Revolution

[0:00] Acts 17 verse 6 it says, And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying,! These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.

[0:25] These that have turned the world upside down have come. Let us pray. Lord we thank you for your word, for our time here and for our gathering together, for the truth of it, that it would impact every life we pray. Help us to be more like Christ we ask. In his name, Amen.

[0:44] The Christians, when they showed up, the world thought of them that they had turned everything upside down. There was a disturbance to the status quo. It was shocking, it was disturbing.

[0:58] There was an uproar, there was a revolution that happened when the Christians stepped in to the scene. Everything was turned upside down when the Christians showed up.

[1:09] And Christianity, real true Christianity, Bible Christianity is revolutionary. It's revolutionary, it's revolutionary, this book. That's why they ban it in some countries in the world today.

[1:22] This is an illegal book. It's a banned book because it's too revolutionary. Christianity, this message is counter cultural. And it ought to be that for us here in Australia too.

[1:36] Christianity, if it's real, it should be counter cultural. Different from the culture of Australia.

[1:46] Different from that which was the settled state of play. When the Christians showed up. The frame of reference was different. The frame of reference, as it were, was turned upside down.

[2:00] Or really, right side up. Really right side up. And it's time for revolution today. Amen. We need to be revolutionaries. Don't we? We ought to be.

[2:13] Because it's revolutionary, this message. The message of salvation. The message of revolution. In our nation, in our lives. It's about what is our frame of reference.

[2:26] Our frame of reference. That which we look at the world by. Our orientation. A coordinate system. A language.

[2:44] The frame of reference that we adopt. Every one of us. Comes through what we receive. Whether we're indoctrinated by the world's media. Or entertainment. Or the education system.

[2:58] Or more rightly, you could call the misinformation system. Of our post-modernistic, relativistic society. We all have a frame of reference. A frame of reference that sets the coordinates. That determines our way of thinking.

[3:13] That calibrates the thinking. Of our mind. Of our life. That sets the framework for our lives. The frame of reference is what we measure things by. How we decide things.

[3:25] And we need to have a frame of reference that is certain and sure and steadfast. Something that is reliable and sure. By which we can specify and measure and filter things and decide things.

[3:41] We all will use a frame of reference. For example, we could see this ball. It's moving, isn't it? It's moving. This ball is moving.

[3:56] Why do we say this ball is moving? It's moving in relation to the frame of reference. To the ground. To the pulpit here. It's moving in relation to that frame of reference as it were.

[4:13] Now, it's stationary. It's stationary. Because in relation to the frame of reference, it's stationary. In relation to the ground. In relation to the object it's sitting on, it is stationary.

[4:27] It is a fixed object. We call it fixed because of the frame of reference. Because of that in which it is relation to. But in reality, this ball is still moving. In reality, every one of you, though you think you're sitting still, you're actually moving.

[4:42] You're actually moving. And you know, it's like I've heard it said, things are moving very fast these days. People say that, don't they? It's moving faster than in the old days, as it were.

[4:55] You know, things are moving very fast. Consider, consider for a moment how fast you are actually travelling right this very minute. How fast you are going, even while you are sitting still. So you think. In relation to the walls of this building, you are sitting still.

[5:11] In relation to that frame of reference, in relation to these walls, you are still. But, you are actually moving. If you are sitting on the equator, the Earth reaches speeds of about 1600 kilometres per hour.

[5:25] So you are moving pretty fast right now. Over 16, well some 1600 kilometres an hour, if you are at the equator. And you are also going around the sun at about 107,000 kilometres an hour.

[5:39] Not only that, but the solar system is moving at about 900,000 kilometres an hour in relation to another frame of reference, in relation to the Milky Way.

[5:51] And not only that, but our galaxy itself is moving at over a million kilometres an hour in relation to the local group of galaxies in which it is stationed.

[6:03] So it's about your frame of reference. This ball is moving very, very fast right now. Amen. Because it's in relation to the frame of reference. And so, no wonder you sometimes feel, things are moving too fast for me.

