1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,400 Hey there, this is Jen Wade, part of the core team here at Springs Church. 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:13,120 We just want to say thank you so much for joining us and listening to our podcast. 3 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:16,520 We are praying that it encourages you and it inspires you. 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,520 And if you'd like to find out more about Springs Church, please visit our website springschurch.co.uk. 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,520 Here's today's message. 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:34,520 If you have your Bible, would you just jump your way to Exodus chapter 20? 7 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,520 We'll be coming to that chapter a little later on. 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,520 Before we do, a little introduction. 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,520 We all have people in our lives we admire, correct? 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:49,520 I mean, when you look around this room, there's plenty of people in this room that I really, really admire. 11 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,520 One of them is not here today, it's his birthday weekend. 12 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,520 Ginger bass playing, lovely guy, Ben Wade. 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:01,520 He's 30 years old, not today, yesterday, 30 years old, 30 years young. 14 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,520 And I put a little post about him last night on Facebook and Instagram, just the modern way. 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,520 And I said something along the lines of, he might be 10 years younger, but I don't half look up to that guy. 16 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,520 All of us have people in our lives that we really look up to, correct? 17 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:21,520 And he might have been a teacher who was massively influential on you, real confident, really encouraging. 18 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:27,520 You might have a kind of influencer, an online influencer that you find really, really helpful, 19 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,520 got some great advice and has been really inspirational. 20 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,520 Anyone got any business heroes, any businessmen, businessmen been heroes? 21 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,520 It all like dragons, den of things, man, you feel well, it's inspirational. 22 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,520 Maybe you've got business leaders who have inspirations to you. 23 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:44,520 What about sports personalities? 24 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,520 Anyone got any sports heroes? 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,520 What sports heroes have we got? 26 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,520 Studio call, good, back wall. 27 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,520 Anyone else? No sports heroes? 28 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,520 Say again? 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,520 Laurie McElroy, yeah, what is that man say? 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,520 He's very good at talking, he speaks to music. 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,520 He's very good at talking, he speaks to music. 32 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,520 Anyone else found a project that you've ever owned? 33 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,520 People's favourite? 34 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,520 Yeah, I've got to be honest, I've been a diamond-penning fan a lot of my life. 35 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,520 I think he's remarkable. 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,520 I even think my favourite number is the number 23, because that was his number at Real Madrid. 37 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,520 I don't know, I've just not been to do a favourite number. 38 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:35,520 Yeah, it is actually, yeah, we've had a talk, but actually it is a favourite number. 39 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,520 It's 23, it's my favourite year. 40 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:45,520 We have people we admire in our lives, and I think when you've really got someone you admire, 41 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:53,520 because you're not a biographer, you're a reader, you're particularly intrigued about what makes people tick. 42 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,520 What makes people tick? 43 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,520 What makes people get out of bed in the morning? 44 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:02,520 What makes these inspirations do what they do? 45 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:08,520 One common trait among highly successful people, are you ready to be highly successful? 46 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:17,520 One common trait among highly successful people is their devotion to something called, oh no, discipline. 47 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:24,520 One trait that is common to highly successful people is their personal discipline. 48 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:31,520 The way they order their wives, other than the fact that Jack here has gone to the gym his whole life, 49 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:37,520 but now the gym has come home to Jack, and he's disciplined in what he does. 50 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,520 He's an inspiration, there is discipline in what he does. 51 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:50,520 People who are serious about their bodies are disciplined about what they're allowed in, what they don't allow in, I know. 52 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:56,520 People, highly successful people are disciplined, they stick to a set of values that they're devoted to. 53 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,520 They practise, practise, practise. 54 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,520 I think one of the things I'll talk about David Beckham, I'll just stop for one second. 55 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:09,520 So the story's going, he did the first person at the training ground in the morning, 56 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,520 and then he trained the whole session with all the rest of the team, but long after everyone had gone, 57 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:20,520 he'd been practising his free kicks for hours on his own, with a load of footballs, with no one watching, 58 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:25,520 so that what he practised in private became his excellence in public. 59 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:32,520 In fact, James Ward Price is about to beat David Beckham's all-time premier league free kick record in the next couple of years. 60 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:38,520 But I love the fact that he did it time and time and time again, so that when it mattered, he was able to step up. 61 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,520 It's interesting, isn't it? 62 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:46,520 An online recruitment consultant, I don't know if you're up for a job this morning, but I'm going to give you a little something. 