WEBVTT

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 Well, I want to tell you how much I've felt at home this last week and a bit.

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! It's just been, it's really curious how you can live in a foreign country for a long time.

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 Come home to worship in a home church in many ways and find such a wall.

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 Thank you.

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 I continue to lift your church family, we do, in Virginia to the Lord.

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 And thank God for his work among you.

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 As we come to his word this morning, let's bow our heads in prayer.

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 Father, we remember what the psalmist says.

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 And we take it as a very practical indication of praise and dependence.

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 I rejoice in your word like one who finds great spoil, like one who finds great treasure.

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 Lord, help us this morning as we come to your word, not to treat it as something rote or ritual,

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 but to come to you as people who need this food, who should be delighted at this treasure that we found.

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 Because this is really the way that you feed us.

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 This is really the way that you sustain us and guide us.

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 This is the way that you rebuke us and encourage us.

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 And we pray that that might be the case this morning, Lord.

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 In Jesus' name. Amen.

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 Amen.

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 Okay, so our passage is Matthew 7, verses 15 to 20, taken from this section of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount.

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 I like to tell myself that London is still my city, that I know the way around it.

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 But the fact is I'm rubbish at finding my way around London now.

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 GPS, if anything, has made it more difficult.

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 That doesn't seem to make sense to me.

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 Here's the case.

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 I remember a few years ago I was trying to get to St. Paul's to meet my brother for dinner.

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 There was a restaurant right there.

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 And I said to myself, it's a huge great cathedral.

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 Sooner or later it can show itself.

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 But it didn't.

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 So in desperation I asked someone who was standing nearby whether he could point me in the right direction.

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 He turned out to be Russian.

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 He gets out his map and with tremendous authority tells me,

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 this is the direction you should be going.

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 Go in this direction.

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 Go.

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 So I set off and 15 minutes later I turned up at the Tower of London.

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 Leave us to say I was late for dinner.

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 So at this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling us who you listen to matters.

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 That's his theme.

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 It's the lesson of these verses after all that he's said.

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 Because being a follower of Jesus requires discernment.

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 And there are three warnings which Jesus gives us here about those who will show us a wrong way if we listen to them.

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 If you want to know, he's saying, whether you can trust the person who's directing you,

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 you should heed these three things at a minimum.

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 So let's look at the passage.

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 It'll be helpful if you have it open in front of you.

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 I'll try and stick as close as I can to the text.

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 So verse 15, what does Jesus say?

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 Jesus says,

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 Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing.

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 And this I think is the first warning.

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 We're called to challenge and to verify.

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 To beware, you may know, comes from an old English word meaning to put your guard up, to be wary.

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 If a soldier is on watch at his or her post and somebody approaches and they don't know them,

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 he or she will likely challenge the person who goes there.

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 And if they have a weapon, if the soldier has a weapon, they will raise it in readiness.

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 And Jesus is telling us this is an appropriate posture to adopt towards someone who claims to speak for God.

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 You're not attacking the person themselves when you are being wary,

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 or you're not insulting them when you are putting yourself on guard.

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 But in a sense, mentally, you are challenging them.

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 Who goes there?

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 Who do you belong to?

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 What words will you give me?

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 How is what you've said or what you've done in line with the gospel?

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 And you'll notice that Jesus says we have two vulnerabilities.

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 The first is we have a vulnerability of need.

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 The connection between teachers and sheep might not be immediately obvious to us now,

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 but it was a familiar metaphor in the Old Testament in Jeremiah

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 when God's people have rejected his authority and his teachers.

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 They turned deliberately to false shepherds, to false prophets.

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 And God himself says to these false prophets as if they were shepherds of the sheep,

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 you have scattered my flock and have driven them away,

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 and you have not attended to them.

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 How would those people gather a flock in the first place?

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 Well, because sheep need shepherds.

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 Remember Jesus said that when he looked at the crowds.

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 They were like sheep without a shepherd.

