1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,480 I don’t come to try and make sense of the Bible in the light of my opinions and experiences. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:15,320 I come to my life and my experiences and make sense of them through the Bible! 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:25,040 I’d like to start today by telling you a little bit of my story 4 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:36,480 and I’m going to go back 50 years to the year 1973. 5 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:46,760 That was the year when both Fiona and I found Jesus. 6 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,640 We were in different parts of the country - 7 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,800 we weren’t going to meet each other for another five years. 8 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:09,280 The same month in May 1973 - 9 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,760 we had an encounter with Jesus Christ. 10 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:24,800 And to say that it changed my life is an understatement! 11 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:30,400 Because for me, I knew nothing about Christianity - 12 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:39,920 I’d never been into a church in my life, when I was 15. 13 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:45,200 I thought I was an atheist. 14 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:52,320 Actually, I was just a young, growing teenager 15 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,320 who was very mixed up and needed God. 16 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:15,720 I found myself attending a Bible study at school every week. 17 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:26,880 Now, at that time it was fashionable to be a rebel - to be rebellious. 18 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,320 And like all teenagers of that time, I was trying to work out 19 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:36,760 whether I should rebel against everything that went before - 20 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,720 my parents, everything! 21 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:44,480 Or whether I should conform with what seemed to be the standard. 22 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,960 But there was something about these Christians that really caught my attention! 23 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:06,720 Because on the outside, they seemed quite ‘straight’. 24 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:12,280 They didn’t act in a rebellious way. 25 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,960 But they were actually different! 26 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,840 And I realised that the people who were conforming with the crowd 27 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,680 were all these people who were rebelling! 28 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:46,400 And the different thing about these Christians is they were actually happy! 29 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:54,280 So, I went on a journey of asking lots of questions. 30 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,080 They gave me a copy of the New Testament - I didn’t know it. 31 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:02,240 I’d never seen it before; I started to read. 32 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:13,840 Most of my questions - they were not able to answer. 33 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:19,160 But one night - I remember it still today - 34 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:26,480 over 50 years ago, a friend of mine said to me, 35 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:34,360 ‘You need to ask Jesus, to show you that He is real.’ 36 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:49,280 And so that night, on the bus going home, 37 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:54,840 I decided I was going to pray. 38 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:59,800 For the first time in my life! 39 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:10,080 I said, ‘Jesus, if You’re real, please show Yourself to me 40 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:16,680 and I will give my life to You!’ 41 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:21,440 Now, something happened! 42 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:29,920 I can’t really explain it, and I don’t know what happened naturally 43 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,720 but when I said that prayer, 44 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:45,200 a physical and a spiritual light came over me. 45 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,120 God changed my heart! 46 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,520 And what I noticed immediately - and I still remember it was while I was sat 47 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,480 on the same bus before it reached home - 48 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:08,960 I decided that I now believed the Bible. 49 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:16,000 So, I was no longer trying to work out whether it was true or not. 50 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,800 I decided I believed it was true, as an act of faith 51 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,360 because I believed Jesus had showed me He was real. 52 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:29,360 I believed it was true, and I was going to try and live my life according to it. 53 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:47,720 Now, at that time, as I said, I didn’t know very much about Christianity. 54 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:56,200 And there was probably quite a lot that was wrong with my life. 55 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:04,680 But as I look back now, over those fifty years, 56 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:13,520 that was the most important thing that I ever did. 57 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:21,760 I believe I made a lot of mistakes and still do. 58 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:32,520 But there’s something about meaning it. 59 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,560 This is something where we are dealing with reality - 60 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,440 we are dealing with truth. 61 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,880 And that’s a matter of the heart. 62 00:07:46,880 --> 00:08:00,560 And this is a mystery really, but when you mean it, God comes in! 63 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:05,320 My parents didn’t quite know what had happened to me 64 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,840 and thought it was a new hobby! 