63 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:51,520 An online recruitment consultant agency with a legacy of helping the employer brand, 64 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,520 source of unparalleled talent, work for solutions, but put people first. 65 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,520 They released an article, this online recruitment consultant, 66 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,520 it's called 10 Things That Highly Disciplined People Have In Common. 67 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:06,520 Are you ready for these 10 things? 68 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,520 Look, the 10 is important for us this morning. 69 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:13,520 10 things. One, highly successful people keep their eye on the prize. 70 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:22,520 Two, they live and die by deadlines. I didn't die by a few deadlines at the university when I was 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning 71 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,520 finishing my essays before the 9 o'clock deadline. 72 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,520 Two stories. Seems to get my best views at that time. 73 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:33,520 Three, people clearly define their goals. 74 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:39,520 Highly successful people lead with their mind over their mood. 75 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,520 You can over-react if you find it interesting. 76 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:48,520 Highly successful people, highly disciplined people set boundaries and revel in routine. 77 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,520 That's 5 or 6. 78 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,520 They work at developing habits. 79 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,520 Number 8, they take care of themselves. 80 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:01,520 Number 9, highly disciplined people avoid temptations. 81 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,520 Let's talk that again. 82 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:12,520 Number 10, highly disciplined people commit. 83 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:18,520 Highly disciplined people are committed to what they're going after. 84 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:25,520 I'm excited when I look at the life of Jesus because I reckon Jesus would have been a great candidate for this recruitment consultancy 85 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,520 with the legacy of helping the employer, outsourcing power and talent, work for solutions that put people first. 86 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,520 Sounds a bit like Jesus. 87 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:37,520 I find that Jesus, he kept his eye on the prize. 88 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:42,520 The scriptures say, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. 89 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:49,520 I reckon that Jesus did indeed live and die by the deadline set by the Father in heaven. 90 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,520 He was born when he was meant to be born and he died when he was meant to die for us. 91 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:58,520 The scriptures say that just at the right time, Christ died for us. 92 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:00,520 The Lord lived and died by deadline. 93 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,520 He had clearly defined goals. He said, I have come that they may have life to the... 94 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:06,520 Oh, he knew what he was doing. 95 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,520 He always led with his mind over his mood. 96 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:16,520 He said, Lord, if it's possible to take this cup, this sacrifice, this death on the cross away from me, please do it. 97 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,520 But if not the case, your will, not my will, be done. 98 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,520 He led with his mind over his mood. 99 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,520 He reveled in routine and overt holy habits. 100 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:32,520 He told that Jesus took himself away every morning to a solitary place so that he could just speak with his Father. 101 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:33,520 Jesus set boundaries. 102 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:39,520 He clearly chose who it was right and wrong to be around that at different times. 103 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:44,520 Jesus took care of himself when he needed quiet, he removed himself from the noise. 104 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,520 When he needed sleep, he slept. 105 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,520 Even on a boat in the middle of a storm, this guy was going to get shook on. 106 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,520 Jesus never gave in to temptations. 107 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,520 And Jesus was committed, real committed. 108 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:05,520 So committed that a 12-year-old Jesus was one day in the temple and he said, 109 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:11,520 Mom, Dad, I wasn't lost, don't you know? I must be about my Father's business. 110 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:16,520 Imagine if John were there and he came up to us and we were like, where are you? You lost me, don't you know? 111 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,520 I must be about my Father's business. 112 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:23,520 You can't argue with that, can you? You can't argue with that. Yes, yes. 113 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,520 Sorry. 114 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:33,520 As you read the scriptures, you get to see how brightly and how brilliantly Jesus honored God and treated people. 115 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:35,520 Are you with me this morning? 116 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,520 Jesus was just incredible, phenomenal. 117 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:45,520 Now, perfect. Jesus was perfect. 118 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:55,520 Never once, now listen to this guy, never once did Jesus compromise holiness for the sake of some sort of shortcut towards his calling. 119 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,520 Never once did Jesus compromise his calling. 120 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:04,520 In his heart, he always said, not my word, but your word, don't cry. 121 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:12,520 Never once did Jesus compromise the word of God to be more palatable for a non-Christian public. 122 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:23,520 But never once did he compromise his compassion for those same people who were far off, just to appear holy in front of the religious authorities. 123 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,520 He didn't compromise. 124 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:32,520 Never once did Jesus compromise his character to give into the stuff his flesh was craving. 125 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,520 Wow. Jesus lived a what life? Hello? 126 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,520 I know it's the morning, come on. 127 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:47,520 He lived a perfect life, literally perfect in all of his ways. 128 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,520 But if Jesus did perfect, you've got to ask what did he live perfect towards? 