[6:19] I need to slow down a bit. Okay. Because the Earth is moving. In fact, I have just read of late by authority of the internet, so it must be accurate.

[6:30] The Earth is moving the fastest for the year right about now. They measure the speed of the Earth. And apparently in January 2011, it's quite a fast time for the Earth right now.

[6:41] So, no wonder you're feeling a bit tired, some of you here this morning. But it is starting to slow down, so you can look forward to that. But friends, seriously, it's about frame of reference. Now what am I on about, you might ask.

[6:54] And I wonder that myself sometimes. But where are we in relation to certain coordinates? In relation to certain coordinates. Life is about measuring things by certain coordinates. Life calls for coordinates.

[7:08] A moral compass which some have lost. And how are we moving? Each of us, all of us need to set for our lives a standpoint by which everything is measured, by which everything is relative to.

[7:26] What am I saying today? I'm talking about your life with Christ. Talking about your life with God. Your life in relation to the things that really matter. The things that really count in relation to what you believe.

[7:39] How you act. How you live. It's all relative to our frame of reference. Do we have the right frame of reference? That's the question. Do we have the right frame of reference? Is our life measured by what God says in His Holy Word?

[7:55] That is what matters. How we decide things. How we work out things. It should be in relation to this frame of reference. It should be in relation to this authority above which there is no other.

[8:07] And this authority does not change. It's not interpreted or rewritten. This authority is an authority that we can stake our life and eternity upon.

[8:22] And so we think, friends, think of it for yourself. Is it the world that sets your frame of reference? Is it what the world says is right? Is it what the world says is true?

[8:34] We have educators here today. People have been teachers, school teachers or are teachers of their own children. As we all ought to be as parents in one way or another.

[8:45] And certainly I think more so than less so. We are all teaching and we are all learning. There are people sitting in classrooms getting fed information that is not true according to this frame of reference.

[8:59] Amen? They are being told that they are an evolved bit of organism that is tracing back through their ancestors with some little slime crawling out of a pond somewhere.

[9:13] That's what children are being taught today. That's the frame of reference that they are being given. They are nothing more than an evolved piece of scum. That life really has no meaning or purpose beyond this mere existence, beyond this mere breathing and this blood flowing.

[9:31] That's the frame of reference that many are being taught today. And no wonder we see the planet is falling apart. Because it's got the wrong frame of reference.

[9:42] If only we could understand that which sets everything straight. The Word of God. If only we could come in alignment with that.

[9:54] Line upon line. Precept upon precept. Think of it for yourselves now. On a number of fronts. Consider your frame of reference in relation to the truth.

[10:06] The truth. We are living in a world where they are redefining truth. Where there is no absolute truth. Everything is relative. You have got your truth and I have got mine. The Muslims have got their truth.

[10:18] We have got our truth. The Christadelphians have got their truth. You just set your own truth and do whatever you please. But God says there are standards.

[10:29] There is His Word. His truth. It's absolute final authority. And we are not to set our own norms and values and ideas by our own way of thinking. Or the world's way of teaching.

[10:41] Nor are we to interact with others in our world because of how we feel or think of our own selves. But we are to act in accordance with His truth. That's what is fundamental for all of us.

[10:54] And yet we are seeing in the world today the prevailing trend is that there is a questioning of long held norms. As a denial of truth itself.

[11:06] The truth. The fundamental truth. That there is a Creator with whom we have to deal. A Saviour. If we'll trust Him. Or a judge if we deny Him.

[11:20] Friends, where is the truth and where are we in relation to the truth? We are being governed and educated by men and women who say good is evil.

[11:31] And evil is good. Their frame of reference is totally wrong. It's upside down. It's totally false. Not true. The Bible says prove all things and hold fast to that which is good.

[11:47] 1 Thessalonians 5.21 We need to take our definition of what is good by the only one who is good. Our Lord God. It goes on that we should steer clear of what is doubtful.