65 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,880 Because at that age, I had a number of things I got enthusiastic about, 66 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:27,520 whether it was collecting stamps or watching football 67 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,320 or going to rock concerts - 68 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,360 there were all kinds of things I’d been enthusiastic about 69 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,640 and they thought this was another of those things. 70 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:55,280 But the title of the message I want to bring to you today 71 00:08:55,280 --> 00:09:02,800 is ‘Christianity is not a hobby’. 72 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:19,680 So, please tell your neighbour - Christianity is not a hobby! 73 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:26,040 One thing about a hobby - 74 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:32,440 you can be very passionate about it. 75 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:54,960 But in the hierarchy of important things in life, it comes below your preferences and opinions. 76 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:59,560 So, if you change your preferences, or change your opinions - 77 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:02,400 you can change your hobby. 78 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:15,040 Christianity is not at that level. 79 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:21,960 It’s at this level! 80 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:29,520 It’s above my opinions, and it’s above my preferences! 81 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:42,760 It’s possible to read the Bible, looking for things to justify our opinions. 82 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:50,680 But you need to open the Word of God, and let God speak to you. 83 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,280 One of the things I love that Prophet T.B. Joshua said is, 84 00:10:54,280 --> 00:11:00,720 ‘The Bible should be the database for our personal opinions.’ 85 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:22,360 So, I don’t come to try and make sense of the Bible in the light of my opinions and experiences. 86 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:29,120 I come to my life and my experiences and make sense of them through the Bible! 87 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:51,360 God’s Word is a direction for life, not just advice. 88 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,560 So, we need some humility. 89 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:07,880 True humility is total dependence on God for everything. 90 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:14,520 Now, another thing about a hobby - 91 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:24,360 a hobby can also coexist with other priorities. 92 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:33,280 It can be one of those things that we are interested in. 93 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:39,240 Christianity is not one of those things - 94 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:44,520 it’s the whole thing! 95 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,720 Does that mean that I have no interests? 96 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,400 I talk about nothing else but religious language? No! 97 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:04,120 But I understand everything - my relationships, my work, 98 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,000 what I feel about myself, what I feel about other people, 99 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:08,480 what’s going to happen when I die - 100 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:15,720 everything about me, I understand through the God who created me. 101 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:29,520 For the first Scripture that I want to read today, I want to read Matthew 6:24. 102 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:37,080 “No one can serve two masters. 103 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:44,240 Either he will hate the one and love the other, 104 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:50,760 or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. 105 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:59,080 You cannot serve both God and mammon.” 106 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:08,040 It’s not only money; I think it represents everything that money can buy - 107 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:19,120 this physical world we all physically engage with. 108 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:32,600 The god of this world and God, who created us - you can’t serve both of them. 109 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:42,520 Your life direction is either decided by things eternal and what God is saying, 110 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:47,640 or it’s decided by things here, which your senses are telling you. 111 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,640 And if you’re a true servant of God, you’re not a servant of the world 112 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,840 and if you’re a servant of the world, you’re not a servant of God. 113 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:14,880 You may have done the same as me - 114 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:19,600 you may have declared that commitment to Jesus, and you meant it - 115 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:21,760 you were going to follow Him! 116 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:35,480 But there are still daily decisions as to whether we obey God, or mammon. 117 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:43,680 People who don’t believe in God will think you’re crazy! 118 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:55,160 And the reason is, because you’ll be making decisions on the basis of something you can’t see! 119 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:02,800 But Jesus said further down, and I’m just going to read this verse as well in verse 33. 120 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:09,080 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, 121 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,240 and all these things shall be given to you as well.” 122 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,920 It’s because God is real. 123 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,640 He may not be visible but when we obey Him, 124 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:29,240 we get in line with the One who created this whole universe. 125 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:42,760 It’s no problem to Him to give you what you need. 126 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:53,960 If you give your life to searching for what you need, you won’t find it. 127 00:16:53,960 --> 00:17:03,560 You may find the physical things but you won’t find peace. 