129 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:56,520 If someone was a perfect teacher, there's a whole bunch of teaching standards that they've got to meet to be a perfect teacher. 130 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:03,520 If someone was perfect in their finance, they've got to have a bunch of standards to bring them up to how good they are in their finance. 131 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,520 What was the standard that made Jesus perfect? 132 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,520 What standard did he live up to? 133 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:14,520 The standard that he lived up to was known as the law of God. Have you ever heard of that? 134 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,520 Sometimes it's referred to as the laws of Moses. 135 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:28,520 The standard that Jesus was perfect according to is found in 613 different laws in the first five books of the Bible. 136 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:43,520 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, 613 laws given by God, ceremonial laws, civil laws and moral laws 137 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:52,520 that Jesus perfectly nailed every single second of every single day of his 33 years on planet Earth. 138 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,520 Is that incredible? Some of you struggle not to break the speed limit this morning. 139 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:02,520 And here we've got Jesus fulfilling 613... 140 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:09,520 Now these laws, written in the first five books of the Bible, they were descriptive and written laws, commands of God 141 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:17,520 that taught us what it would take to be pure enough to have a relationship with God. 142 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:23,520 And if you can nail all of these laws in every single waking moment of your life, 143 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:30,520 then you might just have a chance, a shot at being pure in God's sight. 144 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,520 Does that feel a bit heavy? 145 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,520 It does. 146 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:40,520 See these five books are known as the Torah in Judaism. 147 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:48,520 As an infant, Jesus would have learned to read with these five books of the law containing how many rules? 148 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:50,520 613. 149 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:57,520 As a boy, Jesus would have gone to synagogue, he would have gone to the meeting of the religious faithful, 150 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:02,520 every single Shabbat, and he would have heard all of these books taught. 151 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:09,520 He would have learned to read using these laws. He would have heard these laws discussed constantly. 152 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:16,520 It's most likely that Jesus, the twelve year old, Jesus the boy, would have started to have got his understanding, 153 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:23,520 his earthly understanding of all things God and the Lord studied in his book of the sisters at synagogue. 154 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:30,520 Jesus the twelve year old was teaching these scriptures with wisdom beyond his years in the temple in Jerusalem. 155 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:36,520 At twelve years old, he's teaching his elders what all these laws are actually going to make. 156 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,520 It's almost like he had some insider information. 157 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:55,520 Jesus, who is the Word of God, who is the Word of God in flesh, perfectly lived out his living Word. 158 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,520 Why? 159 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:03,520 Now we've got a problem, because God in heaven loves the Son, wants you to send His only Son. 160 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:08,520 But our problem is this, that we cannot live out these laws. 161 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,520 God knew that we could not live out these laws every second of every day, 162 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:18,520 so instead what he did was he came to earth, his body in flesh, in the name of Jesus. 163 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:25,520 He grew and Jesus lived out these laws perfectly, so when the time came for him to be sacrificed, 164 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:32,520 to take away our sin, he was the perfect sacrifice that would release us from the burden of these laws. 165 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:39,520 I want to encourage you that Jesus came to make religion very simple indeed. 166 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:44,520 Not 613 tick box activities that you better nail for the words of your judgment. 167 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:52,520 Jesus brought down to two things, love God and love your neighbour as yourself. 168 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,520 We'll come to that in one minute. 169 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:57,520 Let's see what Jesus had to say about these laws of the Old Testament, 170 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:03,520 because it's not like we've heard that to him, it's what he said on the screen, Matthew 5, 17-20. 171 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:04,520 It should be revealed. 172 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:11,520 Jesus says, don't think I've come to get rid of all these laws, abolish them, things that the prophets say. 173 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,520 I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 174 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:23,520 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 175 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:30,520 Therefore, whoever relaxes one of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. 176 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:36,520 But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 177 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:42,520 So whilst our salvation does not rest on us fulfilling all of these laws, 178 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:48,520 these laws are still to be embraced and to be recognized and to be pursued. 179 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:59,520 Because Jesus, pure and light, fulfilled all of the Old Testament law, he was pure in sacrifice, pain, his grace is what enables us to be saved. 180 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,520 Not following these laws no more. 181 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:09,520 Jesus was asked one day, it was asked one day, Matthew 22, some religious leaders were trying to quiz him, 182 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,520 look at him, think he's so perfect, getting out of all these religious laws. 183 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,520 What do you think is the most important commandment before he touched on it? 184 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,520 Teacher, which is the most important commandment? 185 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:24,520 Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. 186 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,520 This is the first and greatest commandment. 187 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,520 And the second is like it, love your neighbour as yourself. 