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 That's what makes us vulnerable.

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 We need shepherds.

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 And so we will flock to people who appear to be so.

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 But second, see, we have a vulnerability of familiarity.

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 Wolves will come to us, Jesus says, in sheep's clothing.

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 You remember Churchill famously said of his rival Clement Attlee that he was a sheep in sheep's clothing.

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 He saw him as no threat at all.

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 But Jesus said these false teachers are like sheep in sheep's clothing.

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 They are ravenous, meaning hungry wolves,

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 where the flock is ordinarily much more vulnerable

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 and so needs the shepherd to protect it from wolves.

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 How much more vulnerable is the flock that takes into its trust a shepherd,

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 who is actually a wolf?

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 The guard is down.

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 The shepherd appears to wear sheep's clothing,

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 but on the inside, his motivation is not to feed the sheep,

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 but to feed upon them.

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 So, although we know this phrase, a wolf in sheep's clothing, pretty well,

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 I think it's worth asking what danger does such a person actually present?

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 Well, the danger, though, lies in the fact that we don't see the wolf.

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 What we see and pay attention to is the wolf's clothing.

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 We see and assume that this teacher is like us.

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 I think this is obviously our vulnerability generally in our own day and age.

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 This person sounds like me.

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 This person looks like me.

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 This person produces the right sound bites.

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 They're saying the kinds of things that I would say if I could.

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 They must be a friend.

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 I can let my guard down.

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 We assume that being like us, we can trust this person when they're teaching us

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 because they will have our best interests at heart.

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 So I think this is the terrible danger for Christians,

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 and this has been the testimony of history.

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 Those Christians who let down their gospel guard

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 are enormously vulnerable to being led astray.

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 Such people are to horribly mix our animal metaphors,

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 sitting ducks, for deception.

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 So we're told, I think, to challenge and to verify.

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 Second, we're to observe and match, verses 16 to 17.

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 Jesus continues,

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 You will recognise them by their fruits.

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 Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

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 So every healthy tree bears good fruit,

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 but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

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 Having warned us that there are wolves we don't easily see,

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 Jesus shows us now the way to spot them.

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 You can recognise this because,

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 although the wolf can disguise its identity,

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 the tree cannot notice disguise its fruit.

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 Grapes, he tells us, are not grown from thorn bushes,

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 nor figs from thistles.

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 If you're tasting a thorny grape

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 or trying to choke down some thistly fig,

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 it may be because it's not all that it's claiming to be.

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 You may have difficulty recognising a false teacher,

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 even when they're right in front of you.

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 But Jesus says you will recognise them by their fruits

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 if you're paying attention,

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 if you're looking out for their patterns of behaviour.

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 Why is Jesus putting it this way?

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 Well, frankly, because we ourselves can be so reluctant

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 to join the dots and to,

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 with a beloved teacher or a preacher or a leader,

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 hold them accountable in this way.

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 We are disinclined to doubt such people.

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 And there are really two sides to this, I think,

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 to evaluating the fruit or teaching of a preaching ministry.

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 One is what we might call technical,

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 and the other is biographical or organic.

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 On the technical side,

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 we should have clear expectations in our own mind

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 about the way that someone should teach the Bible.

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 Look for the text, first of all.

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 A friend and I were at a Bible conference three years ago

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 in the Midwest,

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 and one of the big names in Reformed Evangelicalism

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 gave the opening address,

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 where he warned us by giving us nine things

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 he thought we should be watching for

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 to look out for false teachers.

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 And one of those, he said,

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 was you should be watching out for people

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 who don't teach from the Bible.

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 And the irony was that he himself,

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 in his nine points, as magnificent as they were,

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 didn't refer to the text of the Bible once

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 in his otherwise excellent talk.

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 It's not rocket science, is it?

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 A Bible teacher,

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 that is someone who derives their authority to speak

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 because they claim to know and be directed by the Bible,

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 should more than occasionally refer to the Bible.

