Good evening, brethren.
Please take your Bibles and turn to John chapter 17.
Turn to John chapter 17 and verse 14.
John chapter 17 and verse 14.
The title for the sermon tonight is Adapting to Change.
Adapting to Change.
And as I was thinking about what to preach on tonight,
I thought a lot about how our world is changing, you know.
With this coronavirus, a lot of things have changed.
You know, how we conduct church services.
Thank God that churches are allowed to open up
this coming Sunday here in Australia.
But it's limited to 10 people.
And you know, we're gonna have to get used to the changes
that are in place at this point in time.
And I realized that the topic of change,
like when I think about myself personally,
I don't like change.
You know, generally speaking, I don't like change.
And generally speaking, most people do not like change.
Most people like things to stay as they are,
and they tend to rebel with change.
But the reality is, some change is outside of our control.
Some change will happen, and you've got nothing.
You can't do anything about that, brethren.
And so the purpose for tonight's sermon
is to help you as a believer, as a church member,
as a child of God, to understand that the world around you
will change, it has changed.
Even before this coronavirus,
the world around you has changed.
And we need to learn how to adapt to change.
Okay, we need to learn so we can continue
being effective servants of God,
so we can continue doing the work of God,
so we can continue remaining positive-minded.
And so that's the purpose for the sermon tonight.
Please go to John 17, look at verse number 14.
The Bible reads, I have given them thy word,
and the world have hated them,
because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
What I want you to know, brethren,
is that you are not of this world.
Yes, you live in this world.
Yes, God wants you to serve him in this world.
But spiritually speaking, you are not of this world.
You are of the kingdom of God.
Let's keep going, verse number 15.
Jesus says, I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world,
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
So when you think about this world,
when you think about our governments,
you think about the laws that have been passed,
you think about all the changes that are against the Bible,
and then you think about Jesus Christ,
I mean, don't you think, I mean,
those two things are so incompatible, aren't they?
We think of Jesus Christ as the perfect Son of God
without sin, the Word manifest in the flesh,
and then we have our governing authorities
that are being pulled by strings by Satan.
So we have this seemingly opposite things,
but we are to live for Christ, we are to serve Christ,
and yet at the same time, Christ says to the Father,
don't remove them from the world,
keep them there in the world.
So there are two great truths to think about there.
Number one, that we are to operate in this world.
We are to operate with a corrupt government.
We are to operate within this world.
The Bible calls Satan the prince of this world.
Satan has a kingdom in this world,
and his influence definitely
is in those high places of authority,
in the high places of influence, not just governments,
but the places that influence the media,
the places that influence people.
Satan has a foothold in a lot of these areas,
but we are to operate within the world,
but we are not of the world.
We are not to be like the world,
we are to be like Jesus Christ.
Look at the end of verse number 15.
It says, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
So even though Jesus wants us to operate in the world,
he wants us to be protected from evil.
He doesn't want us to go down an evil path, okay,
or be destroyed by evil.
So there's a few things there, right?
We are to operate in this world,
but we are not to be of this world.
We are not to be of the evil of this world.
And so as I mentioned, we are living in a changing world.
You know, the new term that's been thrown around
for the last month or so is the new normal, you know?
And the idea there is that things aren't going to go back
to the way they used to be.
All the freedoms that you once held,
all the rights you once had
are not going to return in the same capacity
post-COVID world, right?
We are entering into a new normal
and they're very careful with the phrases they use.
You know, what they should say,
they should just be honest and say,
things are gonna be completely different.
Things are not gonna be the same.
They'd rather say the new normal.
In other words, they want you to think
that what's coming is still normal.
But brethren, it's not normal.
Things are going to change.
And I realize, you know, my hope is
that things will go back to normal.
You know, my hope is that the world will be back to
the way it used to be before the coronavirus,
but I recognize that it's most likely
not gonna be the same.
There's most likely a lot of our rights
are gonna be stripped away as citizens of Australia.
You know, we're going to lose a lot of the freedoms
we once held, maybe so,
but we are still to operate in this changing world.