188 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,520 All the law and the prophets hang on these how many? 189 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,520 Two commandments. 190 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:45,520 Not two suggestions, not two good ideas, but everything that is holy rests on these two things. 191 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,520 Love God and love your neighbour as yourself. 192 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:57,520 613 commandments, summed up in just two, love God and love your neighbour as yourself. 193 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:10,520 What's really beautiful is this, that love God and love your neighbour as yourself, beautifully overview the first ten commandments ever given to us by God. 194 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,520 Have you heard of the ten commandments? 195 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,520 That's where we're going, the ten commandments. 196 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,520 Let's look at these ten commandments. 197 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,520 Exodus chapter 20, if you've got your Bible and your Bible there, in verse three. 198 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:26,520 This is what God says, these are the commandments for the Deity of Jesus. 199 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:27,520 So I very much wish you. 200 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,520 You shall have no other gods before me. 201 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:38,520 You shall not make to yourself a carved image or any likeness or anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth below you. 202 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:40,520 Or that is in the water below you. 203 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:45,520 You shall not bow down to them to serve them by the Lord your God, the genus God. 204 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:50,520 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers of the children of the third and fourth generation of those who hate them. 205 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:57,520 But I shall steadfast look to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 206 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:01,520 Number three, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 207 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:06,520 For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 208 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,520 Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy. 209 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,520 Six days you shall labour and do all your work. 210 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,520 But the seventh day is the Sabbath the Lord will not. 211 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:25,520 On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, or your livestock, or your sojourner, who is within your prayers. 212 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:31,520 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. 213 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,520 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 214 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,520 Did you know that you weren't made to observe the Sabbath? 215 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,520 But the Sabbath is actually made to be. 216 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,520 The commandment is to take the break from you. 217 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:53,520 But by honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given you. 218 00:17:53,520 --> 00:18:00,520 You shall not murder in the sixth, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbour, 219 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:10,520 you shall not cover your neighbour's house, you shall not cover your neighbour's wife, his servants, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour's today. 220 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,520 The ox and the donkey, your neighbour's car, I imagine. 221 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:16,520 Are you going to get us now? 222 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,520 All together. 223 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,520 Yeah, all together. 224 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,520 So here we have these ten commandments. 225 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,520 These ten commandments. 226 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:31,520 I don't understand it, that Jesus was living up to, or to be perfect, he filled every one of them, 613. 227 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,520 But knowing that we couldn't do that on our own, Jesus came, lived a perfect life, 228 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:42,520 and what we need to do is just be embraced, love God, love people, and the ten commandments expected you to. 229 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:47,520 If you take a look at the commandments, you will notice something incredible. 230 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:53,520 The first five commandments are all to do with how to love God. 231 00:18:53,520 --> 00:19:00,520 And the second five commandments are all about how we relate with and love people. 232 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,520 It's incredible. 233 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:09,520 When Jesus, thousands of years after these commandments were given, said the most important thing was love God, love your neighbour, yourself. 234 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,520 He wasn't making it up on the fly. 235 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,520 He wasn't just coming up with it off the top of his head. 236 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,520 His heart and his head would have been found in these original ten commandments. 237 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:20,520 Love God, love people. 238 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,520 Why ten? I don't know. 239 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,520 But in Jewish numerology, number ten is the number of completion. 240 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,520 It's really important. This is a really important set of ten. 241 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,520 What I find interesting is there are two groups of five. 242 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,520 Love God is five more. Love people is five more. 243 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:41,520 In Jewish alphanumeric language, number five is the number of grace. 244 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,520 And I'm excited about that, because there's grace for us as we pursue loving God in our lives, 245 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:51,520 and there's grace for us as we pursue loving people in our lives. 246 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,520 What an incredible thing these commandments are. 247 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:59,520 So when Jesus taught that these important commandments, love God, love your neighbour, yourself, 248 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,520 he was not making something new. 249 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,520 He was ratifying what had already been spoken. 250 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:12,520 What had been spoken in the Old Testament, especially in the ten commandments, still matters to us today. 251 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,520 Still matters to us today. 