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 Preachers have different styles,

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 but you should be able to trace the argument line

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 and the conclusion from the text

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 that they say they are expounding.

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 Here's another example.

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 I was visiting a friend in Idaho some years ago.

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 We went to worship at his church.

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 I don't recall what the Bible passage was,

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 but the application was,

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 watch out for Hillary Clinton

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 and the US government are bringing in weapons

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 through the town to suppress the local population.

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 Whether that was true or not,

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 I'm pretty sure Hillary and the US Army

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 are not called out in the pages of Scripture.

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 Maybe Revelation.

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 Thirdly, look for balance.

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 Is there one aspect of Christian teaching or experience here

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 which is being emphasised,

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 and other parts which are being wholly neglected,

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 again, in a broad aspect of someone's teaching ministry?

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 This isn't necessarily false teaching,

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 and it's not picked up immediately,

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 but persistent teaching in one direction

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 to the exclusion of other vital gospel themes

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 indicates an unbiblical imbalance.

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 Paul tells the elders in Acts 20,

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 I did not shrink from declaring to you

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 the whole counsel of God.

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 Now, it may be difficult for a preacher to cover everything,

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 but the question, I think, for us,

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 even in a given passage is,

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 is there balance there?

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 Is the balance that's given in the text of the Bible

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 presented in the sermon?

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 One of the ways that we often get caught up,

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 Presbyterians love to focus on divine sovereignty,

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 the idea that God's in charge,

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 and of course he is,

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 but human responsibility is equally the theme of scripture.

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 Is it also being presented?

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 Fourthly, be careful of teachers

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 who are majoring on the minors.

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 Often this will be their own pet theory,

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 their unique interpretation of a given text.

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 It will often be exotic,

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 which is part of the reason that we're interested in it.

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 The rule is, I think,

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 that if a teacher has their own view,

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 they should make that clear in the sermon.

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 They should say,

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 hey, you know, guys,

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 be watching out for this.

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 This is my own crazy idea about the text,

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 which I found.

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 I remember a visiting speaker

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 when I was at college on the south coast,

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 a brilliant man,

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 double first of Cambridge,

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 and he asked the question of the atonement,

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 what happened to sin at the cross?

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 And his theory is that God somehow

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 sucked it up into the cross,

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 at Calvary,

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 as if the cross was a big vacuum cleaner.

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 It was a creative idea,

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 but not obviously the idea of the passage.

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 And this is the connection, I think,

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 with what's organic or biographical.

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 Who is this teacher,

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 who is a preacher really up there for?

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 Who is he representing?

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 Is he up there for what God has to say,

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 because that is the role of the biblical teacher or preacher,

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 to expose what God has said,

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 or is he up there for himself,

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 and consequently is he putting his ideas

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 into the passage that aren't properly found there?

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 Is Jesus the hero of the story and the sermon?

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 Is Jesus the hero, evidently,

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 of this person's life?

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 So this is the question, I think,

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 for any Christian teaching ministry.

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 They won't all look the same,

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 but are they about Scripture?

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 Would you be able to say to a friend,

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 when you talk about a church that you've been going to,

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 I think you can reliably say it at this one,

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 but perhaps of another,

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 are they reliably sticking to the text?

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 Are their conclusions,

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 the conclusions of the passage?

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 Is the hero of the story,

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 the Jesus of the Bible,

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 or something else?

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 And positively,

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 is there an organic way to tell good fruit?

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 In a sense to ask,

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 are the contents inside the box

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 matching the labelling on the outside of the box?

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 Because Jesus says, verse 17,

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 every healthy tree bears good fruit,

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 and every diseased tree bears bad fruit.

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 One of my favourite stories in this regard

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 is about Corrie ten Boom,

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 the Christian writer and speaker,

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 who you will know would often speak

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 after the war around Berlin.