And so the total, once again, is adapting to change.
We need to learn how to adapt to change,
be prepared to adapt, and like I said,
no one generally likes change.
People like things to remain as things are.
They like to operate through the same things
day in and day out, and they hate change.
I remember when I used to work for quite a large company,
there was a time where things started to change very rapidly.
So much so that the employees were starting
to become resistant toward the changes.
And so what needed to be put in place were training sessions
or consultation of helping people adapt to change.
And I realized this because we are creatures of habit.
We like things to remain as they are.
We don't like to change much about ourselves.
And we ought to understand though,
the world is constantly changing.
There is a saying that says the only constant is change.
And that's a statement from Heraclitus.
Now, I don't know,
that's some philosopher before Christ, I believe.
Now that's kind of true.
The only constant is change.
It's kind of true.
What you'll notice that in your life,
you've gone through much change in your life.
I mean, you're no longer a baby.
You know, and the baby changes into a toddler,
and the toddler into a child,
and the child into a teenager.
And the teenager into an adult.
And what you'll find during those stages of change,
that your interests change.
You know, your friends change, right?
Your family may have changed.
I grew up with my mother and father and my brother.
Hey, but I don't live with them anymore.
I have a new family.
I have a wife.
I have children, right?
We are constantly changing.
And we need to understand this is just a reality of life,
but change is not the only constant.
There is something else that is very constant.
If you know your Bibles,
if you're a believer of the Lord God,
you know that our Lord God never changes.
In Malachi 3.6, God says,
For I am the Lord, I change not.
I change not, says the Lord.
Hebrews 13, verse eight, speaking of Christ.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
So this is the beautiful thing about being a Christian,
is even though the world changes,
even though our life changes,
we can always be stable though.
We can always be sound.
We can always be unmovable,
as long as you have the God of the Bible as your God,
as long as you are a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible also says in Isaiah 40, verse eight,
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Shall stand forever.
You see, for all eternity,
the word of God will never change.
What is written will stay written 100 years from now,
2,000 years from now.
Hey, it's the same things that were written 2,000 years ago
as well, as well.
The word of God never changes.
It will stand forever.
And so this is why Jesus Christ speaks about,
about his words being the rock.
And we ought to build our lives upon the rock.
And the rock are his words, the Bible.
And our Lord God is a rock.
Our Lord God never changes.
That's a great truth,
that we can always have that stability in life,
but the world changes.
Circumstances change, technologies change.
So many things have changed
and we need to learn how to adapt to change.
So this sermon tonight is not in support of a new normal.
I know some people are gonna hear my preaching
and they're gonna conclude that Pastor Kevin
is in favour of the lockdowns.
He's in favour of the COVID-19 app,
which our Prime Minister wants,
what is it, 40% of Australians to download.
You know, he'd be in favour of vaccinations or whatever.
I'm not in favour or in support of these actions,
but I do understand that we still have to learn
how to adapt.
You know, when Paul the Apostle went preaching the gospel,
he says to the Jew, I became a Jew.
The Apostle Paul had to learn how to adapt
in how he served the Lord in different places,
different places of the world,
different people he was dealing with.
He had to learn to adapt.
He needs to learn, how can I reach these people?
Hey, the situation over here is different
than it was over there and I need to change my approach
in order for me to be effective for the Lord God.
And brethren, when it comes to this new normal,
we need to start thinking, how can we adapt?
How can we change to make sure we can continue serving
the Lord God and not fail in the great commission
that God has given?
So look, I don't have all the answers.
I'm not gonna come with this sermon tonight
giving you all the answers,
but I want to give you a few things for you to think upon
so you can start applying it in your own personal life.
And because I found myself, with all the changes,
a little bit agitated.
I found myself sometimes lacking a bit of sleep.
You know, I was very uncomfortable
and then I had to just bring back to my remembrance,
you know, all the things that I had done
to adapt to change and I've had to adapt to change
in many, many ways in our life, okay?