252 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:22,520 Love God, love people was the message the day that God gave Moses those commandments, and it still is today. 253 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:27,520 These ten commandments have been central to the church for the last 2,000 years. 254 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:31,520 They've been central to discipleship for the last 2,000 years. 255 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:37,520 They've been central to the way that particularly Western society and its laws have been placed. 256 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:42,520 So over the next weeks what we're going to do as a preaching is we're going to one by one, 257 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,520 we're going to look at unpacking these commandments and what do they mean for us today? 258 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,520 What does it mean for us today? 259 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,520 And we're going to co-operate with the teachings of Jesus and we're going to go deeper, 260 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:59,520 and we're going to chase after living in those that honour God, honour people. Is that okay? 261 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,520 And just to finish off today's message, let's give a little context to when these first commandments, 262 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,520 these ten commandments first appear. Is that okay? 263 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:12,520 We've got to ask first of all, what were the people of God the Israelites called to? 264 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:18,520 They were called to be light to the world, demonstrating what it meant to be children of God. 265 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,520 Can I ask you today, do you know what you're called to be a Christian? 266 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:28,520 Jesus said, I'm the light of the world, but now you are the light of the world. 267 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:33,520 We have the same calling since we've been adopted into the family of God. 268 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,520 Who had God just set these Israelites free from? 269 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,520 Because you may not know the Bible, but just before God gave the ten commandments, 270 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:48,520 the people of Israel, His chosen people in those days, had been in captivity and slavery in Egypt 271 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:53,520 for hundreds of years, and God had just saved them out of slavery. Wow. 272 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:58,520 So God had got His chosen people to be a light to the world, but they've been enslaved. 273 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,520 Do you know what you've been saved from? 274 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:07,520 You've been saved from the sin and have been made a slave to sin, and you've been saved from the fear of death. 275 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:12,520 You have been brought out of your Egypt, which is a light away from God, 276 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:18,520 and brought into a promised land which is called the Kingdom of God, adopted into the family of Hebron. 277 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:25,520 Wow. So they've come out of Egypt, and they're in a wilderness, but where are they heading? 278 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:30,520 God's people, before they had these commandments, were heading to something called the promised land, 279 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,520 a place to call home. 280 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,520 Can I ask you, church, where are you heading? Where are we heading? 281 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:43,520 You've been called to be light. You've been saved out of slavery and sin and death, 282 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,520 and we're heading to something called the promised land. 283 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,520 Do you know the scripture says that you are a citizen, not Great Britain first? 284 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,520 If you're a Christian today, you're a citizen of heaven. 285 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:58,520 Isn't that incredible? Just happened to be British, hasn't it? 286 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:03,520 Wow. We have another kingdom from another place. 287 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,520 Who would God set His people free from? 288 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:13,520 And then lastly, how did God want His people to live where they finally reached this place called the promised land? 289 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,520 He gave them the ten commandments. 290 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:21,520 When you come into your freedom, when you come out of your slavery, 291 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:28,520 in order to shine brightly, embrace my priorities, and you will shine. 292 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,520 You will be my people, oh yeah. 293 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,520 I'll just start by posting it as a community. 294 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,520 He wants us to make His priorities our priorities, 295 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:47,520 because then the one who is right begins to shine very brightly in us and through us. 296 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,520 I'm just going to finish with these scriptures. 297 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,520 Why bother looking at the ten commandments for a little while? 298 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,520 It's very Sunday school. 299 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,520 Well, a lot of people in the scripture do not know this is Thursday. 300 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,520 The Lord is near and perfect. 301 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,520 But John chapter 14, verses 15 to 17, Jesus said these words. 302 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:13,520 He says, if you look, if you look, it's not a plea. 303 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,520 If you look, you'll be healed. 304 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,520 It's just knowledge questioning. 305 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:23,520 If you do have a problem, you'll keep my commandments. 306 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,520 It's just what you do. 307 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:35,520 And I'll ask the Father, and he will give you the helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth. 308 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:40,520 The world cannot receive him, because he perceives you or knows you. 309 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:49,520 He doesn't view them, because he dwells in you and will be with you. 310 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,520 Why? 311 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,520 There's no way we can look to the perfect Holy Requirements of the Lord. 312 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,520 But because we have the fills of the Lord Jesus, where He's Holy Spirit in our lives, 313 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,520 we can be led by the Holy Spirit to all righteousness. 