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 She was speaking at one point on Micah 7,

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 which is one of her favourite texts,

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 it was,

00:15:21.980 --> 00:15:24.020
 how God forgives our sins

00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.319
 and then puts our sins at the bottom of the sea

00:15:26.319 --> 00:15:28.919
 and puts a sign on the surface saying,

00:15:29.379 --> 00:15:30.079
 no fishing.

00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:33.460
 Some of you may know the specific story

00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:35.840
 of how she was speaking in Berlin in 1947,

00:15:36.439 --> 00:15:37.360
 and after her talk,

00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:38.939
 as people were coming up to greet her,

00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.259
 she saw one particular person approaching

00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:43.519
 and she recognised him immediately,

00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:45.480
 even though this was some years after the war,

00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:46.439
 he had been a guard

00:15:46.439 --> 00:15:49.199
 at Ravensbrück concentration camp,

00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:50.820
 when members of her family,

00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:51.920
 including her own sister,

00:15:52.020 --> 00:15:52.540
 had died.

00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:55.400
 And the man came up to her

00:15:55.400 --> 00:15:56.300
 and he told her

00:15:56.300 --> 00:15:57.640
 that he had become a Christian

00:15:57.640 --> 00:15:58.720
 since that time,

00:15:59.160 --> 00:16:00.420
 and he was sure that God

00:16:00.420 --> 00:16:01.440
 had forgiven him

00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:02.420
 for what he had done,

00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:03.520
 and he said,

00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:05.120
 but I need to hear it from you.

00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:06.980
 Will you forgive me?

00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:09.280
 And this is what she writes,

00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:10.900
 and I've always been so struck

00:16:10.900 --> 00:16:13.200
 by the organic nature of this

00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.300
 when it comes to the Gospel.

00:16:14.299 --> 00:16:16.179
 And I stood there,

00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:17.779
 I whose sins had every day

00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:18.620
 to be forgiven,

00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:20.679
 and I could not forgive him.

00:16:22.319 --> 00:16:24.159
 Betsy had died in that place.

00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:26.439
 Could he erase her slow,

00:16:26.599 --> 00:16:27.319
 terrible death

00:16:27.319 --> 00:16:28.579
 simply for the asking?

00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:31.039
 Jesus, help me,

00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:32.059
 I prayed silently.

00:16:32.179 --> 00:16:33.120
 I can lift my hand,

00:16:33.199 --> 00:16:34.199
 I can do that much.

00:16:34.819 --> 00:16:36.099
 You supply the feeling.

00:16:37.079 --> 00:16:38.939
 So woodenly, mechanically,

00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:40.719
 I thrust my hand

00:16:40.719 --> 00:16:42.379
 into the one stretch out to me,

00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:44.019
 and as I did so,

00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.460
 an incredible thing took place.

00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:47.439
 The current started in my shoulder,

00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:48.480
 raced down my arm,

00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:50.519
 sprang into our joint hands,

00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:52.220
 and then this healing wall

00:16:52.220 --> 00:16:54.019
 seemed to flood my whole being,

00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:55.539
 bringing tears to my eyes.

00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:57.100
 I forgive you, brother,

00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.639
 I cried with all my heart.

00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.200
 I think that's Gospel fruit.

00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:06.400
 I think that's a teacher

00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:07.960
 who's done the hard work

00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:09.460
 and is prepared to humble herself

00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:10.319
 before the Lord

00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.839
 when it comes to walking the walk.

00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:15.000
 That is the evidence

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.019
 of the inside matching the outside.

00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:19.779
 So I think for any of us,

00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:21.779
 is the Bible simply something

00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:23.539
 that we are being taught

00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:25.599
 and have intellectually accepted,

00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:27.379
 or is it being lived out

00:17:27.379 --> 00:17:30.799
 in the fruit of a changed life?

00:17:31.919 --> 00:17:33.220
 It takes wisdom, doesn't it,

00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:34.619
 to discern what is from God

00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:35.460
 and what is not.

