WEBVTT 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.699 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.960 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:20.120 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:27.079 enjoy this week's message. Thank you. Thank you 00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:31.019 so much. You're very kind. And I just want to 00:00:31.019 --> 00:00:34.880 add a couple of words too to the memorial moment 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:40.840 of this day. Because as you remember your fallen, 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:46.219 countries like Australia look at the United States 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:53.060 with profound gratitude. My wife Helen had an 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:59.939 auntie who was a well -known radio singer. in 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:03.920 Melbourne during the Second World War. One of 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.939 the American Marines who was involved in the 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:12.540 South Pacific conflict did some R &R in Melbourne 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:19.140 and met Helen's auntie, and as a result, into 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:24.180 our family came an American Marine in his extraordinarily 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:30.019 good -looking dress uniform. No wonder those 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:32.180 guys get the best girls, they've got the best 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:38.140 uniform and as a result Ed Barker who was born 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:42.180 I think in Queens in New York became part of 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:45.420 our family and I remember sitting with him on 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:47.879 a number of occasions when I was just beginning 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.359 to take Helen out and hearing his stories of 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:54.599 Guadalcanal and other deadly places throughout 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:58.849 the South Pacific and a appreciated realising 00:01:58.849 --> 00:02:04.609 how much the free world owes to the fact that 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:10.110 this country exists. I know that of recent years 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:12.830 that there's been a sense of the weight of that, 00:02:12.909 --> 00:02:17.469 that why is it that America has to bear the responsibility 00:02:17.469 --> 00:02:21.469 of being the policeman of the world? But the 00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:26.479 reality is for 70 years you have been. In many 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:30.819 ways, the policemen of the free world and I today 00:02:30.819 --> 00:02:34.659 express to you, as an Australian, my personal 00:02:34.659 --> 00:02:38.280 gratitude. Our nation would not exist had it 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.939 not been for yours. And so every sacrifice that 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.300 was made by your nation, we have been a recipient 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:51.680 of. And the Australian nation, at least the major 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.419 majority of it, is appreciative of the fact. 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:58.909 that America is a free nation and because you 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:01.909 are free, we have the opportunity to continue 00:03:01.909 --> 00:03:06.710 to breathe free air and we pray, at least all 00:03:06.710 --> 00:03:09.250 of those who are Christians, we pray for revival 00:03:09.250 --> 00:03:13.030 throughout this nation, that God would preserve 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:15.469 this nation, that He would keep it and guard 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:19.189 it because your existence is one of the great 00:03:19.189 --> 00:03:23.469 gifts of the 20th and the 21st century. And we 00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:25.710 are grateful for you. Father, it is my prayer 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:29.610 over this nation and over this congregation that 00:03:29.610 --> 00:03:32.909 Lord, as many Americans have laid down their 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:39.569 life and made it possible for nations like Australia 00:03:39.569 --> 00:03:43.530 and New Zealand at the least to have continued 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:47.710 to exist and be places where one could worship 00:03:47.710 --> 00:03:52.460 and live in the freedom that this earth is. Able 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:55.939 to give until Christ comes again. I pray for 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.960 revival over this nation. I pray, Father God, 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:01.639 that great and godly leadership will continue 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:06.099 to rise in this house. And Lord, in Jesus' name, 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:08.759 the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.819 adds no sorrow will be their portion in Jesus' 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:20.339 name. Amen. Well, that's all for free. By the 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:23.350 grace of God. It's my privilege today to share 00:04:23.350 --> 00:04:25.629 a little with you from the word of the Lord. 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:29.350 And I want to share with you a very simple message 00:04:29.350 --> 00:04:32.290 in many ways. But I want to share with you a 00:04:32.290 --> 00:04:34.490 conversation that changed my life. And there's 00:04:34.490 --> 00:04:37.370 just an opportunity or just a chance that there 00:04:37.370 --> 00:04:39.889 are people sitting here today that as I kind 00:04:39.889 --> 00:04:44.550 of unfold the conversation that just was so significant 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:47.410 in my early years, it just might be significant 00:04:47.410 --> 00:04:50.629 for you too. And it may have a similar effect 00:04:50.629 --> 00:04:54.870 on you. as it had on me, and by the grace of 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:57.410 God that my presence here with you today could 00:04:57.410 --> 00:05:02.889 mean for some people a fresh and gracious relationship 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:06.949 with Jesus for the rest of your life. See, I 00:05:06.949 --> 00:05:08.730 grew up in Australia. I was born in Melbourne, 00:05:08.810 --> 00:05:13.230 Australia. Helen, my wife, was born not far from 00:05:13.230 --> 00:05:16.810 where I live, and both of us have been Melburnians 00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:20.480 all the days of our life. And both of us always 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.000 wanted to be schoolteachers. My dad was a schoolteacher. 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:26.519 It's all I ever wanted to be. From about grade 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:31.240 three, that was my vision in life. When I got 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.860 through to the end of my high school years, we 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:38.660 call it year 12, I was able to win an education 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:42.579 department scholarship to university. as long 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:44.740 as I signed papers that I would be willing to 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.519 teach in high school for three years on my graduation, 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:51.720 which I was very happy to do. And the reality 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.399 is I grew up in a Lutheran church. My mum and 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:56.740 dad were real believers. Mum was a Lutheran. 00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:00.480 Dad was a Methodist. When Methodists meet and 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:03.100 marry Lutherans, it is necessary that they become 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:05.959 Lutheran because no Lutheran could ever become 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.079 a Methodist. And as a result, my dad became... 