[12:01] In 1 Thessalonians 5.22 To abstain or keep clear from all appearance of evil. So what is your frame of reference?

[12:12] What is that which guides your life? Do we just choose our own? You've got yours. I've got mine. He's got his. Or is there something we can actually count on that is beyond anything of our own thinking or knowing?

[12:27] The Word of God. The real truth. It's timeless. It's eternal. And we have his divine mandate for life and for eternity. The Bible. Think of the Bible for a moment.

[12:38] It runs contrary, contradictory against the wisdom of the educators of our day. TV, media, teachers. As Christians, do we conform to his truth or that of the world?

[12:54] No wonder they said the Christians showed up. They turned everything upside down. Really right side up. For example, consider what the world says. In this upside down world, what the world says.

[13:08] God's designed for marriage. That's radical, isn't it? It's radically counter cultural. The world we live says marriage means nothing. It's just a piece of paper, just some words uttered.

[13:23] Nothing more than that. But before God, it's something holy and precious. It's a lifetime covenant between a man and a woman. It's very, very special. Very, very vital.

[13:35] The man pledges to love his wife as Christ loved the church. That's love. That's love. That's love. Amen. And the woman pledges to honour and esteem her husband.

[13:46] That's counter cultural today, isn't it? That the woman reverence her husband. That's counter cultural today. That's so radical. That's pretty radical, isn't it?

[13:57] And that's God's truth. He defines wisdom, the beginning of knowledge, the beginning of wisdom, the fear of God. That's wisdom. It's not from the PhD or the most worldly wise man or woman that we can learn wisdom.

[14:18] It's by coming and sitting at his feet that we can know wisdom, that we can know salvation, that we can know peace, that we can know hope. He defines it. The wrath of God, that's another concept that's counter cultural today, isn't it?

[14:32] The wrath of God, it's a fair thing. We deserve every bit of it if we receive it. And friends, we're all due it, but he takes it for us if we trust him.

[14:44] That's pretty counter cultural, isn't it? That's pretty radical. It's declared, it's explained and it's understood because of the book. The book defines everything.

[14:55] If we've got that different frame of reference, it makes life make sense. It makes living. It makes the world make sense. It makes divine grace and love understandable.

[15:06] That it's absolutely counter cultural. You're revolutionary today. If you're a Bible believer this morning, you're counter cultural. When people see you walking and talking and living, they see that there's something different about you.

[15:19] There's something different within you. Biblical preaching is counter cultural. To hear about hell, of sin, of damnation and judgment to come.

[15:30] Of Christ being the only way. That's counter cultural today. There's many that would say, there's many ways. All paths lead to him, to heaven. But it doesn't measure up with the frame of reference that we must go by.

[15:45] There is no other that you can put your heart's trust in other than the word of God. And it's for that, that truth that was declared, that men and women through history have been persecuted and suffered and died.

[16:00] Because they know the truth. And the word says that the followers of the way, the people of God, they turn the world upside down. Or in other words, right side up.

[16:12] So, how are you in relation to the truth? How are you in relation to God? The most fundamental thing. There's many religious views and thinking and beliefs.

[16:23] How are you in relation to the Lord? Are you approved of him? It's he that sets that frame of reference. It's what he says that matters. Not what men say.

[16:34] Not what the world says. Not what any religion says. It's what Christ says to you. You must obey it. And we must hear it and apply it. We put our trust in the gospel, the good news.

[16:46] And Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2, 4, Not as pleasing man, but as pleasing God, which tries our hearts. How are you in relation to him?

[16:58] It says, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It is God working in you. Friends today, not just some fuzzy wuzzy, vague kind of feeling kind of God, but the God of the Bible.

[17:15] The God who gave his life in Christ's cross for your sin. He paid the price so you could be saved today. That is the God with whom we have to deal.

[17:26] Is he at work in you? Is he living and breathing and active in your life? Are you being renewed? Renewed in your mind? Are you being conformed to his image?