00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:37.860
 But we are being told

00:17:37.860 --> 00:17:38.900
 there are clues.

00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:41.220
 Our Lord is telling us here,

00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:43.019
 walls are not as disguised

00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:44.220
 as they suppose.

00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.200
 You can identify the tree

00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.340
 by looking at the fruit.

00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:51.200
 And thirdly and finally,

00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:52.440
 wait and hope,

00:17:52.620 --> 00:17:54.779
 verses 18 to 20.

00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:56.880
 We are to be hopeful

00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.420
 even as we wait.

00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.400
 Growing up, we had this apple tree

00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:03.540
 in our garden.

00:18:04.860 --> 00:18:05.720
 I've often thought

00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:06.759
 that sounds like

00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:10.120
 an idyllic British childhood,

00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:11.540
 growing up with an orchard

00:18:11.540 --> 00:18:12.040
 and a gun.

00:18:12.840 --> 00:18:15.220
 This was a ratty old apple tree,

00:18:15.800 --> 00:18:17.640
 barely surviving.

00:18:18.300 --> 00:18:19.960
 I remember as autumn faded,

00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:21.360
 almost to give a kind of

00:18:21.360 --> 00:18:23.920
 unwarranted honour to the tree,

00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:25.340
 I would pick the apples

00:18:25.340 --> 00:18:25.920
 on the tree

00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:26.920
 and taste them

00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:28.500
 to see if they had ripened.

00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:30.819
 And often they were quite small

00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:32.680
 and they were sour,

00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:35.180
 odd, bitter, hard.

00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:38.019
 And I've learned since

00:18:38.019 --> 00:18:39.039
 that you can eat

00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.740
 wild crab apples,

00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:42.920
 because that's what they were.

00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:45.779
 And you can cook them

00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:46.339
 even better.

00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:48.900
 But if you eat them

00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:49.960
 straight off the tree,

00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:51.599
 a steady diet of them

00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:52.759
 swallowing their seeds

00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:53.519
 and their core,

00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:55.039
 you will slowly be

00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:56.039
 poisoned yourself

00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:58.460
 by metabolised cyanide.

00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:00.819
 And the Latin word

00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:01.539
 for crab apples

00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:02.359
 is malus,

00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:03.420
 which means evil

00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:04.000
 or wicked.

00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:06.920
 I think time

00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:07.859
 is the perspective

00:19:07.859 --> 00:19:08.799
 at the core

00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:09.539
 of this passage.

00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:11.480
 It will require

00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:12.319
 some time,

00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:12.720
 sometimes,

00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:14.279
 to evaluate ministries

00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:15.379
 or time

00:19:15.379 --> 00:19:16.099
 for them to show

00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:17.220
 what they really are.

00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:20.099
 Time is the perspective

00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:21.039
 we often miss

00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:22.019
 in evaluating

00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:22.680
 good trees

00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:23.480
 from bad trees.

00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:25.900
 when Jesus says

00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:26.900
 a healthy tree

00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:28.420
 cannot bear bad fruit

00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:29.599
 and a diseased tree

00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:31.319
 cannot bear good fruit,

00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:33.039
 what are those things?

00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:34.819
 They are ultimate pictures

00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:36.480
 of a whole life

00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:37.220
 evaluated

00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:39.039
 from God's perspective.

00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:41.740
 It's not helpful,

00:19:41.860 --> 00:19:42.019
 I think,

00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:43.059
 for us to be suspicious

00:19:43.059 --> 00:19:44.259
 of everybody,

00:19:44.620 --> 00:19:45.900
 nor is it helpful

00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:46.559
 to take up

00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:47.460
 the dubious hobby

00:19:47.460 --> 00:19:48.940
 of heresy hunting.

