just. Oh, actually, no, you can. Yeah, yeah. No, do one leg. Yeah, you've got. For the point of.
[00:24:41] Okay, come on, Ruben. Keep, keep going. Keep lifting it up. This represents. Okay, Ruben going through life. Keep going. Rue, Ruben's going through life. In fact, do you want to just try and do it? No, because you might bash somebody, I guess like a e. Okay, keep going, Ruben. Come on, keep going. So this represents Ruben, come on, you've got to try. Try your hardest. Keep going, keep going. All right, this represents Ruben and the challenges in life. Okay? And he comes to a crossroads in his life that day. And the crossroads is this. Right?
[00:25:16] Lord, I've been. Keep going, keep going. Don't make it too easy. And he's at the crossroads. And he's like, I don't know what to do in this situation.
[00:25:27] I don't know what to do. Okay. And he has two choices. He can either put the chair down, just throw it down, right.
[00:25:37] Walk away and walk away. All right. Or he's in the middle of his dilemma. Grab the chair again, Ruben. Keep going.
[00:25:46] He's going to absolutely go for me afterwards. Okay. Right. Or he's at the crossroads and he says, do you know what I remember the voice of the shepherd. And this is what the voice of the shepherd says. Trust in the Lord with Okigo.
[00:26:05] Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
[00:26:08] Never rely on what you think you know.
[00:26:12] Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.
[00:26:24] How easy is that?
[00:26:27] Okay, you can put it down now.
[00:26:31] Thanks, guys.
[00:26:33] He's at the crossroads.
[00:26:36] There is sin going one way, right?
[00:26:40] And I think these dilemmas happen. Well, they do to me two, three, four times every day, maybe more.
[00:26:52] It might be that you've got a big decision to make and we have a choice whether we're going to do it in our own strength, but we know where that's going to land, right? Or we're here at the crossroads and we're like, lord, I've been praying for a long time, but I'm not getting any answers. And it's at that point, church that we have got to remember the voice of the shepherd.
[00:27:17] Are we going to trust in his voice? Are we going to trust in his leading? Because when Reuben's at the crossroads, he will be bombarded with so many voices.
[00:27:41] Young people, you're praying for that life partner or older people. Doesn't have to be young people.
[00:27:52] You're praying for that life partner. And you've been praying a long time.
[00:27:56] And you're at the crossroads, but you remember the voice of the shepherd.
[00:28:05] I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans that are going to prosper you.
[00:28:12] I'll never leave you or forsake you.
[00:28:15] You're not an orphan. You're a son, you're a daughter. You are highly valued, and you are highly loved.
[00:28:23] And what happens is when we start listening to the voice of the shepherd, we find a stability, a joy, an assurance, and a hope come over our lives.
[00:28:43] It pains Phil and I, and I know there's some pastoral guys here when we go on pastoral meetings with people. And one of the first things I like to say to people, especially if they've been followers of Jesus for a long time, is, what's the shepherd been saying to you recently?
[00:29:05] What has the shepherd been saying?
[00:29:08] What has the voice of Jesus been saying to you recently? Because if people won't listen, who've been following Christ for a long time, won't listen to the voice of the shepherd, what makes us think they're going to listen to our voice?
[00:29:24] The voice of the shepherd. We can rely on him.
[00:29:34] I want to tell you as well, and I haven't got time to go into this, but time and time again when I have been at the crossroads and I haven't known what to do, and here's the other thing as well. We have a backup plan. Mind you, he's more than a backup plan. But you understand what I'm saying in this context, we have the Holy spirit.
[00:29:55] Because if we're at the crossroads, some of you might say, well, I haven't really meditated a lot on the word of God. And I forget things and, you know, all the excuses we give ourselves. Like, I'm there and I haven't got my bible and I haven't got this with me and I haven't got that.
[00:30:09] We've got the Holy Spirit living inside us. And this is the role of the Holy Spirit. One of the roles. Jesus said that the father's going to send you another advocate, a helper, a comforter, who is going to cause you to remember everything that I've said.
