WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.880 Good morning again. 00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:04.139 Oh, it's even getting better. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:04.799 This is good. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:07.360 Okay. 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:20.559 So, we're looking in this series about identity. 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:26.199 And, you know, I've just really been praying for us as a church. 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:31.320 I've been praying for myself and just very convicted, even preparing this. 00:00:32.519 --> 00:00:39.820 But just praying for us as a church because I believe that actually God wants to change our hearts. 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:44.920 And the way that he changes our hearts is both through his word, but it's also as we pray. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:51.039 And I'm praying and begging that God would change us as his people. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:58.780 I'm praying that we would not be the same as we were yesterday. 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:07.599 I'm praying that we would be people who begin to get a glimpse of what it means to be captured by Jesus. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.920 So that that begins to change the way we live. 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:14.780 That's the kind of church we want to be. 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:25.640 And, you know, as we're talking about identity, I was, when I was in the UK, I taught a whole lot of international students. 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:31.299 And one day I invited a whole lot of these students from a particular country to go out hiking. 00:01:32.240 --> 00:01:33.359 And I love hiking. 00:01:33.520 --> 00:01:34.359 I'm a hiker. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:36.859 I'll take any opportunity to go out hiking. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:37.760 I can. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:46.740 And so I'd arranged to meet these people and just out in the countryside in the UK, beautiful hills, beautiful mountains, just fabulous. 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.260 And I arranged to meet them at the bottom and they turn up. 00:01:52.580 --> 00:01:56.080 And all the ladies were wearing high-heeled shoes. 00:01:56.740 --> 00:02:00.300 They had their Gucci handbags and their LV clutches with them. 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:04.200 And I was like, goodness me, are we going to the Oscars? 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:09.800 Because they had no concept of what it was to go hiking. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:18.039 And we started walking up the hill and we got about 200 meters, 300 meters. 00:02:19.480 --> 00:02:23.420 And then they said, and they turned around to me and they said, okay, that's enough. 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:25.520 I think we've had a little hike now. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:26.099 That was great. 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:26.620 Thank you. 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:36.840 And I looked at them and I said, but don't you realize, like, the view from the top is incredible. 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:39.039 Like, you've just got to get there. 00:02:39.219 --> 00:02:48.159 Don't you realize the joy and the satisfaction as you climb up and you get there and the vistas, the views become greater and greater and more beautiful. 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:49.300 And they just said, no, it's fine. 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:51.340 We're happy here. 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:55.200 And so then they, we had to turn back. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.099 And that was our hike. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:06.099 And my hope for us as a church is that we're not like those students. 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.240 Because they didn't see themselves as hikers. 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:13.599 They didn't even know what hiking was. 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:16.780 And so they didn't see the glory of where they were going. 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:24.460 And they were only content with a kind of comfortable mediocrity when there was so much more that they could have. 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:33.259 And what we're talking about today is we're talking about Christ has given each one of us as Christians a new identity. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.599 And we're not defined by what we do, but by who we are in him. 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:51.419 But if you don't get that, if you don't get who God has made you to be and what he's called us to be, then what's going to happen is we're just going to live with kind of like a vague stroll in our spiritual life. 00:03:52.519 --> 00:03:55.159 When God says, I want you to pursue me. 00:03:55.419 --> 00:03:58.019 I want you to find joy and satisfaction in me. 00:03:58.079 --> 00:04:04.959 And the closer you get to me, the more you'll begin to see more and more of my beauty and my glory. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:10.960 And so I want us to have as a church a kind of holy discontent. 00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:16.960 I want us to be dissatisfied with where we are in our spiritual lives. 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.980 Because he wants to push us on to know more of him. 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:25.160 So that's why we're doing this series. 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:35.439 And even as we're looking to think how we can plant out a second service and gather a team of people to be involved in that. 00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:39.720 And just to be able to see ourselves as gospel ministers, as people who make disciples. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:49.240 All of that is meaningless unless we are pursuing the goal of knowing Christ better in our lives. 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:51.620 Not staying at the bottom of the mountain. 00:04:51.620 --> 00:04:56.879 So, we talked about being a disciple last week. 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:03.540 And we said a disciple is someone who is growing in trusting Jesus as their savior. 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:08.800 And growing in lovingly obeying him as their Lord in every area of their life. 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:10.259 We said there's a cost. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.519 But we also said we're called to be on his mission. 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:17.220 And this journey that we're on of making disciples, that's what we're about. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:22.720 But now we're going to look at another title that the Bible gives us. 00:05:22.780 --> 00:05:27.100 In fact, the title disciple only occurs in the New Testament in the Gospels and Acts. 00:05:27.260 --> 00:05:35.340 Outside of that, Paul and other writers use a whole load of different terms to really flesh out what it means to be a disciple of Christ. 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.700 And the one we're going to look at is the title of saints. 00:05:40.180 --> 00:05:42.260 So how many saints do we have here this morning? 00:05:44.140 --> 00:05:45.040 We've got three. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:46.000 Okay. 00:05:47.700 --> 00:05:50.280 Well, we have St. Simon. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:51.379 Okay. 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:52.140 St. Sherman. 00:05:52.819 --> 00:05:53.460 St. Echo. 00:05:53.640 --> 00:05:54.240 St. Veronica. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:04.500 In fact, if you want to say some of us struggle with the idea of thinking about a saint. 00:06:04.960 --> 00:06:06.660 Because this is what we think a saint is. 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:07.379 Okay. 00:06:07.420 --> 00:06:09.040 I think they always have this kind of holy glaze. 00:06:09.140 --> 00:06:10.680 They're always kind of looking up somewhere like that. 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:12.860 And there's this kind of thing over their head. 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:14.480 I never know quite what it is. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:24.980 And because we think that a saint is somebody who's kind of associated with some kind of super standard of godliness, super Christian, which we could never reach. 00:06:24.980 --> 00:06:28.240 And so the Catholic Church canonizes saints. 00:06:29.580 --> 00:06:32.920 And we would never dream of being one of those. 00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:35.000 We're just ordinary Christians. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:45.740 But if you look at the beginning of this passage, and if you have the passage open in front of you, Paul starts off talking to a group of Christians, ordinary Christians. 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:52.139 And he says, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. 00:06:53.420 --> 00:07:00.240 And you realize, actually, saints is Paul's most, his favorite title for Christians. 00:07:00.900 --> 00:07:01.480 Did you know that? 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:06.040 And so actually, this was our CG together on Friday. 00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:10.000 Heal the saints meeting on Friday together. 00:07:10.520 --> 00:07:13.240 This morning, if you're a believer, you're a saint. 00:07:14.020 --> 00:07:18.200 It's everyone who has been, who's come to know Christ. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:19.060 We're all saints. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:23.740 And the word saint literally means a holy one. 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:25.220 A holy one. 00:07:25.699 --> 00:07:28.500 One who's been sanctified, set apart for God. 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:34.079 But one of the things that we, there's lots of myths about this. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:38.420 And one of the things that we think that the word holy means, we think it means moral. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:40.360 Or just kind of morality. 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.319 Things you should and shouldn't do. 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:44.180 Okay? 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.040 And it does include that, but it's far more. 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:48.199 You know, it's interesting. 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:50.839 In traditional churches, they love morality. 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:52.639 You know, you shouldn't do this. 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:53.399 You should do this. 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.699 And you have all the lists of the movies you shouldn't watch. 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:57.600 The music you shouldn't listen to. 00:07:57.819 --> 00:07:58.540 No tattoos. 00:07:58.759 --> 00:07:59.259 No drinking. 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:00.240 All the things. 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:01.500 And that's what it means to be holy. 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:08.600 And if I talk to my non-Christian friends, most of them think that religion is about being moral. 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:11.839 It's about saying no to anything fun. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:13.339 And actually, they like things that are fun. 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:14.939 So then they don't want to become Christians. 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:24.439 But then, what I notice is also in more kind of modern generation churches, what we do is, we don't want to be moral for Jesus. 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:26.339 We want to be cool and relevant for Jesus. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:29.759 And so, we watch anything. 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:30.959 We get tattoos everywhere. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:31.979 We drink like a fish. 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:37.059 We embrace everything because we don't want to be legalistic like the traditional churches. 00:08:37.699 --> 00:08:37.860 Right? 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:41.080 And holy is a dirty word. 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:52.300 But the Bible, when it calls you saints, it's not talking about what traditional churches or what modern churches often think about. 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:54.159 It's talking something so much more than that. 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:58.180 It's not morality. 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:00.579 It's more than morality. 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:04.139 Just think about it. 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:14.079 My mom, if my mom said to me, if you love me, the way you're going to love me is by caring for the poor, not talking badly to your colleagues, and not watching porn. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:22.259 And then I avoid her for the next six months, and she calls me up on the phone, and she says to me, hey, what's going on? 00:09:22.280 --> 00:09:23.759 I haven't heard from you for six months. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:26.639 And you say, well, I've cared for the poor. 00:09:26.780 --> 00:09:28.259 I've done everything you told me to love you. 00:09:28.300 --> 00:09:29.300 I've cared for the poor. 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:33.000 I've not talked badly to my colleagues, and I've not watched porn. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.360 Have I loved my mom? 00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:47.919 You see, I've done all the moral things, but God is not looking for us to just simply be moral and tick a load of boxes. 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:51.159 He's looking, do you want a holy relationship with me? 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:57.000 That's where he wants us to see what it means to be a saint. 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:58.720 It's in relationship with himself. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:04.940 So if I can ask you, do you see yourself more as a sinner or a saint? 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.720 Do you see yourself more as a sinner or a saint? 00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:14.779 If you're not a Christian, you shouldn't see yourself as a saint, okay? 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:17.980 That's not reality, according to what the Bible says. 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:23.500 But the thing is, what we do is we always live out who we think you are. 00:10:23.680 --> 00:10:26.040 If you think you're a failure, you'll live out as a failure. 00:10:26.040 --> 00:10:28.519 If you think you're a weirdo, you'll live weird. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:35.139 If you think you are a sinner, when temptation comes, you will fall into sin. 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:43.360 If you think that's your primary identity, then sin will become your primary way of living. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:50.840 But if you see that your primary identity is as a saint, a saint who does sin, 00:10:50.840 --> 00:11:02.720 but a saint nevertheless in Jesus, then that gives you the power to live out of your identity and say no when temptation comes your way 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.399 and to say yes to what Christ calls us to. 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:12.000 So I want to just kind of unpack this a little bit and I want to look at a couple of things, 00:11:12.539 --> 00:11:16.579 how this idea of what it means to be holy, what it means to be a saint looks like. 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:18.439 And I want to look in just two parts. 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:24.600 I want to look at a distinctive God and I want to look at a distinctive people, okay? 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.139 A distinctive God and a distinctive people, okay? 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:36.759 The book of Ephesians and the next few weeks, we're just going to kind of camp out a little bit in Ephesians for some of these titles. 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:41.840 It's set in a culture which is very anti-Christian. 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:53.139 To be a Christian was to be a small, despised minority and the pressure to conform to what everyone else around you was doing was very great. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:12:02.279 The greatest temple in the Middle East, the Temple of Diana with pagan worship where millions would come on pilgrimage was right there in Ephesus. 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:10.699 And yet, the Apostle Paul writes to this small group of Christians and he says this. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:14.740 Look in Ephesians 1 verse 3. 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:15.459 He says, 00:12:15.459 --> 00:12:24.419 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing, 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:29.179 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:33.979 that we should be holy and blameless before him. 00:12:35.819 --> 00:12:39.259 See, he's fleshing out a little bit of what it means to be saints here. 00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:48.019 See, Paul is actually, if you keep reading, he gives this massive list of all the blessings that as saints we now have in Christ. 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:53.039 And it so excites him that actually for 14 verses, there's not a single full stop. 00:12:53.079 --> 00:12:54.079 He's just going like this. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:55.600 He's like, okay, this is amazing. 00:12:56.740 --> 00:12:58.860 And he starts, he's just bursting with praise. 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:02.000 He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:02.840 Praise him. 00:13:03.400 --> 00:13:08.120 Something about being a saint of who he is has just captured his heart. 00:13:08.180 --> 00:13:09.660 So all he can do is praise God. 00:13:11.540 --> 00:13:13.280 I wonder if that's our response. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.080 Because sometimes I don't respond like that. 00:13:17.220 --> 00:13:19.560 It's because I haven't got what this is talking about. 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:24.879 You see, he says we're chosen to be holy and blameless. 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:27.199 He says he chose us. 00:13:27.899 --> 00:13:29.000 He didn't just choose me. 00:13:29.199 --> 00:13:30.759 He chose us. 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:34.799 Which means he chose us to be part of a people. 00:13:34.959 --> 00:13:39.719 He says when you come into Christ, you become part of his church, his chosen people. 00:13:41.239 --> 00:13:43.739 And Paul is referring back to the Old Testament. 00:13:44.239 --> 00:13:45.859 All of Paul's stuff comes from the Old Testament. 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:53.960 Where a holy God chose our people for himself and said, out of everybody around you, I want to make you my distinctive holy people. 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:56.460 Because I'm a distinctive holy God. 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:04.779 And so the word holy, we've said it kind of means set apart or separated. 00:14:05.060 --> 00:14:08.419 But that doesn't really kind of, that doesn't really mean anything very much to us. 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:09.940 I mean, what are we set apart from? 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:11.379 What are we set apart for? 00:14:11.379 --> 00:14:19.080 And if you get down into the Old Testament again, we've got to kind of understand where this is coming from. 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.299 So Isaiah chapter 6, book in the Old Testament. 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:31.679 Isaiah sees, he has this vision in the temple of the Lord, high and lifted up, it says. 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:37.200 And all these winged creatures around him, which are crying out in awestruck majesty, 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.759 holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.939 The whole earth is filled with his glory. 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.419 And they say holy three times, not because they've got a stutter. 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:57.779 They say holy three times, because in Hebrew, you don't have italics or bold or underline. 00:14:59.059 --> 00:15:01.639 And so what they do, they'd repeat a word to emphasize it. 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:09.840 So if you had a ring, if your ring is gold gold, that would mean your ring is pure gold. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:12.960 But here, there's something unique. 00:15:13.179 --> 00:15:15.399 It's not just repeated twice. 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:18.659 This word holy is repeated three times. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:23.860 That's like bold italics and like 15 exclamation marks after it. 00:15:23.860 --> 00:15:29.300 He's saying, not just kind of, oh, he's set apart, he's set apart, he's set apart. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:30.820 Because that's a little bit lame. 00:15:32.060 --> 00:15:38.060 No, what he's saying is, I'm so awed that my language has run out at this point. 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:40.700 It's like saying, wow. 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:41.180 Wow. 00:15:43.580 --> 00:15:44.740 That's what it's like. 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:50.140 And he's saying his holiness is what makes God, God. 00:15:51.020 --> 00:15:52.220 And we are not. 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:57.379 You know, I don't know if you've ever seen a, if you ever made sandcastles on a beach. 00:15:58.160 --> 00:16:00.400 You know, you spend all this time making this sandcastle. 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:02.560 And then the tide just comes in. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:06.159 And you can't do anything to stop it. 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:09.259 It just comes in and it just washes away everything you've just made. 00:16:10.019 --> 00:16:10.299 Right? 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:11.939 You have that kind of sinking feeling. 