00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:50.880
 Because what you usually

00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:51.860
 discover at the end

00:19:51.860 --> 00:19:52.259
 of the day,

00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:52.859
 if you're honest,

00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:53.879
 is not only how

00:19:53.879 --> 00:19:55.379
 off-base this person

00:19:55.379 --> 00:19:56.000
 might be,

00:19:56.379 --> 00:19:57.799
 but how off-base

00:19:57.799 --> 00:19:59.180
 your own heart can be.

00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:00.819
 We've all done it,

00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:01.119
 I think,

00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:02.379
 in the last few years,

00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:04.279
 the rush to judgment

00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:05.559
 when Christian ministries

00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:06.680
 have failed spectacularly.

00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:08.900
 And you want to tell yourself,

00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:09.180
 well,

00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:10.180
 I knew it all the time.

00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:14.660
 I think we have to be

00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:15.980
 intentional with ourselves.

00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:18.700
 we have to be brilliant

00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:19.420
 about the way

00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:20.460
 that we evaluate

00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:22.140
 a teaching ministry

00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:23.599
 and our own hearts,

00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:23.960
 too.

00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:25.819
 Even if someone

00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:27.039
 is diverting a little,

00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:27.779
 but regularly

00:20:27.779 --> 00:20:28.700
 from the gospel,

00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.799
 we should be looking out

00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:32.200
 for something

00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:33.039
 that takes time

00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:33.640
 to taste.

00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:35.960
 Are the apples

00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:37.360
 of this teaching ministry

00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:37.819
 sweet?

00:20:39.099 --> 00:20:40.799
 Are they producing growth?

00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.240
 Is there the authentic

00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.359
 taste of Christ

00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:43.879
 about them?

00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:45.059
 Not of perfection,

00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:45.700
 necessarily,

00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:46.879
 in this person's life,

00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:48.220
 but of the humility

00:20:48.220 --> 00:20:49.039
 and joy

00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:50.019
 of the gospel

00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:51.139
 that's shown

00:20:51.139 --> 00:20:52.279
 not only in their teaching,

00:20:52.399 --> 00:20:52.899
 but in the way

00:20:52.899 --> 00:20:53.480
 they live.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:56.180
 And if you're not

00:20:56.180 --> 00:20:57.180
 finding that,

00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:57.980
 the encouragement,

00:20:58.220 --> 00:20:58.539
 I think,

00:20:58.599 --> 00:20:59.680
 is to find counsel

00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.899
 about that thing,

00:21:01.399 --> 00:21:02.579
 but also to find

00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:03.539
 a better diet

00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:04.759
 and to select

00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:05.619
 a different teacher.

00:21:07.299 --> 00:21:08.319
 I have found

00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:09.519
 that one of the authorities,

00:21:09.779 --> 00:21:10.759
 the false authorities

00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:12.240
 I often have to contend with,

00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:14.960
 is my own self.

00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:18.659
 The Bible tells us

00:21:18.659 --> 00:21:19.599
 our consciences

00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:21.000
 wrongly condemn us.

00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:21.539
 In a way,

00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:22.480
 they're teaching us.

00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:24.639
 Our own hearts

00:21:24.639 --> 00:21:25.639
 can deceive us.

00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:27.379
 Our minds

00:21:27.379 --> 00:21:29.079
 are so easily swayed

00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:30.099
 and run after

00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:31.039
 the latest thing.

00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:32.259
 They need

00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:33.000
 transforming,

00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:34.059
 Scripture tells us.

00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:35.200
 They need renewing.

00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:37.319
 We're to set

00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:38.019
 our minds

00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:38.900
 on things above.

00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:40.420
 I remember

00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:41.220
 George Burwer,

00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:42.259
 the former leader

00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:43.619
 of Joffre Asian Mobilisation,

00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:44.839
 used to talk to himself

00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:45.359
 audibly

00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:46.500
 and say,

00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:47.240
 Mr. Body,

00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:48.920
 we're not going there today.

00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:50.859
 In the same way,

00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:51.980
 I do that sometimes

00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:52.720
 with my mind.