[17:37] Are you being changed into his likeness? That's the frame of reference. We've got to get that right. We've got to get that right. This is not some vague, airy-fairy kind of God.

[17:49] This is the God of the Bible. This is the true and one and only God. This is Christ, the way, the truth and the light. The one and only. He is the one with whom we have to deal. What is your frame of reference in relation to him?

[18:02] Have you got it right? Are you right with God? That's critical. That's fundamental. The fear of the Lord. That's pretty cultural, isn't it, too? The fear of the Lord.

[18:13] Do you have that? Your relationship to God. Is it just some easy breezy kind of when you feel like it thing? Or is it a fundamental commitment of your heart, soul, mind and strength?

[18:27] A love that goes beyond your feelings, your own strength. Do you love him that way? Do you love Christ? Do you love him like our brothers and sisters, as we heard in other lands, go to their deaths for that love?

[18:44] Do you love him that way? Does that love, that fear of the Lord motivate you to love him more, to serve him, to live in truth, in righteousness?

[18:58] Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin. James 4, 17. Are you sinning? By your lack of commitment? By your lack of faith?

[19:09] By your lack of zeal? If you know to do good and do it not, it's sin, people, today. Don't sin. Don't make that mistake.

[19:20] Get in right relationship to him. How's your frame of reference? In relation to the truth. In relation to God. In relation to sin. In relation to sin. In relation to sin.

[19:31] How are we moving in relation to sin, as it were? How do we say what's sin and what's not sin? Some people say, oh, the Bible doesn't say anything about blah, blah, blah.

[19:42] Oh, it mustn't be sin then. Because it doesn't say it's sinful to do this or that. You can write your own thing there. Whatever it is God's putting you under conviction about.

[19:53] If you're uneasy in your heart, if you don't have peace about it, before Christ in honest prayer and seeking of his face, then do it not.

[20:05] And if it's good that he tells you to do, and you do it not, then that's sin too. So, we've got to get that right, don't we? I know our recent studies are talking about mortifying the flesh.

[20:20] This is Saturday night. Come and be stirred. Mortify the flesh. What does that mean? Put it to death. Put that nail in that body and kill it.

[20:31] That flesh, that sin, that fleshliness, kill it. That which is upon the earth. Colossians 3 verse 5. Kill that flesh. Put it to death. Let it die.

[20:42] That should be our relationship to sin. And friends, we all can be deader, can't we? In relation to sin. We all can be dying daily, I pray. I know I need to.

[20:54] That we need to die daily towards sin. And live daily more towards Christ. This is the will of God. Even your sanctification, your holiness, your righteousness, your godliness.

[21:06] This is what God says. Have we got a right view of that? Of that truth? It's counter-cultural, isn't it? Things that we might consider, Oh, someone says this is sin.

[21:18] Someone thinks that's not sin. What does God say? What about the biblical teaching in relation to courtship and dating before marriage? This should set the guidelines for us.

[21:30] This is the frame of reference in relation to what's acceptable, what's approved unto God. It's counter-cultural, we know. The world could just say, just shack up with whoever you like.

[21:42] Move on to the next one whenever you please. It's easy breezy. Feel, do what you feel. If it feels good, do it. The world would tell you. But God says there's a God with whom we have to answer.

[21:54] We need to consider our standing, our state, our living in relation to his truth. In relation to what's biblical. So do what is right.

[22:05] That is counter-cultural. And who cares what the world thinks? Who really cares what the world thinks? The world's upside down, people. The world's upside down. You're the ones who are right side up.

[22:16] The upright, the godly, those who love Christ. You are those who believe him and follow him. You're the ones who are right side up. So our conversation should be different.

[22:27] Our conduct should be different. We should be conformed to his image, not to the world. And lastly, think about your frame of reference in relation to others. We've heard how we should bear one another's burdens.