00:16:13.359 --> 00:16:16.179 Well, if you think about it, that's actually like life. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.939 There are 7 billion people on this planet right now. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.579 In 120 years, every single one of them will have been wiped out by time. 00:16:24.719 --> 00:16:25.619 Wiped off the planet. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:30.119 Kingdoms, empires, presidents, Trump, Xi Jinping, they'll all have gone. 00:16:31.319 --> 00:16:32.119 All have gone. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:35.599 They'll be replaced by others. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.619 But you know who won't have gone. 00:16:38.959 --> 00:16:40.199 God will still be there. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.979 You see, he's different. 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:45.379 He's distinctive. 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:46.739 He's not like us. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:47.399 He's holy. 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:51.079 He's the creator of everything and we are created. 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:51.979 He is infinite. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:52.779 We are finite. 00:16:53.599 --> 00:16:57.379 He's the definition of beauty and purity and glory. 00:16:57.799 --> 00:16:59.599 And the earth around us is just filled. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:01.979 When you look out at the sunset, when you see each other, 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:06.059 you just see a glimpse of the glory that is just reflected of him. 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:08.900 He's holy. 00:17:09.620 --> 00:17:10.360 He's different. 00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:11.779 Not like us. 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:17.799 But then the Bible says, and this is interesting, there are ordinary things which can be, 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:23.079 if they're devoted to his purposes, reserved for him, also become holy. 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:27.500 So, you know, in the Old Testament, plates can be holy. 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:29.259 Spaces like the temple can be holy. 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:30.599 A kiss can be holy. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:32.139 Sabbath days can be holy. 00:17:32.399 --> 00:17:42.039 When God appears to Moses in the burning bush, he says, take off your shoes, your sandals, because the ground you're standing on is holy. 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:43.039 Why? 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:44.039 But why? 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:46.119 Because it's God's ground. 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:47.559 It belongs to him. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:56.779 If God had a seat on a train, it'd be called holy because it's reserved for him, for what is pure greatness and majesty. 00:17:56.779 --> 00:18:00.700 It belongs to him. 00:18:00.700 --> 00:18:12.860 The amazing thing here is, in the book of Exodus, God says to his people, I chose you out of all the nations to be my treasured possession, 00:18:13.380 --> 00:18:17.160 to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, to belong to me. 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:23.460 And when that language in Ephesians that Paul is talking about, about being chosen, about being saints, 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:28.060 it's actually, he's saying, when he says he chose us that we should be holy, 00:18:28.560 --> 00:18:32.340 he's saying, you individually and us as a church, you're now holy space. 00:18:33.560 --> 00:18:34.740 You're reserved for God. 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:38.259 There's a sign on there which says, reserved for God. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:45.800 You don't have to go to a special cathedral or church building to have a kind of sacred space or a sacred experience. 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:47.720 Do you realize you're CG? 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:52.639 And you are holy space reserved for God. 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:53.279 Do you get that? 00:18:54.779 --> 00:18:57.720 The God of the universe, you are reserved for him. 00:19:00.379 --> 00:19:01.960 And if you're going, oh, that's nice. 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:03.180 Great. 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:06.559 Then I don't think you get this. 00:19:07.379 --> 00:19:13.240 Because this, if it doesn't awe you, then you just haven't understood this. 00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:19.680 Because God's holiness should thrill us and terrify us. 00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:26.539 You know, I remember watching a TV program in the UK about the queen going to visit ordinary people's homes. 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:28.859 I don't know if anyone's seen that one. 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:29.480 It's on the BBC. 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.480 But the reaction was fascinating. 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:43.740 Because there was this mix of absolute joy and privilege that the queen would come and choose to go and visit these little nobodies in their own homes. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:45.660 What an honor. 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:50.420 But at the same time, there was absolute terror. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:53.200 Because suddenly they were like, my house is a complete mess. 00:19:53.340 --> 00:19:54.100 I can't believe it. 00:19:54.120 --> 00:19:55.100 The couches are dirty. 00:19:55.320 --> 00:19:56.920 We haven't painted the walls in years. 00:19:57.360 --> 00:20:02.360 And things which they were perfectly happy with before, they were living with just a bit of mess. 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:03.420 You know, it doesn't matter. 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:08.779 But now, when the presence of the queen comes in, it's suddenly, they become self-conscious. 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:10.920 They see every single blemish. 00:20:13.600 --> 00:20:15.840 That's what happens with the story with Isaiah. 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:23.960 It's what happens with the story when you and me as sinful people come into the presence of true greatness and beauty. 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:27.759 You've got something so much greater now to compare with yourself. 00:20:28.299 --> 00:20:29.720 And it exposes you. 00:20:31.340 --> 00:20:35.019 And Isaiah, who's the most godly man in his day, he says to God, I'm ruined. 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:37.759 I can't stand here before you. 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:39.420 I'm not holy. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:52.180 And you know, the only way that Isaiah can stand and stay in his presence is that from the sacrificial altar, atonement is made for him. 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:56.220 And you know, the word atonement means to cover. 00:20:57.340 --> 00:21:04.120 You know, it's like when you get into a taxi and you just realize that you've reached your destination and then you've got no money on you. 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:07.420 And you turn to your friend and say, hey, can you cover me? 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:10.620 And your friend says, hey, I don't have any money either. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:16.120 And then the taxi driver turns around and says, hey, I'll cover your fare. 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:25.879 The Christian gospel is that everyone who repents and turns to Jesus. 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:31.359 It's not that God forgives your sin, your debt easily. 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:32.599 He doesn't. 00:21:32.719 --> 00:21:44.519 In fact, it is so great and God's anger at your sin is so pronounced that it can only be covered by God himself coming down in Jesus and dying for you. 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:50.359 That's why Jesus is so precious to us. 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:52.220 That's why we talk about him all the time. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:01.079 You know, it's when you promise to read your Bible and you skipped it for the last two weeks and you try and make up for it. 00:22:01.139 --> 00:22:02.359 And Jesus says it's covered. 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:10.719 It's when you shouted at your kids and you're feeling so guilty about it and you beat yourself up about it. 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:12.719 And Jesus says it's covered. 00:22:14.299 --> 00:22:20.719 He removes your filthy couches and he covers you with his pure spotless clothes. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.960 And he says, now you can stand before me in my holy presence. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:28.059 Not your merit. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:29.480 Nothing you've done. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:30.900 But you are now a saint. 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:32.440 You are now holy. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.200 Reserved for me. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:41.299 C.S. Lewis said, those who think that meeting God will be a cozy experience have clearly never met him. 00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:47.399 If you think you're doing pretty well, you're doing pretty okay, you've clearly never met God. 00:22:49.579 --> 00:22:58.460 But the key to understanding the holiness of God, if you understand that holiness, then actually you begin to understand your sinfulness. 00:22:58.659 --> 00:23:01.919 And then you begin to understand just how incredible grace really is. 00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:04.819 That's why we talk about it all the time. 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:08.460 Are you bored of that? 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:11.900 Are you bored of hearing about grace? 00:23:14.100 --> 00:23:18.680 Because if we are, we need to be awed again by that. 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:21.900 It's a distinctive God. 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:23.460 Holy. 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:26.819 Set apart. 00:23:27.620 --> 00:23:28.900 A distinctive people. 00:23:32.380 --> 00:23:34.019 Ephesians 1 to 3. 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:40.500 Basically describes, if you look through the book, it describes what our identity is. 00:23:41.639 --> 00:23:45.480 And then Ephesians 4 to 6 basically then tells you, how do you live this out? 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:55.160 And so if you go to chapter 4, and it's there in your bulletin, Paul begins to flesh out what this actually means for us in practice. 00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:01.740 4 verse 17, he says, you're no longer to walk. 00:24:01.800 --> 00:24:06.340 Since you're holy, since you're saints, you're no longer to walk as the Gentiles do. 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:09.940 Because God is a distinctive, different God. 00:24:10.019 --> 00:24:12.720 You ought to be a distinctive, different people. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:19.640 That means, when we do things and we say, yeah, well, everyone else is doing it. 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:23.680 No Christian can ever say everyone else is doing it. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:28.120 Because we're called to be different, reserved for God. 00:24:29.460 --> 00:24:33.120 He says, others around you have futile thinking. 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:34.680 Darkened understanding. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:36.819 They don't know a holy God. 00:24:36.819 --> 00:24:39.839 They don't have anything more glorious to live by. 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:44.279 They don't have the life of God flowing in them, he says. 00:24:45.159 --> 00:24:49.259 In verse 19, he says, they've given themselves up to sensuality. 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:56.759 What that means is, that word, it's like they've handed themselves over like a slave to a master. 00:24:58.159 --> 00:24:59.460 They've become slaves. 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:00.659 And who is their master? 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:03.960 Verse 22 says, their deceitful desires. 00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:08.579 Literally, they're in service of a Nala master. 00:25:09.740 --> 00:25:11.720 Now, I don't know if any of you drive. 00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:13.519 Anyone drive? 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:16.059 Okay, a few people. 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:22.819 If you drive, have you ever noticed how you thought you were a calm, moral person? 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:27.319 And then, you get behind the wheel of the car. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:31.059 And you're driving along and someone cuts you up. 00:25:31.059 --> 00:25:41.059 Have you noticed that almost instinctively, this kind of anger starts coming out? 00:25:41.139 --> 00:25:42.839 You start screaming at the people around you. 00:25:42.940 --> 00:25:44.000 What idiots you are. 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:44.839 Get out of the way. 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:53.980 You see, my desire for control and to have things my way is getting blocked. 00:25:53.980 --> 00:26:01.860 And so, what happens then is the moral person becomes a slave to that desire and it leads me to anger. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.799 You know, or you thought you were disciplined. 00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:09.700 You said, I will only watch one YouTube video. 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:19.059 Three hours later, you're like, why did I waste my time on all of that? 00:26:19.059 --> 00:26:21.899 What's going on there? 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:27.299 Your desire for comfort, for pleasure rules you. 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:31.259 And so, things that you regret, you end up doing. 00:26:33.419 --> 00:26:35.980 Because you've become a slave to them. 00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:43.059 And Paul says here, if you're a Christian, that's who you were. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:45.240 That's not who you are. 00:26:46.279 --> 00:26:48.180 You're a new person now. 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:53.319 He says, verse 22, you've put off your old identity. 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:55.980 And that's a verb of completed action. 00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:01.019 It means when you came to Christ, you took off your old slave sin master. 00:27:01.019 --> 00:27:04.440 And like a new wardrobe, you've put on Christ. 