00:06:09.529 --> 00:06:13.589 and I grew up in a Lutheran church and I look 00:06:13.589 --> 00:06:17.689 back on that with great thanksgiving. But the 00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:22.189 reality is the kind of wonderful Christian people 00:06:22.189 --> 00:06:26.230 they were, I always appreciated it and I grew 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:28.930 up knowing and kind of understanding the gospel. 00:06:29.050 --> 00:06:31.910 I can't remember a time when I didn't believe 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:35.569 the Bible was true and I didn't believe the gospel 00:06:35.569 --> 00:06:38.519 that Jesus lived, he died, he rose again. And 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:41.720 that the gift of God was salvation in Jesus' 00:06:41.860 --> 00:06:44.319 name. I kind of grew up knowing that. But it 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.899 never actually connected with my behaviour patterns. 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:51.180 And as a result, I was in trouble all my life. 00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:53.480 And I was just reflecting on some of that this 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.759 morning as we were in worship. Just some of the 00:06:56.759 --> 00:07:00.899 dumb things that I did. And during university, 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:04.040 my first year of university, I was arrested by 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.160 the police for siphoning petrol out of a police 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:13.439 car. Which is not either a Christian thing or 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:17.720 an intelligent thing to do. But I thought it 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.300 was okay because I used to use the petrol to 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:24.019 get to choir practice on a Thursday night. And 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:27.100 that was my Christianity. I'd be in church every 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:30.800 Sunday. I believed it. But there were weird things 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:33.860 going on in my life. I would steal my lunch from 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.759 the university cafeteria every day. figured out 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:40.180 how to get it for free, walk away, not pay, and 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:42.339 then put a dollar in the offering on a Sunday. 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:44.459 And somehow that never connected with me, that 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:48.120 there was a deep inconsistency with that approach 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:52.879 to my Christianity. I was a believer, but I was 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:57.100 not a follower of Jesus. And then Helen came 00:07:57.100 --> 00:07:59.019 into my life. We met each other in high school. 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:03.480 A year at the end of my first year of university, 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.000 when I decided having been arrested paraded in 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.699 the magistrate's court for the larceny of petrol 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:14.579 and having my pastor standing in court for me, 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.379 explaining to the judge what a good boy I was 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:20.160 and the judge wondering if I was such a good 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.579 boy, how come I had a can and a hose in the boot 00:08:23.579 --> 00:08:27.139 of my car? That was a very embarrassing question. 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:30.139 It was not something he should ever have mentioned. 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:34.139 But the reality was I had decided by the end 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:37.320 of that year that crime was not supposed to be 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.440 my future. And then I met Helen. And so now my 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.940 entire life is fulfilled. I have a pretty girlfriend. 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:47.600 I have a car. I've got money because I'm on a 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:49.840 scholarship and the government is paying me to 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:53.919 go to university. I have a rifle. I have some 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:56.779 golf clubs. And life was absolutely wonderful. 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.980 I was doing full -time billiards and golf and 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:03.500 a little bit of university on the side. And every 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:06.340 now and then, Helen and I, one of the reasons 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:09.460 within seven days of connecting with Helen and 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:12.139 beginning to spend time with her, I realised 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:15.320 I'd found someone with whom I could build a future. 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.320 Within seven days, I thought, I will marry this 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.320 girl. She has faith. She's beautiful. What else 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.259 could a man ask for? And as a result, I would 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:27.519 go to her church and she would come to mine. 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:30.440 Now, Helen had an interesting background in that 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.460 none of her family were believers. All of my 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:38.840 side of the family were. She came to Christ because 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:42.860 at the age of four, Jesus visited her in the 00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:46.450 backyard of her home. and revealed himself to 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:49.549 her as a child and said to her, you will have 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:53.730 a friend all the days of your life. And she found 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:56.429 her way to a local Anglican church where she 00:09:56.429 --> 00:10:00.490 was discipled by a godly Church of England minister. 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:03.909 That was her background. I would go to her church 00:10:03.909 --> 00:10:07.330 and she would come to mine. Now, her church was 00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:09.429 a little different than ours in the sense that 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:13.110 her pastor believed in healing. And he liked 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:16.190 to have testimony nights. Now, I was a Lutheran. 00:10:16.429 --> 00:10:18.990 We didn't have testimony nights. I'd never heard 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:20.929 a testimony in my life. I didn't realise that 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:25.009 testimonies actually existed. My opinion was, 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:27.169 you'll never know if the Bible's actually true 00:10:27.169 --> 00:10:30.169 until you die. And then when you die, you'll 00:10:30.169 --> 00:10:32.350 suddenly step out and there's, oh, there it is. 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:35.769 It's all true. Thank you, Jesus. But I had no 00:10:35.769 --> 00:10:38.490 confidence that anybody was really encountering 00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:43.440 God as far as I knew. And then we go to the Anglican 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.440 church and he's having testimony nights. And 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:48.700 these people would share their encounters with 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:51.860 God that I'd never heard before. And as I listened 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:54.200 to them, I realised their experience is very 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.379 different to mine. And on one of those nights... 