my wife, obviously my wife.
Before I got married, I bought a house at Hornsby Heights.
It's a little weatherboard house near the Birara Valley National Park.
And if you look at the next slide,
the house was lined with about 10 to 15 meter tall trees.
It's a bit of a nightmare, actually.
It's all along the back fence and along the side fence up to the main road.
As you can see, they've turned it way too close together.
And you can see some of them, they don't even have leave from them properly.
They're full of dead branches.
So imagine if there was a bushfire at the nature reserve
and the embers blew from the National Park to this wall of trees.
What would happen?
The mess of dry wood would just act as fuel for the fire.
It would burn all the way along the back fence up the driveway and to my house.
There would be a disaster waiting to happen.
So I took up the following public service announcement
to combat the threat of bushfire.
Be alert, but not alarmed.
So this catchphrase has been used in many public service relation campaigns,
maybe from counterterrorism to bushfire safety.
So in order to apply this campaign properly,
I needed to prepare my house.
So with the council's permission, I cut down on those trees
and to help to combat the threat of bushfire.
So let's think about the consequence of not heeding that advice of be alert, not alarmed.
So if I'm not alert, obviously I won't be alarmed.
So I wouldn't have prepared my house for the threat of bushfire.
There would have been a serious stretch of the house burning down.
But however, if I lived in a constant state of being alarmed,
I would have a nervous breakdown or be constantly anxious.
The Bible was full of warnings of dangers around us.
There's a devil.
We are told to watch out for temptation around us
and be on guard against being deceived by sin.
Are we alert and not anxious when it comes to watching out for attacks?
Do we even know what to do when an attack happens?
Today's topic is the discipline of watching.
I want to look at how we can appropriately be alert and not be alarmed
when we watch against sin and the devil.
And also in light of the topic, the discipline of grace,
how do we use the means of grace provided by God to combat those two things?
So I'll focus mainly on two passages.
If it helps you fold your outline in half, but you can't fold your app,
that's okay, you can take notes in there.
You can write the note from Hebrews on one side and 1 Peter on the other side.
So let us pray to get God's help so we can understand this topic.
Dear God, we know that we are so easily deceived by sin and the devil.
Pray that you can help us to know your means of being equipped to combat that.
We thank you that we can do so through your word.
Pray that I will speak clearly and that we will listen to you
so that we will be attentive to change for your sake.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
So what sort of threats from sin and the devil should we watch out for?
The first attack from sin is that sin is deceptive.
We'll read again from Hebrews chapter 3, verses 12 to 13.
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you have a sinful, unbelieving heart
that turns away from the living God.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today,
so none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So what does it mean for sin to be deceptive?
So I'll illustrate that with my health or the lack thereof.
Around the start of the year, I twisted my back.
So for those who were around, it was like around Lunar New Year.
I was walking sort of really lopsided.
I went to the doctor.
He prescribed a set of back exercises for me to do
and told me to go back to check up once in a while.
Now, being a classic male,
I'm too stubborn and lazy and busy to go to do those exercises.
I wanted a quick fix.
I said, I'll just put a bit of photobium on it.
It should be fine.
I said, it's not that bad.
I'll just stretch it out.
It should be okay.
Likewise, spiritually,
sometimes we think that we are strong enough
and healthy enough to deal with sin.
And it's deceived when we are entangled by sin.
I'll give you a few examples.
Sometimes we discount the seriousness of sin.
Some might think lying isn't a big deal.
That's why it's called a white lie, right?
It's not that serious.
Sometimes we compare ourselves with other people around the world
instead of what is in the Bible.
For example, it doesn't matter if we stream live sports from certain websites.
Everyone else is doing it.
It's not stealing.
It's okay.
And at times, we justify our sin in periods of stress.
We call anger.
We're just blowing off some steam.
And greed and materialism, a bit of retail therapy.
Another more subtle way that sin deceives us is that
if we are caught in a pattern of sin,
we despair and think that God can't possibly help us or love us
because we sin repeatedly.
And when someone asks us how we are going,
no matter which way we are deceived,
we pretend everything is fine, everything is okay.
So these are just some of the many ways that sin deceives us.
So in the same passage, we'll go back to that,
the writer warns us about the long-term effect of being deceived by sin
as hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So what does it mean to be hardened?
That's actually a pretty important point to clarify.
As Christians, we are often deceived by sin.