00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:05.859 You've got a new identity. 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:14.759 It says, verse 24, to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:17.799 You're holy, so live holy. 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:22.240 Imitate God, he says now in chapter 5. 00:27:22.879 --> 00:27:23.940 Walk in love. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.339 Put off anything that will enslave you. 00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:30.500 Put on anything that will help you to worship Jesus more. 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:40.579 You know, in other words, what he's saying is, you know, sin, he says, sin is falling short of the glory of God. 00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:43.920 Do you know what being made in the likeness of God is? 00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:45.539 It's being made glorious. 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:48.799 Because we're reflecting the glory of God. 00:27:49.259 --> 00:27:49.879 Do you get that? 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:52.500 You were made to be glorious. 00:27:53.980 --> 00:27:54.920 Do you want to say that after me? 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:56.900 I was made to be glorious. 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:57.140 I was made to be glorious. 00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:01.019 I was made to be glorious. 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:02.300 Turn to the person next to you. 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:03.680 You were made to be glorious. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:08.780 In Jesus. 00:28:10.580 --> 00:28:11.840 Not from yourself. 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:14.920 No, no, no. 00:28:15.040 --> 00:28:16.680 What does that mean? 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:27.500 You know, when Prince Harry was filmed running around with a bunch of naked women a few years ago, 00:28:28.340 --> 00:28:29.539 I don't know if you remember the story. 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:35.799 I don't think the queen afterwards came and said, you're no longer my grandson. 00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:41.620 But she might have said, that behavior is not fitting for royalty. 00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:45.500 You are royal, now live like a royal. 00:28:46.879 --> 00:28:48.779 Put that behavior off. 00:28:49.879 --> 00:28:53.739 Paul is saying, when you sin, you don't stop being a saint. 00:28:53.899 --> 00:28:57.319 Because your sainthood is a status, a position in Jesus. 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:01.819 But he's saying, just be who you are. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:03.779 You know what people say? 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:04.939 Act your age. 00:29:05.479 --> 00:29:06.199 That kind of thing. 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:06.979 That's what he's saying. 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:08.119 Be who you are. 00:29:08.459 --> 00:29:11.399 Don't go back to living that slave life again. 00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:13.500 You have these habits. 00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:14.959 Don't just be moral. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:16.559 Don't just try and keep the rules. 00:29:16.899 --> 00:29:19.939 Aim to pursue everything that will help you to live. 00:29:20.119 --> 00:29:25.219 Not in a kind of Windows 95, old virus-ridden software nature that you have. 00:29:25.459 --> 00:29:28.959 But now the new, whatever, if you're Windows, it's like Windows 10 million. 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:31.279 Or iOS, I don't know what you'd be with iOS. 00:29:32.419 --> 00:29:34.299 But you have a new software. 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:35.779 You have a new identity. 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:36.839 Now live in it. 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:38.419 Don't go running back to the old way. 00:29:38.420 --> 00:29:45.680 You know, I used to watch a local TV drama called Ngoi Woi Ga. 00:29:48.100 --> 00:29:49.620 Some of you know what that is. 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:54.220 The acting is terrible. 00:29:56.060 --> 00:29:58.539 The storyline is even worse. 00:29:58.539 --> 00:30:00.799 But it's kind of fun. 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:05.440 And so we would watch it every night for a while. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:07.339 The piano would translate. 00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:12.200 And then afterwards, we ended up watching 24. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:12.340 24. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:17.180 And 24 is actually well-written. 00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:19.059 And it's well-acted. 00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:21.940 And you know what? 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:24.039 Some of you are like, I'm not sure about that. 00:30:24.299 --> 00:30:26.100 But I think it is. 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:28.400 And I'm standing here. 00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:29.460 So I can say that. 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:40.220 But when I go back then to try watching Ngoi Woi Ga, I'm like, this is so mediocre. 00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:43.620 I just don't even want to watch this. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:50.440 And many of us are content with living mediocre lives. 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:54.360 Because we fail to see who God is and who we are in Him. 00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:03.140 And we just settled for living in a slum when He said, I want you to live in a palace. 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:06.320 He says, pursue me. 00:31:06.580 --> 00:31:07.820 Cry out to know me. 00:31:08.080 --> 00:31:09.120 Cry out for me. 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:17.240 And what will happen is, your taste for sin, as you get to see Him more, will die. 00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.620 You'll become, oh, I don't want that. 00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:26.740 You see, you've got to say, I'm a saint, not a slave. 00:31:27.640 --> 00:31:29.099 I'm a saint, not a slave. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.059 And you see, here's how we help each other with this. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:38.339 When you see somebody else who's walking in something which is not what God wants for them, 00:31:38.500 --> 00:31:40.579 don't just go to them and say, stop it. 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:44.120 Or don't just ignore them. 00:31:45.019 --> 00:31:45.759 That's not loving. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.019 You were made to be glorious. 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:53.819 Go to them lovingly and say, that's not who you are. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.140 You're a saint, not a slave. 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:57.160 Now act like it. 00:31:58.279 --> 00:31:59.799 You're a saint, not a slave. 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:01.119 Now act like it. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:04.759 Be who you are. 00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:10.319 Let me get practical for a minute. 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:16.240 I could take a hundred different things. 00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:19.519 And I'm aware I don't just want to take negatives either. 