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:00.370 A young man was sharing how he'd wrestled with 00:11:00.370 --> 00:11:02.690 his sinful nature and one night at three o 'clock 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:05.149 in the morning, he'd got down on his knees and 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:07.889 yielded his life to Christ and the burden of 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:10.370 his sins rolled away and now he was in love with 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:13.750 Jesus and he wanted to share Jesus and honour 00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:16.570 Jesus. And I'm sitting there thinking, yuck, 00:11:16.649 --> 00:11:20.870 how embarrassing to be telling everybody about 00:11:20.870 --> 00:11:24.610 Jesus. We don't talk about Jesus. That's a very 00:11:24.610 --> 00:11:27.299 private thing. You just keep all that. Keep all 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:30.879 that to yourself. And I was deeply disturbed 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.240 because I realised if that's what a Christian 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:37.080 is, I'm not sure if I am one. And that night, 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:40.879 her minister quietly came up behind me and he 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.879 said to me, tell me, young man, where are you 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.919 with the Lord? Do you know in 18 years of going 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:48.779 to church, no one had ever asked me that question. 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:53.039 And I was shocked because already listening to 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.299 that testimony, I was realised I'm not sure if 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:57.309 I'm really a Christian at all. if that's what 00:11:57.309 --> 00:12:00.830 one is. And I responded by saying, oh, I used 00:12:00.830 --> 00:12:03.169 to have my doubts, but now I'm right in there. 00:12:04.129 --> 00:12:06.970 But I drove home that night with my heart torn 00:12:06.970 --> 00:12:10.450 open with all kinds of questions. How would you 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:14.490 ever know? Lord, what do you want from me? How 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.889 would I ever know where I am with you? And those 00:12:17.889 --> 00:12:22.070 questions were like little worms got out and 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:25.940 started to bother my innermost being. I was starting 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:27.980 to stuff them back and get them back in their 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:31.879 place and kind of calm down and say, just carry 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.539 on with life, Al. Everything's good. When I came 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:38.559 to my own Lutheran church three weeks later and 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:42.080 we had a visiting preacher and he preached on 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:47.019 hell. He did a great job of explaining what the 00:12:47.019 --> 00:12:51.820 scriptures had to say about hell. And I got to 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:57.519 tell you, he scared the hell out of me. He said 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.299 something on that day. It was 1967 that I heard 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:04.519 that sermon. And I will never forget some of 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.360 the things he said. And one of the things that 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:11.740 gripped my heart, he said this, the worst two 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:16.080 words that will ever be uttered in hell are the 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:23.139 words, if only. If only I'd believed. If only 00:13:23.139 --> 00:13:26.720 I'd taken this seriously. If only I'd followed 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.120 Jesus. If only I'd been a disciple. And Jesus 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:33.559 said, in that day, there will be both weeping 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.820 and gnashing of teeth. There will be people who 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:42.000 weep. How could I have been so foolish? And there 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.519 will be others who gnash their teeth. How dare 00:13:44.519 --> 00:13:48.360 you treat me like this after all that I did for 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:51.419 you? There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:13:53.289 --> 00:13:57.190 And at the end of that sermon, I promise you, 00:13:57.269 --> 00:14:01.789 I was saying to myself, Alan, you have to find 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:06.830 out where you stand with God. Now, Lutherans 00:14:06.830 --> 00:14:09.629 are wonderful people. If you were at least a 00:14:09.629 --> 00:14:12.529 Baptist or a Pentecostal or something, they'd 00:14:12.529 --> 00:14:15.370 tell you about hell and give you a chance to 00:14:15.370 --> 00:14:20.090 get saved. The Lutherans preach about hell and 00:14:20.090 --> 00:14:24.600 send you home for lunch. I left that church that 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.759 day. I could hardly walk out of that church. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.220 And in my heart, I said, I've got to find out 00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:33.700 where I stand with the Lord. Now, the next day 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:35.980 I was working in a quarry during my university 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:39.139 vacation. I was driving a big Euclid truck all 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.740 by myself up and down the face of that quarry. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.940 So I'm spending the entire day in solitary confinement, 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:49.059 just my own thoughts. And for the next days, 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:52.120 as I'm driving up and down there alone, I'm saying 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.059 to God, what do you want from me? And then I 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:59.899 started thinking, well, what would a real Christian 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:06.259 life look like? I mean, Lord, what would be enough 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:09.720 to get me across the line? Because this was my 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:14.799 concern. I want to be saved. I don't want to 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:18.240 go to hell. I want to go to heaven, but I don't 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:21.200 want to be a fanatic. So I don't want to overdo 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.759 it, you know. I'm not trying to be a saint. I 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:27.139 just want to get there. But I don't want to miss 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:29.840 out because I realise missing out, oh God, no, 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:33.289 not that. And I would like... to just suddenly 00:15:33.289 --> 00:15:36.169 turn up in heaven and have everybody say, we 00:15:36.169 --> 00:15:39.210 never thought we'd see you around here. And I'd 00:15:39.210 --> 00:15:42.190 say, oh no, me and Jesus was like this. I was 00:15:42.190 --> 00:15:45.549 a secret agent for God. I was under the radar 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:49.409 until I just popped up in heavenly places. And 00:15:49.409 --> 00:15:52.070 the question is, you better not get that wrong, 00:15:52.149 --> 00:15:54.590 Al. So what's your list? What do you need to 00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:57.570 do to be right with God? And I started to try 00:15:57.570 --> 00:16:00.970 to figure it out. The first thing I thought of 00:16:00.970 --> 00:16:04.809 was money. Now, God's nearly always broke. They 00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:07.509 tell you that in church. And as a result, I thought 00:16:07.509 --> 00:16:09.950 if I was to give God money, that's got to count 00:16:09.950 --> 00:16:13.129 for something. So I can up my giving and if I 00:16:13.129 --> 00:16:15.149 give that, that's got to be a tick. I'll improve 00:16:15.149 --> 00:16:18.169 my giving. And I began to think through, I could 00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:20.389 cut out the swearing. That'd be a good idea. 