So what's the difference between being deceived once in a while
and being hardened in the heart?
So I'll use the doctor analogy a bit further.
So let's say if the doctor is giving me advice for checkups,
I have to go back to him.
If it became too annoying, I treated it as nagging,
I found him too annoying,
I would start ignoring his advice.
But let's imagine the following.
If I think the doctor is basically a scammer
trying to get me to repeat my visit,
to rip off Medicare,
then I would doubt his character.
I wouldn't go back to him.
I would just stop seeing him altogether.
In a similar way,
these are the ways that we are hardened against God.
Sometimes we think of the promises and commands of the Bible,
sometimes even the Gospel.
It's repetitive.
And we become a bit blasé about listening to God's Word.
In a more serious form,
sometimes we believe that sin is more attractive
than the promises of God.
And we doubt the intentions and the character of God.
So let's look at the second attack from the devil.
We'll go to 1 Peter 5, verse 8.
Now the devil prowls like a roaring lion,
looking for someone to devour.
So what this means is that
the devil is actively looking for ways
to snatch us away from God.
So usually there are two ways
that we are sort of oblivious to the attack of the devil.
So the more usual way is that
we don't think that the devil exists,
or if he does,
he doesn't really do much these days.
The reason is that for most of us,
we believe the world is purely material.
We don't encounter animism or evil spirits.
So what we think often is that
sin is truly something that we can control by our will.
That is, we think that the only factor
that affects whether I sin
is whether I'm using my own willpower to stop it.
On the flip side,
some people give the devil too much power.
As if God and the devil
is in a daily cosmic arm wrestle.
And is in constant fear of demonic powers
influencing their everyday life.
So you can actually see that
in sort of animism and shamanism
in many parts of the world, like Africa.
So how are we to defend
the attacks from sin and the devil?
So God has given us
quite a few means to be prepared.
So I'm glad that these are left up there.
So the first way is God's word.
God's word.
In Hebrews 4, 11 to 13,
we can see that God's word
is the very means he has used
to battle against the threat of sin.
So notice in the second part of the verse
from chapter 4, verse 11,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joint and marrow.
It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
So most of us think that God's word,
to apply it,
it means to change our actions, right?
In some way, that's good.
We need to change when we read God's word.
But we only change our actions
with just changing the external stuff.
It's like the double-edged sword
hitting the external bits of the body.
But the word of God does more than that.
It cuts to the heart.
That's actually exactly the problem we have,
as we read from the bits before in our passage.
The problem of sin
is not that we have the wrong action,
but a dull and unbelieving heart towards God.
The reason why the word of God
is a means of grace
is that it's actually a means for us to be saved.
So if we go back one verse to Hebrews 4.11,
it says,
Let us therefore make every effort
to enter that rest,
so that no one will perish
by following the example of disobedience.
So in context,
if you read the next verse,
which is verse 12,
the writer gives us the answer,
which is God's word.
God's word is able to help us
to have some salvation
to enter the rest of God,
the promises of God.
The second preparation we have
is to rely on what Jesus has done,
the priest and perfect example.
So in Hebrews 4.14-16,
let's have a look
why we should fix our eyes on Jesus
and rely on him.
The first way you set Jesus is our priest,
the person that acts as an agent
between a sinful man
and the holy God.
His death on the cross
has enabled us
to approach God with confidence.
You can see the confidence in verse 16.
Let us approach with great confidence.
Why can we be confident?
The reason is that a Christian relies
on the perfect work of Jesus,
not the works that we have done.
And hence,
Jesus has the credentials
to speak on behalf of us.
That's how he acts as a priest.
And Jesus also acts as an example.
If we go to verse 15,
we see that he can empathize
with our weakness.
And also,
Jesus has been tempted in every way,
just as we are,
yet without sin.
Jesus is an example
of how we can overcome sin.
If we look at his life
in the Garden of Gethsemane,
or during his temptation
in the desert,
he uses God's word.
It is his belief in God's word
that made him overcome the devil.
A third way that we can achieve a victory
is in other aspects of Jesus' life.
Jesus is the shepherd.
So we go back to 1 Peter.
We can see how the devil
is prowling around like the lion.
So whether we are oblivious
to the devil's attack,
or we give them too much power,
the answer is the same.
We need to not look at the lion,
but the shepherd.
What we often forget
is that Jesus has already
driven away the lion.