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:21.379 But pornography. 00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:26.119 It's a huge problem for many of us. 00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:33.000 But the problem with pornography isn't that you're just breaking a rule. 00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:45.779 It's that you're living a mediocre, substandard substitute for the intimacy and sexuality that God has created beautiful within a marriage context. 00:32:45.779 --> 00:33:02.240 And when you watch pornography, what it does, it removes intimacy, it removes commitment, it removes and dehumanizes the man or woman who's there and makes them nothing more than an object available for your fantasy. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:17.259 And its effect on us is that our vision of what God wants for sexuality gets reduced so that we can't appreciate the beauty in other people without thinking of them as objects of sexual desire. 00:33:20.660 --> 00:33:22.700 And many of us are gripped by it. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.740 And we think God is saying, you shouldn't be doing that. 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:31.579 And we get this guilt trips and all that kind of stuff. 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:36.240 But God is saying to us, you needn't be doing that. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.160 Because that's not who you are. 00:33:42.339 --> 00:33:43.700 I've cleansed you. 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:45.079 I've covered you. 00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:46.799 You are saints in me. 00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:51.400 In Jesus, you have the power to live out as a saint and holy. 00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:54.960 So now go with each other because we're a chosen holy people. 00:33:55.059 --> 00:33:55.700 With each other. 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:57.420 Confess it to someone else. 00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:58.980 Walk alongside each other. 00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:00.720 You need to remember writing each other. 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:02.240 You're a saint, not a slave. 00:34:02.620 --> 00:34:07.140 Let that be the rhythm and the words that we encourage each other with. 00:34:07.299 --> 00:34:10.300 Because that's how we'll be a distinctive holy people. 00:34:13.139 --> 00:34:17.420 Many of us think that holiness and obedience to God is simply about avoiding sin. 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:22.360 We say things like, is it a sin if I? 00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:24.680 Is it okay if I? 00:34:25.780 --> 00:34:27.159 That's what we're worried about. 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.760 But that's not what saints ask. 00:34:30.760 --> 00:34:35.300 Saints ask things like, is this helpful to me being like Christ? 00:34:35.300 --> 00:34:43.260 You know, like some movies, it's not wrong to watch movies. 00:34:44.860 --> 00:34:47.840 But I find certain movies just get stuck in my head. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:51.079 You know, I watched an episode of Game of Thrones. 00:34:53.000 --> 00:34:58.100 And, you know, honestly, the graphic section, that image is still in my mind. 00:34:59.900 --> 00:35:05.300 And some of us think that what we watch doesn't affect us. 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:08.340 And we say it's not a sin. 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:10.760 But is it helpful? 00:35:11.800 --> 00:35:12.840 Don't be a fool. 00:35:13.120 --> 00:35:17.400 You probably, like, think that advertising doesn't affect you either. 00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:26.360 But the reason advertisers spend billions of dollars on advertising is they know it does affect you. 00:35:27.780 --> 00:35:28.940 Is it helpful? 00:35:29.539 --> 00:35:35.460 If you struggle as a single with your marital status, 00:35:36.160 --> 00:35:42.720 does watching wrong comms feed your sense of dissatisfaction in your identity 00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:47.739 and stop you finding satisfaction in Christ, 00:35:47.819 --> 00:35:50.219 it's not wrong to, it's not a sin to watch a wrong comms. 00:35:50.939 --> 00:35:52.379 But you've got to be honest with yourself. 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:56.299 This is helpful for me in finding satisfaction in Christ. 00:36:00.359 --> 00:36:02.339 Holiness is saying things like, 00:36:03.279 --> 00:36:07.399 I will not criticize my husband or wife when I'm with my friends 00:36:07.399 --> 00:36:10.299 and everyone else is criticizing theirs. 00:36:10.300 --> 00:36:14.980 But I'm going to say, hey, my husband's got a whole list of things which are wrong. 00:36:15.080 --> 00:36:17.320 But, you know, there's one thing I appreciate about him. 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:21.420 And you're going to be different from people around you. 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:25.880 And some people won't like it because it exposes them. 00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:28.940 But do I want to be holy more than I want to be liked? 00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:32.240 Will I live out who I am? 00:36:37.120 --> 00:36:38.760 We have a distinctive God. 00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:42.420 We're called to be this distinctive people in every area of our lives. 00:36:42.640 --> 00:36:46.480 But if we only focus on the put-offs, what you don't do, 00:36:47.540 --> 00:36:49.000 the things I should stop doing, 00:36:49.300 --> 00:36:51.160 and never focus on the put-ons, 00:36:51.480 --> 00:36:54.580 never focus on what God wants you to push into your life, 00:36:54.760 --> 00:36:55.480 you know what happens? 00:36:55.540 --> 00:36:56.060 It's deadly. 00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:58.060 It's absolutely deadly. 00:36:59.320 --> 00:37:00.340 Jesus says, you know, 00:37:00.740 --> 00:37:02.200 if you drive out a demon 00:37:02.200 --> 00:37:04.600 and you put nothing back in its place, 00:37:04.700 --> 00:37:05.380 do you know what happens? 00:37:05.380 --> 00:37:08.380 It's a worse situation than it was in the first place. 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:14.599 Try and beat porn, gossip, anger, 00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:16.200 whatever it is in your life, 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:19.760 without fixing your mind on Jesus regularly. 00:37:20.200 --> 00:37:23.539 And it will either leave you more self-righteous if you succeed, 00:37:23.820 --> 00:37:27.079 or more discouraged and condemned if you don't. 00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:30.400 The way out of sin is this. 00:37:30.699 --> 00:37:32.739 You worshipped your way into sin 00:37:32.739 --> 00:37:36.679 because you surrendered to those slave masters. 00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:41.239 And you will only worship your way out of sin. 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:43.860 You worshipped your way into sin, 00:37:43.900 --> 00:37:45.559 you'll only worship your way out of it. 00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:51.500 It's only becoming more captivated with who Jesus is 00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:56.099 and tasting that he's better than the other things 00:37:56.099 --> 00:37:58.679 that you say, that's mediocre, I don't want it. 00:38:01.659 --> 00:38:03.079 So the way to live as a saint, 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:05.900 and I'm going to finish with a couple of things here. 