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:25.039 And all week I'm trying to figure out how Christian 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.399 I'm prepared to be so that I'm pretty sure I'm 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.419 right with God, but I'm not a fanatic and nobody 00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:35.720 else knows I'm going to heaven. On the final, 00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:40.320 on the Thursday, I had a brilliant thought. Sunday 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.419 school, Sunday school, brilliant, brilliant. 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:46.820 I'm training to be a school teacher. It happens 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:50.159 in church on Sunday. So it's not like it disturbs 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.740 the rest of your week. And most of the people 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:55.279 that I know, you know, the boys, whoa, Al, what 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:59.100 are you doing? Oh, no, I'm going to, I'm okay. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:02.120 I'm going to do my Christian stuff in church 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:05.720 on Sunday, teaching the widowed children about 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:09.319 Jesus. And if Sunday school teachers don't make 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:14.299 it to heaven, you tell me who does. How much 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:19.119 suffering does it take to get into heaven? And 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:22.019 so I thought, that's brilliant. Sunday school 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:25.660 teaching's gotta go well with the Lord. I put 00:17:25.660 --> 00:17:27.759 that on the list because it's in church on Sunday. 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:30.539 I can be normal all through the week and be really 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:34.980 holy on Sunday for the little children. I came 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:37.000 home from the quarry on a Thursday afternoon. 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:40.799 I shower up, I'm gonna pick up Helen and we're 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:43.500 gonna go out somewhere. And as I got near the 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:46.960 front door, God spoke to me as clearly as I'm 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.599 speaking to you. not in my ears, in my chest, 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.700 right in here. And he simply said to me, I want 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:57.880 you to be a minister. Well, I got to tell you, 00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:02.779 that wasn't on my list. Immediately, I saw myself 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:04.859 dressed like a Lutheran minister with all the 00:18:04.859 --> 00:18:07.279 black clothes on and the colours around my neck. 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.039 And I thought, I'm trying to fly under the radar. 00:18:10.579 --> 00:18:13.160 I'm trying to get to heaven with nobody noticing. 00:18:13.380 --> 00:18:15.039 If I have to be a minister, they're going to 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.559 figure it out pretty quickly. And I just burst 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:24.079 into tears. Oh no. Oh God, shoot me now. Shoot 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:29.720 me now. I was horrified. I jumped in my car. 00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:31.799 I went round to see Helen and I took her outside. 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.140 I said, I think God wants me to be a minister. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.279 She cried. She didn't want to marry a minister. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.660 I have a reverse testimony. You've heard people. 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:46.930 I was low and broken. I was down and out and 00:18:46.930 --> 00:18:49.269 Jesus came along and lifted me up. Well, I was 00:18:49.269 --> 00:18:53.490 doing great. I had a pretty girlfriend, a car, 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:55.829 a rifle, some golf clubs, some money in my pocket. 00:18:56.309 --> 00:18:58.789 Everything in life was fantastic. And then Jesus 00:18:58.789 --> 00:19:04.650 came along and wrecked my entire life. Suddenly, 00:19:04.829 --> 00:19:10.190 I got this call from God on my life. I've got 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:13.690 to be honest and tell you, for me, it was terrifying. 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.049 I've got to tell you, I've improved since that 00:19:16.049 --> 00:19:20.369 time. I'm doing better, I can tell you. But at 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:23.210 that time, it was a horrifying experience. And 00:19:23.210 --> 00:19:26.849 I just didn't know how to cope with it. And I 00:19:26.849 --> 00:19:29.069 was getting then into the next year. It was my 00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:32.250 final year of training. And I was in university. 00:19:32.289 --> 00:19:34.710 And the call of God, God was gracious to me. 00:19:35.009 --> 00:19:38.230 He would draw near. And the call would just be, 00:19:38.250 --> 00:19:40.549 he pressed the call on my heart. And then I'd 00:19:40.549 --> 00:19:44.740 crumble and say, oh, no. That morning, the next 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.140 morning after he spoke to me, I was working in 00:19:47.140 --> 00:19:49.319 the quarry. But that day I was on a jackhammer 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.279 drilling holes in big rocks to put dynamite in 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.420 and blow them up. And for four solid hours, I 00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:58.920 stood on big rocks with a jackhammer and balled 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.339 my head off and said to God, I'm going to hate 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:03.619 every minute of this. And I'm trying to figure 00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:06.920 out how do you disobey God and get to heaven 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:12.430 at the same time? Now, because I was a university 00:20:12.430 --> 00:20:15.829 student and incredibly brilliant, it only took 00:20:15.829 --> 00:20:18.910 four hours to figure that out. He said, oh, you're 00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:21.809 not going to be able to pull that off. And so 00:20:21.809 --> 00:20:25.369 at 11 .30 in the morning, weeping on a jackhammer, 00:20:25.450 --> 00:20:28.890 I said to the Lord, if I have to, I will, but 00:20:28.890 --> 00:20:31.970 I'm going to hate every minute of this. The angels 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:33.690 must have written that down. Did you hear that? 00:20:33.730 --> 00:20:35.670 What a testimony. Let's write that one down. 00:20:36.450 --> 00:20:40.089 Let's show that to him one day. And that's where 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:42.990 I was at that time. And the call would come. 00:20:43.230 --> 00:20:45.349 And when it did, I would be overwhelmed. And 00:20:45.349 --> 00:20:47.890 then God would back off and he'd leave me alone 00:20:47.890 --> 00:20:49.529 for a little while. Then he'd come and press 00:20:49.529 --> 00:20:53.109 the call again. And at the end of the next year, 00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:56.730 I was about to finish my university and I'm studying 00:20:56.730 --> 00:21:00.759 for my final exams. in the university library 00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.720 and I can't study because God's pressing the 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:07.539 call upon my heart again. And I'm just overwhelmed 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:10.299 and I don't know how to handle it. And so I can't 00:21:10.299 --> 00:21:12.720 think straight. And I said to God, you've got 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.019 to leave me alone. If I fail this exam, I'll 00:21:16.019 --> 00:21:17.920 be stuck in university forever. You'll never 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:20.900 get me out of here. And Lord, give me a break. 