314 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,520 We can work out as we go along now, we've got a Savior by our side, the Spirit is. 315 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:14,520 John chapter 16, Jesus says, I'm going to encourage you this morning, 316 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,520 some of you sitting in church thinking the Lord's finishing me. 317 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:26,520 This is what he says, I still have many things to say to you, and you can't bear them all now. 318 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:31,520 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you up into all truth. 319 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:38,520 The second thing this morning, especially my thoughts, I said that's a lot. 320 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,520 The God gave me so much. 321 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:47,520 And so John said, Jesus, you also sent your Spirit to help us in our pursuit of you. 322 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:55,520 So that's the balance point. 323 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:08,520 I'm going to encourage you this morning, that what it takes to have relationship with God is very, very costly. 324 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,520 That cost was the life of Jesus. 325 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:18,520 He died on the cross and made a way to push our sins to one side and allow us to call it relationship. 326 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,520 He was far away. 327 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,520 In the fourth book, Jesus, Moses repeats the Ten Commandments, 328 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,520 because Moses is about to die, he doesn't actually get to live in the promised land. 329 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,520 That's another guy's job, Joshua. 330 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:39,520 And God, he gets Moses to repeat the commandments, like going to your promised land. 331 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,520 I need you to remember what I was commanding you to do. 332 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:50,520 But before Moses repeats the hard truth of the Ten Commandments, I think it's in chapter 16, 333 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,520 I think it's in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy. 334 00:26:53,520 --> 00:27:00,520 God tells his people that there are some cities called the cities of refuge. 335 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:05,520 And the explanation that we have about the cities of refuge is due to God says to his people, 336 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,520 listen, not if you mess up, but when you mess up, 337 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,520 there are going to be three cities of refuge that you can run to for safety. 338 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,520 And even if you don't know, but you didn't realise it, 339 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,520 you'll get fair healing and you'll be treated with quietness. 340 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:25,520 And I got really interested, as I do, I wonder what the names of these cities mean. 341 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:29,520 These three cities of refuge, these places to run to, 342 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:34,520 just in case, or when we do mess up, we've got somewhere to run to, 343 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,520 the first city was called Biza, everyone say Biza. 344 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,520 Biza, full of Ethers, right? 345 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:51,520 Biza, Biza translates this name, it means rough God, unrefined God, remote fortress. 346 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:57,520 So if we struggle to follow God, before we get wiped out while we can't get, 347 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:04,520 there's a place of refuge for you unrefined bits of God, valuable and beautiful as you are, 348 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,520 a remote fortress that you can run to for God. 349 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,520 The second city is called Ramboth, also Ramboth. 350 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:20,520 Ramboth means this, dispute Laversoy. 351 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,520 Right? 352 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,520 Dispute Laversoy. 353 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:31,520 And then the third city was called Golan, have you heard of the Golan Pikes? 354 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:39,520 Golan means their captivity, their rejoicing. 355 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:44,520 You came here in fear, but you will go out rejoicing. 356 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,520 And this place, Golan, was in an area called Bashan, Bashan made proof of it. 357 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:56,520 And it was in a region called, the region of the Manasites. 358 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:01,520 The Manasites means causing to forget. 359 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:06,520 Oh Lord, we want to chase after you, we want to follow you, but God, thank God, 360 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:13,520 he knows how sometimes weak we are to follow him and pursue him with all holiness as we want to. 361 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,520 But just before the truth of the Lord is read out for a second time, 362 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,520 there's a grace called cities of refuge. 363 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,520 And if you are gold this morning, you may well be unrefined gold, 364 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:29,520 but the Lord wants to refine you at a remote fortress where you are protected. 365 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:35,520 And where he refines you, the dispute between you and God is Laversoy. 366 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:43,520 What was captivity becomes rejoicing, and out of that place you can become fruitful again. 367 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,520 He causes himself to forget many of our sins. 368 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:53,520 Did you notice that grace and truth was not a new testament to Jesus' idea? 369 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,520 It's all the way through like a stick of rock. 370 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:01,520 If you follow the Lord diligently and pursue him with all of your heart, 371 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:07,520 you will find constantly not truth and then grace, but it's always grace and then truth. 372 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,520 Oh, we are so accepted. Come on, let's stand to our feet this morning. 373 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,520 We are so accepted, we are so loved, we are so pursued by God, 374 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:20,520 and we can be pursued here without fear, we can step into this holiness with joy, 375 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:26,520 and we can embrace the priorities of God, and we can see fruitfulness within our lives, 376 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:33,520 we can see how our past is good, and we can move towards it. 377 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,520 Thank you Jesus. 378 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:45,520 Thank you, bless you all. Thank you God. Thank you God. Thank you God. 379 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,520 God bless.