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:09.500 Paul says in verse 23, 00:38:10.099 --> 00:38:12.139 if you want to live as a saint, 00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:13.980 you've got to saturate your mind 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:18.019 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind 00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:20.880 day by day by day with God's word and worship. 00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:23.059 You've got to fix your mind 00:38:23.059 --> 00:38:25.659 on the one who gave himself for you. 00:38:28.139 --> 00:38:29.480 You know, Jesus, 00:38:30.579 --> 00:38:33.820 when a woman who was caught in adultery, 00:38:34.780 --> 00:38:37.320 all the moral people came around her and said, 00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:38.119 stone her. 00:38:39.380 --> 00:38:41.420 And Jesus said to them, 00:38:42.300 --> 00:38:43.179 okay, 00:38:43.179 --> 00:38:44.019 okay, 00:38:44.019 --> 00:38:45.059 okay, fine. 00:38:45.460 --> 00:38:47.099 They said she deserves to die. 00:38:47.399 --> 00:38:47.879 And Jesus says, 00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:48.659 okay, you're right. 00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:51.519 Okay, so who here is holy and blameless? 00:38:52.299 --> 00:38:53.259 Throw the first stone. 00:38:55.460 --> 00:38:57.519 And everyone starts walking away 00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:58.319 because they know 00:38:58.319 --> 00:38:59.219 they cannot be, 00:38:59.339 --> 00:39:00.359 none of them were holy. 00:39:01.519 --> 00:39:03.480 The only one who was holy 00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:05.259 stayed there. 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:06.500 Jesus. 00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:08.720 And he said, 00:39:09.180 --> 00:39:10.800 I don't condemn you, 00:39:11.320 --> 00:39:13.140 but go and sin no more. 00:39:15.080 --> 00:39:16.760 My grace is on you, 00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:18.840 but don't live in that sin anymore. 00:39:20.240 --> 00:39:21.180 A while later, 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:22.300 all the moral people 00:39:22.300 --> 00:39:23.880 and all the immoral people 00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:24.860 gathered round. 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:27.100 And this time they said, 00:39:27.180 --> 00:39:27.520 Jesus, 00:39:27.700 --> 00:39:28.880 you deserve to die. 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:32.119 So we can keep being slaves 00:39:32.119 --> 00:39:33.140 to our desires 00:39:33.140 --> 00:39:34.000 for power 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:34.660 and greed 00:39:34.660 --> 00:39:35.280 and approval. 00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:36.320 You're getting in the way 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:37.160 of my life. 00:39:39.460 --> 00:39:40.340 And he, 00:39:40.500 --> 00:39:41.420 the holy God, 00:39:42.220 --> 00:39:44.380 gave himself up 00:39:44.380 --> 00:39:47.720 to their desires, 00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:50.220 to our desire 00:39:50.220 --> 00:39:52.559 for death. 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:56.179 But he did it willingly 00:39:56.179 --> 00:39:58.099 so that you 00:39:58.099 --> 00:39:59.039 and I 00:39:59.039 --> 00:40:00.199 could be his holy, 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:01.960 chosen people 00:40:01.960 --> 00:40:03.519 who belong to him 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:04.779 for his eyes only. 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:09.840 There's no other love like that 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:11.039 in the whole of religion, 00:40:11.159 --> 00:40:12.139 in the whole of everything, 00:40:12.460 --> 00:40:13.440 any other religion. 00:40:13.619 --> 00:40:15.440 There is no other love like that. 00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:16.599 It's a holy love. 00:40:16.940 --> 00:40:17.820 It's distinctive. 00:40:21.079 --> 00:40:22.480 Our sin is covered 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:25.380 but may we not mock 00:40:25.380 --> 00:40:26.659 what Jesus has done 00:40:26.659 --> 00:40:27.960 by having a cheap view 00:40:27.960 --> 00:40:28.500 of sin. 00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:32.240 Let me finish this. 00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:34.780 Some of us are like, 00:40:35.059 --> 00:40:36.400 I know that stuff of Jesus. 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:37.940 I'm bored with it. 00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:40.059 But we can't wait 00:40:40.059 --> 00:40:40.760 to flick through 00:40:40.760 --> 00:40:42.059 the latest YouTube clip 00:40:42.059 --> 00:40:43.519 of a cat doing handstands 00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:44.440 or a golden retriever 00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:45.059 looking at itself 00:40:45.059 --> 00:40:45.539 in the mirror. 00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:48.740 And we wonder 00:40:48.740 --> 00:40:49.619 why our lives 00:40:49.619 --> 00:40:51.199 have such a low standard 00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:51.820 of glory, 00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:53.140 such a pale desire 00:40:53.140 --> 00:40:53.780 for holiness 00:40:53.780 --> 00:40:54.580 because we've been 00:40:54.580 --> 00:40:55.539 fixing our minds 00:40:55.539 --> 00:40:56.140 on all of these 00:40:56.140 --> 00:40:56.760 other things. 00:41:02.100 --> 00:41:03.160 Because if that's 00:41:03.160 --> 00:41:03.900 what is in your 00:41:03.900 --> 00:41:04.660 rear view mirror 00:41:04.660 --> 00:41:05.500 all the time 00:41:05.500 --> 00:41:06.559 and you're focusing on, 00:41:07.320 --> 00:41:07.960 then you'll settle 00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:09.220 for being a moral person 00:41:09.220 --> 00:41:10.039 who treats your cat 00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:10.800 or your dog well. 00:41:13.100 --> 00:41:14.539 But make the worship 00:41:14.539 --> 00:41:15.220 of Jesus 00:41:15.220 --> 00:41:16.640 a rhythm 00:41:16.640 --> 00:41:17.840 in your life. 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:19.900 Take the triggers 00:41:19.900 --> 00:41:20.519 during your day. 00:41:20.579 --> 00:41:21.559 We've given you this. 00:41:22.820 --> 00:41:23.680 Has everyone got one? 00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:26.119 This, 00:41:26.920 --> 00:41:27.380 pick it up, 00:41:27.420 --> 00:41:28.079 it's downstairs. 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:31.000 Put it in your bathroom. 00:41:31.180 --> 00:41:32.280 Put it on your fridge. 00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:33.240 It's a reminder 00:41:33.240 --> 00:41:33.980 of who you are 00:41:33.980 --> 00:41:34.660 in Christ 00:41:34.660 --> 00:41:36.720 so you can remember 00:41:36.720 --> 00:41:37.300 what he's done 00:41:37.300 --> 00:41:37.920 for you. 00:41:39.680 --> 00:41:40.599 And if you remember 00:41:40.599 --> 00:41:41.420 his love for you, 00:41:41.460 --> 00:41:42.240 it will melt you. 00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:44.019 It will change you. 00:41:44.019 --> 00:41:45.340 And over time, 00:41:45.460 --> 00:41:47.039 you'll see your colleagues, 00:41:47.219 --> 00:41:48.460 even the ones you dislike, 00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:49.099 differently. 00:41:49.500 --> 00:41:50.139 You'll forgive 00:41:50.139 --> 00:41:51.059 when others 00:41:51.059 --> 00:41:52.219 think you're stupid 00:41:52.219 --> 00:41:53.039 because the more 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:54.119 you gaze on Jesus, 00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:55.440 the more you'll become 00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:56.000 like him. 00:41:56.759 --> 00:41:57.559 Let's pray.