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:25.339 And I noticed on the daily diary, the university 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:28.230 diary, there was gonna be a Lutheran. religious 00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:30.930 service in the university religious centre at 00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:33.109 lunchtime that day and I said to God, I'll do 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:35.049 something religious if you'll leave me alone. 00:21:37.109 --> 00:21:40.210 So down I went to the lunchtime meeting hoping 00:21:40.210 --> 00:21:44.890 to get some peace so I can study and get this 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:48.849 exam done. And I'm sitting there in the religious 00:21:48.849 --> 00:21:50.950 centre and people began to come in and a young 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:54.440 man just came in and sat down beside me. The 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:56.740 service took off and went on for about 20 minutes 00:21:56.740 --> 00:21:59.299 and it was totally meaningless to me. Didn't 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:02.319 touch me in one eye over. And when the service 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.339 was over, the young man who was doing it packed 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:07.220 up and he left and I didn't leave because I'm 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:10.619 devastated. I still have no peace. I don't know 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:12.559 what to do. I don't know how to respond to this. 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:17.279 The young man beside me just opened his bag, 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:22.180 took out his lunch and started asking me a question. 00:22:23.789 --> 00:22:28.430 Give you a hint about sharing your faith. Don't 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:33.650 leave the coffee shop or the table, wherever 00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:37.250 you are, don't leave too soon. Because you have 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:39.509 no idea what kind of need there is sitting right 00:22:39.509 --> 00:22:41.650 next to you. See, I don't know what brought you 00:22:41.650 --> 00:22:44.170 to church today. I don't know why you're sitting 00:22:44.170 --> 00:22:46.009 in your seat today. What was it that brought 00:22:46.009 --> 00:22:50.210 you? Some of you may do this every week. Some 00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:51.950 of you may be here and you've never been before. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:55.859 But there's one person in heaven, Jesus, who 00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:59.460 knows every cry in your heart. And you have no 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:03.420 idea who it is that sat down beside you and what 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:07.019 it is they're carrying that may have everything 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:10.140 to do with your eternal destiny. Just don't leave 00:23:10.140 --> 00:23:14.519 too soon. And he simply asked me, how's life? 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:18.559 The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, 00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:21.140 the mouth speaks and I just spilled it out. Oh, 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:23.660 I'm miserable. I think God's got a call on my 00:23:23.660 --> 00:23:25.720 life and I'm just totally overwhelmed and I don't 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:27.299 know how to. And he said, oh, that's fantastic. 00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:29.960 And I said, no, no, it's not fantastic. It's 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:33.539 awful. And he said, well, why? And I said, because 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:37.740 I don't want to do it. He said, are you a believer? 00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:42.619 I said, yeah. Well, tell me, mate, what do you 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:45.279 believe? Well, you ask a Lutheran that. Lutherans 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.410 know a lot of stuff they believe. So I can tell 00:23:49.410 --> 00:23:51.329 you what I believe. I believe in God, the Father 00:23:51.329 --> 00:23:54.390 Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus 00:23:54.390 --> 00:23:56.589 Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived 00:23:56.589 --> 00:23:58.710 by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:01.609 suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, 00:24:01.789 --> 00:24:03.950 dead and buried. He descended into hell. Third 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:06.009 day he rose again from the dead, descended into 00:24:06.009 --> 00:24:07.930 heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father 00:24:07.930 --> 00:24:10.289 Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge 00:24:10.289 --> 00:24:12.849 the living and the dead. Believe in the Holy 00:24:12.849 --> 00:24:14.849 Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion 00:24:14.849 --> 00:24:17.509 of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection 00:24:17.509 --> 00:24:20.930 of the body and the life everlasting. Do you 00:24:20.930 --> 00:24:24.049 think I'm saved? He said, oh, it's possible. 00:24:28.089 --> 00:24:30.930 He said, man, that's a lot of believing you've 00:24:30.930 --> 00:24:34.750 got going on there. That's extraordinary. But 00:24:34.750 --> 00:24:39.130 you don't want to respond to God with thanksgiving. 00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:43.450 No, not really. You say, well, in the midst of 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:45.549 all your believing, is it possible you might 00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:47.630 have overlooked one or two of the words in there? 00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:52.750 Like what? Well, try this one. I believe in God, 00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:55.329 the Father, almighty maker of heaven and earth, 00:24:55.430 --> 00:24:59.349 and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. 00:25:01.829 --> 00:25:04.130 You might have missed that word out, that word, 00:25:04.329 --> 00:25:07.670 Lord. Have you ever kind of wondered what the 00:25:07.670 --> 00:25:11.789 word Lord actually means? Why they call him the 00:25:11.789 --> 00:25:14.990 Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, I guess it's part of his 00:25:14.990 --> 00:25:17.789 title. I mean, everybody's got to have at least 00:25:17.789 --> 00:25:20.289 three names. I mean, there's Professor John Brown 00:25:20.289 --> 00:25:24.170 and there's Apostle George Smith. I mean, if 00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:26.890 he only had two names, Jesus Christ, it's not 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:28.970 really a whole name, is it? You need another 00:25:28.970 --> 00:25:31.509 one in there. So Lord Jesus Christ fills the 00:25:31.509 --> 00:25:36.690 whole name right out. Well, that's a good try, 00:25:36.869 --> 00:25:39.809 but let's... suggests that maybe there's more 00:25:39.809 --> 00:25:42.529 to it than that. Because you've got a lot of 00:25:42.529 --> 00:25:45.029 believing going on there, Albert. Do you realise 00:25:45.029 --> 00:25:50.250 that the earliest church didn't make it that 00:25:50.250 --> 00:25:54.250 complex? See, it took 150 years to develop the 00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:58.730 Apostles' Creed. The early church had a creed 00:25:58.730 --> 00:26:04.269 that was only four words. Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:26:04.609 --> 00:26:07.190 Maybe we should... Think a little bit about what 00:26:07.190 --> 00:26:10.450 that word means, because if that's a whole Christian 00:26:10.450 --> 00:26:13.289 confession in four words, probably each of those 00:26:13.289 --> 00:26:16.250 words counts a fair bit. What do you think the 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:19.730 word Lord means? Well, I'm not sure. Well, let 00:26:19.730 --> 00:26:23.190 me tell you. See, the word Lord means the master. 