He has already defeated
the devil on the cross.
If we rely on the victory of Jesus
in our daily struggle
against sin,
then we will be able to resist.
That's why we go
a couple of verses down
in verse 10.
It says,
For those who have resisted,
Jesus can restore you
and make you strong,
firm, and steadfast.
So having looked at
the sins,
the attack from sin and the devil,
and the means that we can have victory,
let's see how we can be prepared.
So I want to separate
sort of two aspects
of being prepared.
The goal of being prepared
and the means
which we get prepared.
I'll give you an example
of what I mean.
So the first thing we looked at
was God's word.
If God's victory is achieved
through the power of his word,
the application is to
read the Bible, right?
I'm going to say no
and don't condemn me
to be a heretic right now.
So hear me out.
The way that we are prepared
is to listen to God's word.
And listening is a little bit different
from reading.
So there are a few different aspects
of listening.
So if we only read the Bible
as a habit
or something to tick off
in our boxes,
that doesn't actually
achieve the goal of listening.
It's just a habit
to tick a box.
If we read the Bible
for information,
that's only going to
build our knowledge.
And we're not even reading
the Bible
to transform our behavior.
As good as that sounds,
in the worst form,
if we just read
to change our behavior,
we might be tempted
to rely on our behavior
rather than Jesus
to prepare against
the sin and the devil.
So how are we
to read the Bible?
We need to read the Bible
and listen
in a way
that's for our hearts.
To understand the words
on the page of the Bible
or in your app,
it's not a daily habit
you tick off
or a guide to life,
but it's actually
the word of God.
God is speaking to us
through his word.
The aim of reading
is to listen
to who God is.
That's why we need to pray
before we read the Bible.
We want the Holy Spirit
to help us to recognize
that the words
are actually God's words.
And then through knowing God,
can we keep believing in him?
And only in this way,
we won't harden our hearts
and we'll be able
to correctly prepare ourselves
and resist
the deception of sin.
So the implication of this
is pretty big.
So I want to ask you
a question.
When you read the Bible,
do you recognize
that it's actually
God speaking to you?
If the answer is no,
I would love for you
to fill in a card.
Don't be shy
if no one else is grabbing it.
Just grab it
and fill out a card saying,
I would like some help
to know how to read the Bible
so that I can recognize
that it's God speaking to me.
And I would love
to help you to do this.
I'm the missions pastor,
but I'm really glad
that I can help you
if you want to do this.
Fill it in,
I'll let you
read the Bible with me.
I'd actually want to love
to ask you to
ask each other
after the service.
What would it take
in terms of time
or environment,
routine,
patterns,
for us to read
in such a way
that we are listening
to God
from the Bible?
So this actually
sets ways
into the second thing
that we need
to be prepared for
is that we
need to encourage each other,
have people around us
to encourage each other.
We'll go to Hebrews 3
and look at what it means
to encourage each other.
3.13
But encourage one another daily
as long as it is called today
so that none of you
is deceived
by sin's deceitfulness.
So,
you can see from this verse,
on this side of heaven,
we need to encourage
each other every day.
So the implication of this
is that
the health of the church
is not measured
by how many people
attend church
or in our small groups,
but whether we actually
come together
with the aim
of encouraging each other.
And encouragement
isn't just
the slap on the back
like you're going well,
hollow encouragement,
not hollow compliments.
In this passage,
the type of encouragement
we need
is a type that will help us
to not be deceived
by sin.
You think of the nature
of deception,
no one knows
that they are deceived.
Otherwise,
you won't be right.
You'll figure it out yourself.
So in order for other people
to help us
not to be deceived,
we really need
the value
of humble authenticity.
The reason why
we need that
is that
we need
to let other people
point out
the instances
when we are deceived.
And,
on the flip side,
we need to
be humble
and courageous
to approach other people
to point out
when they are being deceived.
even at the cost
of friction
during the relationship.
So the other thing
that it means is
if the goal is
encouragement,
not attendance,
we'd love for you
to keep going to church,
but
it's a really deep way
of
relating to each other.
is that
we,
even when we are sick
or we have
unavoidable situations,
we'll make efforts
to encourage each other.
So,
I'll give an example
of how this works.
I'm in a Sunday
morning
community group
led by Adam Ma.
So,
there are many
young parents
in that group
and
you know
with young parents
in winter,
what happens is that
a lot of the people
in the group
get sick
and sometimes
some people
have work trips,
got a couple of
mothers that are
expecting.