00:21:52.859 --> 00:21:53.460
 Mr. Mind,

00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.680
 we're not going there

00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:55.500
 right now.

00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:58.379
 And I think

00:21:58.379 --> 00:21:59.240
 when it comes to teaching,

00:21:59.339 --> 00:21:59.920
 we have to be

00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:00.980
 in the same mind,

00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:01.920
 not just

00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:03.279
 uncritically accepting

00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:04.960
 whatever feeling

00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:05.640
 or thoughts

00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:06.680
 crosses our minds,

00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:08.840
 but rather

00:22:08.840 --> 00:22:09.700
 to get into the habit

00:22:09.700 --> 00:22:10.300
 of preaching

00:22:10.300 --> 00:22:10.840
 the gospel

00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:11.640
 to ourselves,

00:22:11.840 --> 00:22:13.039
 renewing our minds

00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.180
 from the promises

00:22:14.180 --> 00:22:14.800
 of Scripture.

00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:18.539
 I was moved by a story

00:22:18.539 --> 00:22:19.619
 from the New York Times

00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:20.480
 last week.

00:22:20.919 --> 00:22:21.639
 This is about

00:22:21.639 --> 00:22:22.559
 something that happened

00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:23.399
 in Washington

00:22:23.399 --> 00:22:24.879
 right by the White House

00:22:24.879 --> 00:22:26.599
 a few weeks ago.

00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:28.639
 There was a lightning strike

00:22:28.639 --> 00:22:30.899
 and three people

00:22:30.899 --> 00:22:31.359
 were killed

00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:32.139
 instantaneously.

00:22:33.419 --> 00:22:34.539
 And one person

00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:35.220
 survived.

00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:37.299
 A 28-year-old woman,

00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:38.299
 a woman called Amber,

00:22:38.919 --> 00:22:39.659
 with burns

00:22:39.659 --> 00:22:40.220
 all down

00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:41.339
 one side of her body.

00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:42.259
 Her heart

00:22:42.259 --> 00:22:43.119
 stopped immediately.

00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.319
 The EMTs

00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:44.799
 were there,

00:22:45.139 --> 00:22:46.099
 emergency people,

00:22:46.219 --> 00:22:46.799
 and they came

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.059
 and they managed

00:22:48.059 --> 00:22:48.959
 to revive her heart.

00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:49.579
 It lasted

00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:50.619
 for another 11 minutes

00:22:50.619 --> 00:22:51.779
 and then stopped again

00:22:51.779 --> 00:22:53.219
 and they revived her again.

00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:54.959
 And she's describing

00:22:54.959 --> 00:22:56.019
 her experience now

00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:56.519
 and she says

00:22:56.519 --> 00:22:57.500
 she's in awful pain.

00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:58.239
 She feels like

00:22:58.239 --> 00:22:59.059
 she's going to die

00:22:59.059 --> 00:22:59.659
 most days.

00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:01.359
 But when she does that,

00:23:01.439 --> 00:23:02.099
 she remembers

00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:02.899
 her aunt

00:23:02.899 --> 00:23:04.259
 who battled cancer.

00:23:05.219 --> 00:23:05.879
 And when it's at

00:23:05.879 --> 00:23:07.179
 its worst,

00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.179
 she cries out

00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:09.400
 at the top of her lungs,

00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:11.000
 I'm grateful.

00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:13.080
 I'm grateful.

00:23:15.340 --> 00:23:16.640
 And I thought of that command

00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.299
 in 1 Thessalonians 5,

00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:19.500
 which may be

00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:20.600
 that woman's aunt knew.

00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:21.320
 Give thanks

00:23:21.320 --> 00:23:22.759
 in all circumstances

00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:24.220
 for this is the will

00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:24.740
 of God

00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:25.759
 in Christ Jesus

00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:26.860
 for you.