00:26:24.289 --> 00:26:29.430 It means the one who owns everything. The one 00:26:29.430 --> 00:26:33.529 with supreme power and authority. The one who 00:26:33.529 --> 00:26:39.619 rules. The supreme being. The one who has dominion. 00:26:40.059 --> 00:26:43.180 The one who has authority. The one who has the 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:45.599 power. Put it in a single word, he's the boss. 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:51.359 Now, the essence of being a Christian is all 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.259 wrapped up in those three words in Jesus' name. 00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:58.839 The whole gospel is wrapped up in his name. First 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:03.779 of all, the word Lord. There is someone who rules 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:09.859 and reigns now and forever. That's who he is. 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:12.880 But he has a name. The one who rules and reigns 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:18.259 forever is Jesus. And his name, Jehoshua, means 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:23.740 he will save his people from their sins. And 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:26.380 the word Christ means he has been anointed with 00:27:26.380 --> 00:27:30.299 power and authority to save, to heal, and to 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:33.859 rule. The whole gospel is tied up in his name. 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:38.740 And this extraordinary person who rules and reigns, 00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:42.859 who saves his people from their sins and is anointed 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:47.920 to heal, to rule and to restore, is calling you 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:55.220 into his service. It might be good if we responded 00:27:55.220 --> 00:27:59.619 with a little more enthusiasm. Because the fact 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:05.589 is, Your saviour is your Lord. He began then 00:28:05.589 --> 00:28:08.589 to unpack some of the insights. You see, Jesus, 00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:13.809 perhaps of recent years, is presented at times 00:28:13.809 --> 00:28:17.930 as saviour, and he is. But it's not the way he 00:28:17.930 --> 00:28:20.210 was presented essentially in the New Testament. 00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:24.150 There was another word that was presented with 00:28:24.150 --> 00:28:45.019 preeminence above salvation. Acts chapter 2, 00:28:45.119 --> 00:29:03.859 Peter preaching. Romans 10 verse 9. If you confess 00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:10.859 with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in 00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:13.279 your heart that God has raised him from the dead, 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:19.779 you will be saved. Salvation carries on from 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:25.259 his kingship. Philippians 2, 9, 11. God highly 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:28.849 exalted him. And bestowed on him the name which 00:29:28.849 --> 00:29:31.569 is above every name so that at the name of Jesus 00:29:31.569 --> 00:29:36.109 every knee shall bow. Of those who are in heaven 00:29:36.109 --> 00:29:38.329 and on earth and under the earth and that every 00:29:38.329 --> 00:29:41.329 tongue will confess. What are they going to confess? 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:46.410 Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the 00:29:46.410 --> 00:29:50.789 Father. 1 Peter chapter 3. But sanctify Christ 00:29:50.789 --> 00:29:58.240 as Lord in your hearts. 1 Corinthians 8, for 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:01.640 us there is but one God, the Father, from whom 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:06.240 are all things, and we exist for him. Hell, apart 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:10.119 from the living God, there is no point to your 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:15.880 existence. And one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 00:30:15.880 --> 00:30:21.799 are all things, and we exist through him. 2 Corinthians 00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:26.400 chapter 4. For we do not preach ourselves, but 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:33.779 Christ Jesus as Lord. And Revelation 17 puts 00:30:33.779 --> 00:30:37.660 the bow on the package. These will wage war against 00:30:37.660 --> 00:30:40.180 the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them because 00:30:40.180 --> 00:30:46.079 he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You say, 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:50.789 I've got a concern for you. explain this to you, 00:30:50.829 --> 00:30:53.769 mate. I think you're trying to marry a dishwasher. 00:30:56.890 --> 00:31:00.170 What on earth do you mean by that? Marrying a 00:31:00.170 --> 00:31:04.990 dishwasher? Well, imagine this. You come to your 00:31:04.990 --> 00:31:08.450 wedding day and there you are standing in front 00:31:08.450 --> 00:31:11.789 of the altar with the minister and Helen in all 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:14.349 her beauty standing alongside you and the pastor 00:31:14.349 --> 00:31:21.259 says, repeat to Helen your vows. And I start, 00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:27.420 I, Alan, take you, Helen, to be my lawfully wedded 00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:32.940 dishwasher. If no one from the congregation has 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:35.160 a word to say, someone up the front is about 00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:38.539 to have a word to say. Excuse me? Oh, sorry. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:42.480 I take you as my lawfully wedded dishwasher, 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:50.660 my cook, my cleaner, my romantic companion. Hold 00:31:50.660 --> 00:31:53.019 it. Now I don't think you understand what you're 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:56.599 doing here. You didn't come here to marry a dishwasher. 00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:00.420 You didn't come here to marry a cook. You didn't 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:02.900 come to marry a seamstress. You didn't come to 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:09.200 marry a baby factory. You came to marry a wife. 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:14.400 Now, if you receive her as your wife, there's 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:17.319 just a chance that might be an occasional dish 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:23.099 gets washed. Just a chance. But you can't come 00:32:23.099 --> 00:32:27.400 here and marry, take a lawfully wedded dishwasher 00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:32.259 home with you. If you come and embrace a wife, 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:35.960 there'll be numerous things undoubtedly she will 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:39.980 do. But you cannot take her as your lawfully 00:32:39.980 --> 00:32:43.880 wedded dishwasher. I think that's what you're 00:32:43.880 --> 00:32:48.799 trying to do with Jesus Christ. You cannot. marry 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:54.799 a dishwasher. You see, the gospel presents Christ 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:59.519 to us as Lord, Jesus, who saves his people from 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.079 their sins and anointed to heal, restore and 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:09.680 to rule. You can't take him as your saviour if 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:15.339 you will not embrace him as your Lord. You embrace 00:33:15.339 --> 00:33:19.700 the Lord and he will wash your body, soul, and 00:33:19.700 --> 00:33:24.579 your spirit. But you can't have Jesus as saviour 00:33:24.579 --> 00:33:27.400 if you will not embrace him as Lord. You see, 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:31.880 the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a sunthiki, 00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:36.319 it's a diathiki. What's that supposed to mean? 00:33:36.779 --> 00:33:40.220 They're both Greek words for covenant in the 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:44.430 New Testament. But a sunthiki, is a covenant 00:33:44.430 --> 00:33:47.849 between equals. I decide I want to buy Derek's 00:33:47.849 --> 00:33:50.670 motorbike. I say, Derek, I'd like to buy your 00:33:50.670 --> 00:33:53.890 motorbike. Give you $3 ,000. He says, no, I'm 00:33:53.890 --> 00:33:56.990 interested, want five. Hold on, five, that's 00:33:56.990 --> 00:33:59.049 far too much. Give you three and a half. Well, 00:33:59.210 --> 00:34:02.109 I'll drop it to four and a half. You see, that's 00:34:02.109 --> 00:34:06.109 a sunthiki, a negotiated agreement. That's exactly 00:34:06.109 --> 00:34:08.730 what I was trying to do with my little list. 00:34:09.260 --> 00:34:11.579 With Jesus. This is what I'm prepared to do. 00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:14.639 Here's your problem. The gospel is not a sun 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:18.960 thicky. It's a dear thicky. A dear thicky is 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:22.800 a covenant between a superior and an inferior. 