[00:30:30] So there's no get out clause church.
[00:30:35] He's got it all covered for every eventuality, for every crossroad. But we have got to listen to the voice of the shepherd.
[00:30:47] I would be a goner. It was Women's international day a couple of days ago and I remember just saying this prayer and I think I posted it out on social media, but I said, lord, I'm thankful for all the achievements. I'm thankful that I'm a mother. I'm thankful for the lives I've been able to touch over 2030 years. I thank you for all of the achievements. But what it boils down to is this. I owe Jesus my life because I would be a goner without him, an absolute goner.
[00:31:18] I would not be here without him. Can you imagine what our lives would look like on a daily basis if we kept recalling the voice of the shepherd?
[00:31:34] But in order to do that, you and I know we've got to meditate on the word of God. It's no joke, is it? Because there's going to be increasing pressure coming on the world.
[00:31:48] It is subtle, but it comes suddenly.
[00:31:52] It is, it's coming. If it hasn't already started. There is a pressure coming on the world.
[00:32:00] And when we look to Calvary and live in the fullness today and when we listen out for the voice of the shepherd, he's going to sustain us. The head is going to grow us.
[00:32:16] I believe we will see miracles and miracles actually, as we're connected to the head, we're going to see more in our time.
[00:32:26] I want this generation coming up. Phil and I are in our forty s and we have such a passion, you know, we do for young people and young adults in their twenty s and thirty s. But we want to leave this next generation knowing exactly how to hear the voice of the shepherd.
[00:32:48] That's part of our discipleship plan. If that's the one thing we do pass on, this is how we listen. This is how we hear the voice of the shepherd, then we will do you just bow your heads this morning, we've just read in colossians it is from the head that the whole body is supported and held together and grows.
[00:33:22] It is from the head, Christ, the whole body is supported and held together and grows. That is freedom, that is wholeness, our peace, our security, our strength in a world that is quickly dying.
[00:33:42] Holy Spirit, we welcome you here this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for the greatest gift that you sent the world, Father, the great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
[00:34:06] Your punishment brought my peace.
[00:34:16] The pain that you endured brought my freedom from sin, sickness and death.
[00:34:31] And Lord, for us as a church, I pray, Father, that every day we would sit and visit the cross of Calvary.
[00:34:46] Lord, we thank you for the power of the cross.
[00:34:56] We thank you, Lord, that you have redeemed us for such a time as this, to live in the fullness of all that you have for us.
[00:35:13] For those this morning who are experiencing fear, for those this morning whose bodies are sick, for those this morning who are carrying weights and burdens.
[00:35:35] We thank you, Lord, for the fullness of the cross.
[00:35:41] We thank you, Father.
[00:35:48] And Lord, we thank you for the voice of the shepherd.
[00:35:52] I pray, Lord, that this week as a church, that we would hear the voice of the shepherd, the voice of Jesus above every other voice.
[00:36:03] Above every other voice.
[00:36:07] You said, lord, that my sheep know my voice.
[00:36:11] Pray for us as a church, Lord, that we would find what you are saying and speak your word in all truth. Lord, this week. Let me just read some of this.
[00:36:29] What the voice of the shepherd says to us.
[00:36:32] Put on the armor of God.
[00:36:36] Put on the armor of God. Go to Ephesians. You can find it. Haven't got time this morning. Put on the armor of God and you'll stand firm.
[00:36:45] Submit yourself to God and resist the devil.
[00:36:49] This is the voice of the shepherd.
[00:36:52] He says the devil is a liar.
[00:36:55] The voice of the shepherd. He's a thief. He's a murderer.
[00:37:01] We've been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the sun. He loves.
[00:37:14] He's given you all power and authority over the enemy.
[00:37:22] For some of us this week. Well, for all of us. It's time to activate.
[00:37:28] Activate the word of God.
[00:37:31] In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Amen.