00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:29.080
 And you think about

00:23:29.080 --> 00:23:30.080
 all of those times

00:23:30.080 --> 00:23:30.700
 in your life

00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:31.620
 where in one way

00:23:31.620 --> 00:23:31.960
 or another,

00:23:32.060 --> 00:23:32.460
 whether it be

00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:33.140
 from a pulpit

00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:34.360
 or from a teaching ministry

00:23:34.360 --> 00:23:35.200
 or from a book

00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:36.220
 or from what

00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:37.259
 your own experience,

00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:38.220
 perhaps the experience

00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:40.019
 of pain is telling you

00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:40.700
 and in a sense

00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:41.240
 it's attempting

00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:42.360
 to teach you

00:23:42.360 --> 00:23:43.940
 at those moments

00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:44.880
 we need to apply

00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:46.279
 gospel hope to it.

00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:48.160
 We need to remember

00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:49.920
 gospel promises.

00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:52.120
 So I want to end

00:23:52.120 --> 00:23:52.819
 by saying this.

00:23:52.860 --> 00:23:53.819
 This is the encouragement

00:23:53.819 --> 00:23:55.000
 I think ultimately

00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:55.880
 from these verses,

00:23:56.019 --> 00:23:56.360
 isn't it?

00:23:57.220 --> 00:23:58.080
 Jesus says

00:23:58.080 --> 00:23:59.180
 a healthy tree

00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:00.580
 cannot bear

00:24:00.580 --> 00:24:02.140
 bad fruit.

00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:05.000
 And ultimately

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:05.700
 Jesus says

00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:07.279
 every healthy tree

00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:09.579
 bears good fruit.

00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:12.700
 So what ultimately

00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:14.619
 makes one tree

00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:15.140
 or another?

00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:17.900
 The Bible says

00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:19.319
 in Philippians chapter 1

00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:20.440
 He who has begun

00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:21.619
 a good work in you

00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:22.859
 will bring it

00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:23.500
 to completion.

00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:26.359
 He will bring it

00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:26.799
 if you will

00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.720
 to ripen him.

00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.240
 You didn't plant

00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:30.740
 the seed,

00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:31.359
 he did.

00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:33.960
 You haven't caused

00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:34.480
 the growth

00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:35.180
 no matter what

00:24:35.180 --> 00:24:36.120
 you might ultimately

00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:37.259
 think he has.

00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:39.440
 You won't determine

00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:40.120
 ultimately

00:24:40.120 --> 00:24:41.180
 all the fruit

00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:41.819
 of your life

00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:42.420
 and what it will

00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:43.019
 produce.

00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:44.019
 He will.

00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:46.140
 Yes, you must

00:24:46.140 --> 00:24:47.039
 avoid the counsel

00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:47.599
 of the wicked.

00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:48.480
 Yes, you must

00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:49.180
 plant yourself

00:24:49.180 --> 00:24:50.180
 as Psalm 1 says

00:24:50.180 --> 00:24:51.160
 by streams

00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:51.940
 of living water.

00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:52.680
 Yes, you must

00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:53.599
 bear fruit

00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:54.319
 in keeping with

00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:54.759
 repentance

00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:55.620
 as you can.

00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:56.960
 But if it's

00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:57.360
 something like

00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:57.979
 my experience

00:24:57.979 --> 00:24:59.199
 you'll bear

00:24:59.199 --> 00:24:59.899
 a number of

00:24:59.899 --> 00:25:00.500
 crap apples

00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:01.359
 too daily.

00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:03.959
 But wait,

00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:04.599
 he's saying,

00:25:04.679 --> 00:25:05.219
 and hope

00:25:05.219 --> 00:25:06.159
 because even

00:25:06.159 --> 00:25:07.279
 through the storms

00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:07.879
 and amidst

00:25:07.879 --> 00:25:08.479
 the wolves

00:25:08.479 --> 00:25:10.699
 God is ripening

00:25:10.699 --> 00:25:11.139
 you

00:25:11.139 --> 00:25:12.740
 for his glory.

00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:15.619
 That's right.

00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:16.059


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