00:34:23.139 --> 00:34:26.980 It is offered to you as a package. You can receive 00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:30.820 it or you can reject it. But you don't get to 00:34:30.820 --> 00:34:34.539 negotiate it. If you will embrace him as your 00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:38.650 Lord. He will wash you and save you from your 00:34:38.650 --> 00:34:43.389 sins. Danger for you, Al, is that you may well 00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:46.969 deceive yourself that you have a relationship 00:34:46.969 --> 00:34:50.409 with him because you like the idea of the forgiveness 00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:53.969 of sins and salvation, but you don't like the 00:34:53.969 --> 00:34:58.989 idea of being under his lordship and of yielding 00:34:58.989 --> 00:35:09.920 your future into... The Bible says, I was on 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:14.380 that pathway. Listen to it in the words of Jesus. 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:50.559 You can't claim intimacy with Jesus and be full 00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:54.039 of the devil at the same time. You can't be full 00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:57.760 of sin and full of the devil. while claiming 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.280 relationship with the Saviour and pull that one 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:04.599 off. Jesus said it himself, away from me, you 00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:07.699 workers of iniquity. There is a contradiction. 00:36:07.780 --> 00:36:10.679 You're not a doer of the word. You're a hearer 00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:15.719 only and you have deceived yourself. Oh God. 00:36:16.619 --> 00:36:20.619 I am so glad I sat in that spot on that day and 00:36:20.619 --> 00:36:23.579 someone sat next to me who was willing not to 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:25.900 just get up and walk away but sit and eat his 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:28.980 lunch and for two solid hours we talked this 00:36:28.980 --> 00:36:31.800 stuff through and he told me things I'd never 00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:37.219 been told before and by the grace of God, I heard. 00:36:38.300 --> 00:36:41.960 Listen to what Jesus says. Why do you call me 00:36:41.960 --> 00:36:47.630 Lord? Lord, and do not do the things that I say. 00:36:50.010 --> 00:36:55.889 This conversation changed my life. Jesus said 00:36:55.889 --> 00:36:58.250 to his critics in one of the parables, he said, 00:36:58.289 --> 00:37:01.130 tell me what you think of this parable. He said, 00:37:01.170 --> 00:37:04.210 there was once a man with two sons and the father 00:37:04.210 --> 00:37:07.329 came to the first and he said, son, I want you 00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:10.510 to go and work in the vineyard today. And the 00:37:10.510 --> 00:37:16.280 son replied, I'd rather not. But afterward, he 00:37:16.280 --> 00:37:18.739 deeply regretted what he had said to his father. 00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:24.139 He changed his mind and decided to go to the 00:37:24.139 --> 00:37:28.599 vineyard. I am that son. That's me in the Bible. 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:32.880 I don't want to do it. Until someone had the 00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:37.219 courage to tell me, your salvation is a dear 00:37:37.219 --> 00:37:41.039 thicky. It comes from heaven to earth. You can 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:45.280 accept it. You can reject it, but you can't negotiate 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:50.639 it. And I said to the Lord, forgive me. I'm so 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:55.239 grateful for that conversation. The father approached 00:37:55.239 --> 00:37:57.480 the second son and said the same thing to him. 00:37:58.539 --> 00:38:01.039 The son replied, father, I will go and I will 00:38:01.039 --> 00:38:05.460 do as you said. But he never did. He didn't go 00:38:05.460 --> 00:38:08.440 to the vineyard. Tell me now, Jesus said, which 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:10.380 of these two sons did the will of his father? 00:38:10.710 --> 00:38:12.889 They answered him the first one. Jesus said, 00:38:12.969 --> 00:38:16.409 you're right. For many sinners and tax collectors 00:38:16.409 --> 00:38:19.670 and prostitutes are going into God's kingdom 00:38:19.670 --> 00:38:22.889 realm ahead of you. Your sin will not keep you 00:38:22.889 --> 00:38:26.909 out of heaven if you will turn to the Lord and 00:38:26.909 --> 00:38:31.329 receive his lordship. No sin can keep you out 00:38:31.329 --> 00:38:35.590 of heaven if you will turn to the amazing Lord 00:38:35.590 --> 00:38:50.070 of life who will also save his people from John 00:38:50.070 --> 00:38:52.710 came to show you the path of goodness and righteousness, 00:38:52.889 --> 00:38:55.429 yet the despised and outcasts believed in him, 00:38:55.449 --> 00:38:58.409 but you did not. And when you saw them turn, 00:38:58.829 --> 00:39:03.550 you neither repented of your ways nor believed 00:39:03.550 --> 00:39:08.469 in his words. I will never cease to thank God 00:39:08.469 --> 00:39:13.110 for Graham, Willard Turton, a fellow student 00:39:13.110 --> 00:39:17.789 who sat beside me and spent two hours to explain 00:39:17.789 --> 00:39:22.110 to me something I desperately needed to hear. 00:39:22.789 --> 00:39:26.809 Let me teach you a little chorus. I was wanting 00:39:26.809 --> 00:39:31.130 Jackie to play this but when I played it to her 00:39:31.130 --> 00:39:34.329 she'd never heard it before and that was a problem 00:39:34.329 --> 00:39:37.530 which demonstrates that we are probably of different 00:39:37.530 --> 00:39:46.179 generations. Just give me a little more piano 00:39:46.179 --> 00:39:48.699 in this one here. Just a little, if you would. 00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:55.599 Great old song from my era growing up through 00:41:55.599 --> 00:41:59.599 the charismatic renewal touched so many people. 00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:04.300 But let me use it as a little illustration to 00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:08.619 conclude with today. There's a guy one day bought 00:42:08.619 --> 00:42:10.239 an apartment and he thought, you know what I'm 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:13.079 going to do? I'm going to find myself a tenant 00:42:13.079 --> 00:42:16.559 and then he'll pay me the rent and that'll be 00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:19.619 a good deal. So he bought an apartment and installed 00:42:19.619 --> 00:42:22.360 a tenant. And on the end of the first month, 00:42:22.460 --> 00:42:27.159 he came to the door and knocked on it. Tenant 00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:29.639 comes to the door, says, oh, are you the owner? 00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:32.519 He says, yes, I am. He said, wonderful. He says, 00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:34.980 I've got something for you. Takes a backward 00:42:34.980 --> 00:42:41.679 step and begins to sing. You are the owner. You 00:42:41.679 --> 00:42:46.960 are the owner. You have bought this apartment. 00:42:46.980 --> 00:42:54.619 You are the owner. Every knee shall bow. Every 00:42:54.619 --> 00:43:02.039 tongue confess that you are the owner. Shut the 00:43:02.039 --> 00:43:06.659 door and went inside. The guy said, well, that's 00:43:06.659 --> 00:43:09.579 interesting. I've never seen that before. Maybe 00:43:09.579 --> 00:43:12.239 you're going to pay two months rent. Next month 00:43:12.239 --> 00:43:15.079 comes back. The end of the second month knocks 00:43:15.079 --> 00:43:19.420 on the door. Man comes out. Oh, sweetheart, it's 00:43:19.420 --> 00:43:21.619 the owner. Out come the wife and two children. 