[22:39] Consider that. Do you live a life that's totally vain and selfish and prideful? All concerned about your own little cosmos that's within the realms of your own life?

[22:51] Or do you consider those who know not Christ? Do you consider your brothers and sisters who have needs today? Do you consider those who are visiting with us that you've not shaken the hand of this morning? Do you consider people as souls, as ever living souls who will have to give account to him?

[23:08] What is your frame of reference in relation to others? In relation to those who hurt you and wound you as we've heard of late this morning? That we should love those. We should pray for those.

[23:20] We should bless those. Our relationship to others. That's a totally radical frame of reference, isn't it? The world will say, yeah, sue the pants off them. Or, you know, take them to court.

[23:32] You know, get every last brass rasu out of them for what they've done to you. You know, vindicate yourself. And yet the Bible says, love as I have loved you. You know, love your neighbour as yourself.

[23:45] That's radical, isn't it? That's counter-cultural. That's God's truth. This is a message that turns the world upside down, doesn't it? In relation to how you relate to others, in how you relate to God, in how you relate to his truth, in how you relate to sin.

[24:01] Because you are a peculiar people. You know, some of you are more peculiar than others. But you are a peculiar people. I'm one of the most peculiar. And I pray that God will make you even more peculiar.

[24:14] Amen? Day by day by day. To be more counter-cultural. To become more revolutionary. To become more conformed to his image. To become more transformed into his likeness, day by day by day.

[24:27] Now, every time I see Brother Tom, he looks a little bit more like Christ. Every time. And I like to see more of Christ in you. That Christ be formed in you. That's what God wants, isn't it?

[24:38] Amen? That's what we need. That doesn't mean that we ought to be weird, but we ought to be peculiar. Because we're radically different. We ought to be. The world doesn't set the agenda.

[24:49] The world doesn't calibrate our dial. The world doesn't set our frame of reference and tell us what's right or wrong. This does. This does the word of God. And it doesn't mean that we ought to be tied up and conform to our lives.

[25:06] Conform to the world. Friends, let's be different. Let's be different. That's the real bottom line today. He's called us to be different. He's called us to be his.

[25:17] The church. It means the assembly of the called out. The called out ones. We're meant to be different for the glory of God. Our homes ought to be different.

[25:29] Our homes ought to be Christ-censored homes. That's counter-cultural. That is revolutionary. That is radical. Home's built on the wisdom of the word of God. The frame of reference changes.

[25:42] Everything changes when you become a Christian. Your priorities change. Your life changes. And it changes for the better. It changes for the eternity. It's not a working.

[25:53] It's not a doing that saves us. But his saving makes something happen. It makes something happen. A conversion happens. Think of your frame of reference.

[26:04] In relation to the truth, this is it. This is it. If it doesn't measure up to this frame of reference, it's error. This is truth. The truth about God we find in here.

[26:18] Amen. That's the truth. The truth in relation to sin. The truth in relation to how we relate to others. Be encouraged people today. Be a peculiar people. Be one who the world will accuse you of turning the world upside down.

[26:32] Because you're so revolutionary. How you live is so revolutionary. The message that you believe is so revolutionary. And the God you trust in is absolutely counter-cultural.

[26:44] Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this life-changing knowledge of Christ as our Lord and Master and Saviour. We thank you, Lord, for your truth.

[26:55] It's beyond time. It's unchanging. And yet it changes us from the inside out. It turns our world upside down. But really right side up.

[27:06] We thank you for it. Help us, Lord, to apply it in our relationship with you, with others, with sin, with the world about us. Help us, Lord, to live this truth in the day by day by day.

[27:18] Forgive us, Lord, when we fail. When flesh raises its ugly head. Help us to chop it off, Lord. Help us to stab it, to kill it, to nail it, to crucify it, to put it to death.

[27:30] Lord, that you might be made alive in our lives. That we might be made alive unto you, our living God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. To tell the story of haunting things of God.

[27:47] To tell the story of haunting things of God. To tell the story of haunting things of God.