128 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:12,680 Because peace only comes from a relationship with the One who created us. 129 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:22,680 Now, I want to turn to a Scripture in the Old Testament, and this is in the book of Joshua. 130 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:28,840 Because this is one of the many examples in the Old Testament 131 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:43,040 where the people of God at the time thought they could serve God, and also serve other gods as well. 132 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:56,880 They saw some benefit in serving God, but they also tried to serve other gods as well. 133 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,880 It’s a temptation for all of us! 134 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:07,720 Sometimes, the devil, instead of trying to get us to just deny God, 135 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:14,040 will try to get us to shift and follow something else as well. 136 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,800 If there’s one thing I’ve observed - 137 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:33,160 in mixing with lots of people over the last fifty years of being a believer - 138 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,960 it’s that when you add something else to your Christianity, 139 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:46,720 it’s not long before you become focused on that ‘something else’, and God takes a lower position. 140 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:48,760 I’m warning you, this happens! 141 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:56,200 You start off being 100% for God - 142 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:06,800 then you’re 90% for God, and 10% for your own enjoyment. 143 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:19,040 Give it a couple of years; you’ll be 90% for your own enjoyment, 10% for God. 144 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:24,120 Because you can’t serve two masters! 145 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:31,640 Having said that, let me read Joshua 24 - 146 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:37,000 and I’m going to read from verse 14. 147 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:49,800 Joshua said, “Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly and faithfully. 148 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:54,360 Remove the gods that your fathers served in the region across the river and in Egypt, 149 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:56,360 and serve the Lord. 150 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:17,920 But if you see no benefit in serving the Lord, then choose today whom you are going to serve, 151 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,280 whether the gods your fathers served beyond the river, 152 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,440 or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. 153 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:46,120 But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) 154 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:54,240 Joshua was giving them the same challenge that Jesus gave His disciples and the Pharisees 155 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,960 who were listening to Him, when we read Matthew. 156 00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:03,840 He said, ‘Look, make your mind up, 157 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,880 you have to choose who you are going to serve - you can’t serve both.’ 158 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,720 Verse 16 says the people responded, saying, 159 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,880 “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord and serve other gods. We are going to serve the Lord.” 160 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:21,600 That is what they said. 161 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,840 Joshua said to the people, 162 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:45,200 “You are not able to serve the Lord, because He’s a holy God; He’s a jealous God.” 163 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,760 Joshua could have rejoiced and said, 164 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,240 ‘We have a revival! The people want to serve the Lord!’ 165 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,120 But he knew what was in their heart - 166 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:08,680 that their commitment at that time, was not total, but partial. 167 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:29,360 So, it was actually true when he said, ‘In this state of heart, you can’t serve the Lord’. 168 00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:44,960 Those people were only convinced; they were not yet converted. 169 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:55,440 So, you can be convinced that Jesus is the Lord. 170 00:22:55,440 --> 00:23:11,920 But you’re not converted until the Word of God becomes living inside of you, 171 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:23,920 and starts to affect your behaviour, your actions and your attitudes. 172 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:39,520 There is another Scripture I would like us to read, also in the Old Testament - Isaiah 58:2. 173 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:48,920 “They seek Me day by day, and they are delighted to know My ways, 174 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:55,880 as if they were a nation that does what is right, 175 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:02,960 as if they had not forsaken the just ways of their God.” 176 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:08,840 Let me jump to verse 3, where it says that they fast, 177 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,840 but “on the same day you fast, you do whatever you please.” 178 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:28,280 There’s something interesting about this case because on the outside, 179 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,000 what it says about these people was great - they were seeking the Lord, 180 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:38,840 they were apparently delighting in God - or at least in things associated with God. 181 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,640 but the prophet is telling them that it is not real. 182 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,160 That’s another thing about a hobby - 183 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:05,480 you can be very enthusiastic about it but you don’t have to really mean it; it can be a fake. 184 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:23,880 You can’t fake faith. 