00:43:21.679 --> 00:43:24.840 And in four -part harmony, they begin. You are 00:43:24.840 --> 00:43:28.639 the owner. You are the owner. You are the owner. 00:43:28.699 --> 00:43:31.679 You are the owner. They give him the whole thing. 00:43:31.739 --> 00:43:36.980 Shut the door and go inside. Extraordinary. I'll 00:43:36.980 --> 00:43:41.130 try for three months' rent next month. Comes 00:43:41.130 --> 00:43:43.250 back at the end of the third month, knocks on 00:43:43.250 --> 00:43:46.610 the door. Oh, it's the owner. Neighbours start 00:43:46.610 --> 00:43:50.070 appearing from everywhere. 60 piece band and 00:43:50.070 --> 00:43:53.670 120 in the orchestra and all together they begin. 00:43:54.030 --> 00:43:57.449 You are the owner, you are the owner. Give him 00:43:57.449 --> 00:44:00.369 the entire thing. There will come a moment when 00:44:00.369 --> 00:44:10.000 he'll say, shut up and show me the money. He 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:12.599 is Lord, He is risen from the dead and He is 00:44:12.599 --> 00:44:18.880 Lord. And He's worth more than a song. Thank 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:22.820 God for worship. It's not a substitute for obedience. 00:44:23.940 --> 00:44:28.159 It is not a substitute for consecration. It is 00:44:28.159 --> 00:44:32.239 not a substitute for a walk with God in the midst 00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:36.699 of a broken world. And sooner or later He will 00:44:36.699 --> 00:44:40.829 come and say, show me your Lordship. Let me ask 00:44:40.829 --> 00:44:42.550 you a couple of questions as I finish today. 00:44:43.750 --> 00:44:50.050 If Jesus Christ really was your Lord, would you 00:44:50.050 --> 00:44:52.730 have to treat your money in a different way? 00:44:55.730 --> 00:44:59.889 If Christ really was your Lord, would you have 00:44:59.889 --> 00:45:06.800 to make some adjustment to your sex life? If 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:10.239 Jesus was Lord, would you need to take your purity 00:45:10.239 --> 00:45:15.960 more seriously? If Jesus Christ was Lord, would 00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:19.039 you need to love your husband, your wife, your 00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:22.380 father, your mother better than you do right 00:45:22.380 --> 00:45:27.440 now? If Jesus Christ was really your Lord, would 00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:30.719 you turn up at work next Tuesday and do a better 00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:37.300 day's work because he is Lord? If Jesus Christ 00:45:37.300 --> 00:45:39.579 was really Lord, would you forgive your worst 00:45:39.579 --> 00:45:44.260 enemy more quickly? If Christ was really Lord, 00:45:44.360 --> 00:45:46.679 would you stop driving and texting at the same 00:45:46.679 --> 00:45:52.139 time? If Jesus was really Lord, could you clean 00:45:52.139 --> 00:45:54.360 up your room without your mother having to shout 00:45:54.360 --> 00:45:59.340 at you? If Jesus was really Lord, would you resolve 00:45:59.340 --> 00:46:03.320 conflict more quickly? Would you pray more passionately? 00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:10.219 Would you just serve better? I thank God for 00:46:10.219 --> 00:46:13.579 a young man who sat alongside me and changed 00:46:13.579 --> 00:46:17.619 the direction of my life because he helped me 00:46:17.619 --> 00:46:19.760 to understand I was trying to marry a dishwasher. 00:46:21.260 --> 00:46:23.300 Now let me give you the final bit of this little 00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:27.079 story. It's extraordinary. I never spoke about 00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:33.489 this for 50 years. A few years ago, I remembered 00:46:33.489 --> 00:46:36.730 the guy and was so grateful I preached this message 00:46:36.730 --> 00:46:39.670 for the very first time. But I mentioned in the 00:46:39.670 --> 00:46:43.929 message his name, Graham Willard Turton. At the 00:46:43.929 --> 00:46:46.010 end of that message, a man came out of the congregation 00:46:46.010 --> 00:46:48.409 to say, that's incredible, that man's my uncle. 00:46:48.949 --> 00:46:50.909 I'm going to ring him up and tell him about that. 00:46:51.710 --> 00:46:54.530 So he rang up his uncle, Graham, who by now had 00:46:54.530 --> 00:46:58.949 been used by God to establish the Christian school 00:46:58.949 --> 00:47:02.289 movement right across. New South Wales, the big 00:47:02.289 --> 00:47:06.389 state in Australia. And not only that, when his 00:47:06.389 --> 00:47:10.989 wife heard that I had mentioned her husband as 00:47:10.989 --> 00:47:14.929 the most significant moment in my life, she burst 00:47:14.929 --> 00:47:17.909 into tears because she was a facilitator of the 00:47:17.909 --> 00:47:22.010 Life Keys courses in their church. And she realised 00:47:22.010 --> 00:47:26.329 my husband influenced Alan Meyer and we do his 00:47:26.329 --> 00:47:30.550 courses and I'm one of his facilitators. He died 00:47:30.550 --> 00:47:35.750 last year. I had the privilege, by the way, he 00:47:35.750 --> 00:47:38.590 came and had lunch with me and I told him I was 00:47:38.590 --> 00:47:40.889 about to rewrite the Search for Life course that's 00:47:40.889 --> 00:47:43.809 currently being run in this church. He said, 00:47:43.849 --> 00:47:46.389 Alan, I'll help you edit it because that's one 00:47:46.389 --> 00:47:48.429 of the skills God's given me. I often edit for 00:47:48.429 --> 00:47:51.070 people who are writing stuff. And so Graham, 00:47:51.170 --> 00:48:01.630 who touched my life back in 1968, 69, edited 00:48:01.630 --> 00:48:06.250 with me the new Search for Life. And then a few 00:48:06.250 --> 00:48:15.789 months later, contracted. He took his life. I 00:48:15.789 --> 00:48:18.110 had the privilege of making a 15 -minute video 00:48:18.110 --> 00:48:21.809 for him in which I just laid it out again. I 00:48:21.809 --> 00:48:25.210 will never cease to thank God that a boy sat 00:48:25.210 --> 00:48:28.260 next to me in the religious centre. and helped 00:48:28.260 --> 00:48:30.860 me to understand I was trying to marry a dishwasher. 00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:34.860 Changed the direction of my life. I'll meet you 00:48:34.860 --> 00:48:37.960 again in heaven, Graham. But until then, I'll 00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:40.219 do my best to see how many else we can get there. 00:48:40.760 --> 00:48:43.940 I thank you for what you did. I thank God for 00:48:43.940 --> 00:48:47.820 what you did. And today is my prayer. If you've 00:48:47.820 --> 00:48:49.639 been struggling with the call of God on your 00:48:49.639 --> 00:48:52.599 life, you're afraid to respond. You feel like 00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:54.800 it'll kill your life. I cannot tell you how grateful 00:48:54.800 --> 00:48:58.760 I am. that He changed my perspective and I have 00:48:58.760 --> 00:49:01.420 walked with the Lord from that day through to 00:49:01.420 --> 00:49:04.300 this. And may God today take whoever you are, 00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:08.900 touch you with His story and this one and encourage 00:49:08.900 --> 00:49:14.619 you to yield to the divine and gracious kingship 00:49:14.619 --> 00:49:19.579 of Jesus. Just let Him love you and things will 00:49:19.579 --> 00:49:23.659 go so well. May the Lord bless you and keep you. 00:49:24.170 --> 00:49:27.070 May the Lord make His face to shine upon you 00:49:27.070 --> 00:49:30.489 and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up 00:49:30.489 --> 00:49:34.349 His countenance upon you and give you His peace 00:49:34.349 --> 00:49:38.329 now and forever. In Jesus' name. God bless you. 00:49:38.389 --> 00:49:44.889 Thank you for being with us today. Thank you 00:49:44.889 --> 00:49:47.389 for taking the time to listen to this week's 00:49:47.389 --> 00:49:50.050 message. We are so grateful for those who tune 00:49:50.050 --> 00:49:52.889 in each week and have given generously to this 00:49:52.889 --> 00:49:56.110 ministry. If you would like to give click the 00:49:56.110 --> 00:49:58.769 link in the episode description below. You can 00:49:58.769 --> 00:50:01.570 also help us by subscribing to this podcast and 00:50:01.570 --> 00:50:04.409 sharing it with your friends and family. Lastly, 00:50:04.469 --> 00:50:07.429 if you are in need of prayer send us a text message 00:50:07.429 --> 00:50:13.070 at 541 -625 -1365. We would love to pray with 00:50:13.070 --> 00:50:13.269 you.