So,
for all various
reasons,
not all of us
can attend
every week.
But we still
aim to encourage
each other
by having a
WhatsApp group.
So,
we can actually
send messages
to each other
to keep each other
accountable
and encourage
each other
in that way.
So that
even when we
can't see each other,
we have the
intention to
help each other
to grow.
We can also
apply this
to the way
that we
meet at church.
So,
if we are keen
to encourage
each other,
then we would
love to stay
behind.
We won't
duck out
after the
service.
And I think
the afternoon
service does
a great job
at staying
right here
and talking
with each other.
We actually
want to get
to know
each other
and not just
have a
superficial
greeting,
but we
will be
eager
to help
one another
if we
see someone
going off
track
because of
sin's
deception.
That's why
all these
events
in the last
couple of
months
have been
so helpful.
I hope
that through
all these
events,
we have
gotten to
know each
other a
bit better,
but more
than that,
once there's
a relationship,
we can get
into the
task of
encouraging
each other.
And if for
any reason
that you
have felt
that you've
been on
the outside
of the
church,
not really
getting into
the group,
whether you
find it
hard to
share your
situation,
maybe due
to language
or life
circumstances,
this passage
is for you.
We would
actually,
all of us
would love
to be in
community
with you
because,
as we can
see from
the Bible,
it's so
easy to
be deceived
by sin.
So I
would encourage
you to sign
up to
community
group
afterwards,
we'll bring
the iPads
around,
and stay
behind at
church and
meet us.
So in
the morning
service,
and probably
in the
afternoon as
well,
we've got
a roughly
half and
half split
between
Anglo-Australians
and people
from other
backgrounds.
So my
hope is that
we'll have a
similar split
in our
community
group.
Right now,
we don't
have that
at the
moment.
So we
actually really
do want
all of us
to sign
up.
The third
way we get
prepared is
how we
relate in
light of
Christ being
our shepherd.
So we
go to
1 Peter
now.
In 1 Peter
chapter 5,
verse 2,
we can see
the elders,
the leaders
of the
church,
are to
lead in
light of
Christ's
suffering as
a shepherd.
So just
as Christ
as a
shepherd,
the leaders
are to
lead and
have oversight
of the
church or
the flock
as
shepherds.
so some
people from
probably a
more
eastern
culture
might take
that to
mean for
all the
pastors to
take care
of each
person in
the congregation.
But how
we do
things here
is that the
biblical command
is for
oversight,
to have
oversight of
the entire
church.
And the
way that we
do this
is that we
want everyone
to have an
opportunity to
be cared
for.
So the
way we
organize
things is
that we
have got
a group
of community
group
leaders.
And not
all of
them are
in full-time
ministry.
In fact,
most of
them aren't.
But the
group leaders
are to
act as
mini-shepherds.
So we've
got more
people taking
care of
everyone.
And that
way we can
actually
connect,
care,
and grow
with God
and one
another.
The
pastoral
staff and
Paul Fitzpatrick,
the community
group director,
has taken
on the
task of
discipling and
coaching these
leaders.
So we can
actually do
the task of
oversight well,
so we can
take care of
everyone.
So notice in
this structure,
it's not about
how old you
are, or how
long you've
been at
church, or
what status
you have.
That determines
who is
leading, but
the role
is assigned.
So in the
Sunday group,
for example,
Adam Ma is
leading.
I'm the
mission pastor
at church,
but in that
group, he's
the leader.
I gladly
submit to
him, and
I gladly
support him
in the
Sunday group,
so that he
can help all
the other
members to
take care of
each other
and to
grow.
So I
want to go
back, now
that we've
looked at
the means
that we
can get
prepared and
equip ourselves
against the
attack of the
devil, I
want to go
back to the
picture of
the house
that I
used to
live in.
And if
you have
to imagine
your spiritual
state as
that house,
all would
be like,
are you
currently not
alert to
the work of
sin and the
devil, a
little bit
like a
house surrounded
by all these
tall dead
trees, in
the constant
danger of
trees
getting,
waiting to
catch fire?
or are
you too
alarmed and
anxious to
trust God
and rely on
the gracious
means that
is provided
through his
word or the
people around
him?
Or are you
rightly
armed by
God's means
to be
alert and
not alarmed?
May God
help us to
use these
means to
do so.