185 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:32,320 You can pretend to be good, you can learn the language, 186 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:37,760 you can learn the style of worship, 187 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:54,880 but faith can only arise in your heart in response to the Word of God. 188 00:25:54,880 --> 00:26:07,760 Now, God allows us in life to be able to observe whether we really have faith or not. 189 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:20,240 Because one thing I can guarantee is that faith is always tested! 190 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:27,560 Faith is not faith if it is not tested. 191 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:34,760 The kind of tests that God sets are not like the examination where we know the day, 192 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:40,840 and we prepare, and we go into the examination to see if we can pass the test. 193 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:47,080 It’s in the middle of doing something else, completely unexpected, that a test will come. 194 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:11,200 But when the test comes, we sometimes realise that we don’t actually have faith. 195 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,560 Prophet T.B. Joshua said something very challenging: 196 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:26,960 “You can tell whether you have got faith by your daily life.” 197 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:34,240 But this is not a negative thing; this is wonderfully positive! 198 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:40,360 It means we have a chance to put things right! 199 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:47,880 I don’t want to get to the end of my life and discover I was a fake! 200 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:58,560 I thank God for the tests now, so I can find out now! 201 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:05,360 And I can come to Him to put it right! 202 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:20,200 Because God allows things in our life which are stronger than we are. 203 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:28,400 To put it another way, you cannot save yourself! 204 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:41,720 He allows passions to arise in us which are stronger than our will-power. 205 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,680 How can we overcome? 206 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:56,080 With a living God! 207 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:01,320 So please, whatever kind of challenge you are having - don’t fake it. 208 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,120 Don’t pretend everything is okay. 209 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:18,240 Let me read from Luke 9:23. 210 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,720 Jesus said to all of them, 211 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:34,680 “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me. 212 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:41,640 For whoever wants to save his life, will lose it. 213 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:55,480 But whoever loses his life for My sake, will save it.” 214 00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:04,920 It’s a matter of life and death - that’s why Christianity is not a hobby. 215 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:13,520 Because we are giving our lives for this. 216 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:19,760 And you know, it’s possible - if we have a partial commitment, the problem is 217 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:34,440 we’ll have enough Christianity to make us miserable, but not enough to make us happy. 218 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:43,200 You cannot take eternity out of Christianity. 219 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:53,120 The God who created us, and who is going to judge us at the end of our lives 220 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:59,680 has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, 221 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:06,520 and to live a life that is full and free. 222 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,480 He doesn’t promise it will be easy, but it will be full, it will be free 223 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:16,440 and in eternity, it will be, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ 224 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:32,520 I want to read one more Scripture. 225 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:43,480 And this one is in 2 Chronicles 16:9. 226 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:51,160 “The eyes of the Lord go back and forth over all the earth 227 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:57,800 to offer strong support to the hearts of those who are completely committed to Him.” 228 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:15,320 This is talking about God - the living God. 229 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,720 He’s here. 230 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:22,760 He’s looking at our hearts! 231 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:28,040 He wants to show Himself strong! 232 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:38,720 But He can only do it for those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 233 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:48,800 So let’s stand and pray together. 234 00:32:48,800 --> 00:33:00,520 Lord Jesus, I am given up to Your will. 235 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:07,200 Lord Jesus, I am ready. 236 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:15,560 I am ready to go where You want me to go. 237 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:23,640 I am ready to say what You want me to say. 238 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:34,480 I am ready to be what You want me to be. 239 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:39,320 Time is short. 240 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:45,360 Jesus is coming soon. 241 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:51,800 I don’t want to waste my time. 242 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:58,440 Tell me what I should do. 243 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:04,160 Give me Your orders. 244 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:18,440 I promise to submit myself to all You desire of me, 245 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:31,400 and to accept all You permit to happen to me. 246 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:41,600 Let me only know Your will. 247 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:52,440 In Jesus’ name. Amen!