What this sermon is, is to help you change or adapt
in a rapidly changing world, okay?
And as I said, we've all experienced change.
Sometimes you're the one that's brought in the change.
Other times, someone else outside of your control
has brought in that change and you've had no choice
but to learn how to adapt to that, okay?
Now, if you can go to Acts chapter one, verse six,
Acts chapter one, verse six,
because, you know, our nation is changing
and the world is changing, that's for sure.
And, you know, I understand some believers,
some Christians desire to change our government, okay?
They have a desire potentially to get into politics,
a desire to, you know, influence the way
our government has their policies
and put into effect their laws.
And there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.
But I want you to understand
that we will never have a perfect government.
We'll never have politicians that love the law of God,
you know, at least on this side of the millennium, right?
When Christ comes back and establishes the millennium
with his government, with his own system,
hey, we'll be there serving Christ,
we'll be ruling and reigning with him,
that's when we can expect a perfect government.
But all we can hope for right now on this side
is for our politicians to have some fear of God,
you know, consider some of the laws of God
in how they bring about, you know, policies.
And as pastors and as preachers
to just preach what the Bible says
and hope these words reach the ears
of our politicians.
Look at Acts chapter one, verse six.
When they therefore were come together,
they asked of him saying,
Lord, will thou at this time restore again
the kingdom to Israel?
So this is before Jesus Christ ascends to heaven,
he's approached by one of his disciples,
you know, are you gonna come,
are you gonna restore the kingdom of God now?
Why are they asking that question?
Because Judea was under control of the Romans, okay?
He was under the control of the Roman governors.
And so, you know, Israel was not operating
the way God had intended it to operate
when he brought in the old covenant, right?
When he had pulled the Israelites out of Egypt,
gave them their own piece of land,
made them a nation, made them, you know, that holy nation,
they were now operating outside of how God had intended it.
And so they're asking Jesus, is it time now?
Is it time now for us to have that perfect government?
Are you going to usher in the kingdom to Israel now?
Notice Jesus, you know,
how much did Jesus care about reforming the government?
How much did Jesus care at this point in time anyway?
Look at verse number seven.
And he said unto them,
it is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father have put in his own power,
but you shall receive power.
After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you
and ye shall be witnesses unto me,
both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
So look, Jesus Christ basically ignores the question.
He says, look at this guy comes, is it now, Lord?
Is it time for us to reform the government now,
to bring the kingdom back to Israel?
Jesus says, look, don't worry about it.
If that's the Father's business, you know,
he knows the time.
And Jesus Christ, of course,
speaking about his millennial reign,
he says, but something else is more important.
And that's the need to make sure that we preach the gospel,
that throughout the entire world,
the gospel message will go out throughout, you know,
from your local neighbourhood
all the way to the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus Christ had serving God as his priority,
not reforming the government, okay?
That's important for you to understand
because this may feel like there's a contradiction here,
you know, in the Bible,
because when we read the Old Testament,
don't we see time and time again,
where God raises judges, where God raises prophets
to preach against, you know, a corrupt leader in authority
or to, you know, a judge where they would win back,
you know, deliver their people out of the hands
of some conquering, you know, outside conquering nation.
You know, do we not see time and time again,
where God raises the prophet
and he's preaching against the king,
preaching against the wickedness of the nation.
And look, that is important.
That is an important aspect of being a preacher.
And you know, even up to John the Baptist,
you know, why was John the Baptist beheaded?
It's because he preached against Herod Antipas,
you know, how he had taken his brother's wife for himself.
So he had done something unlawful.
John the Baptist preaches against him,
but John the Baptist was the last
of the Old Testament prophets, okay?
Now, after John the Baptist,
after Christ has brought in the new covenant
with his death, with the shedding of his blood,
I wanna ask you this question.
Which prophet or which preacher in the New Testament
spent their time trying to reform the government
or preaching against their politicians?
It's not there, right?
It's not there.
Now, I'm not saying it's ever wrong to do that,
and I don't want you to misunderstand that, okay?
We have great examples of Old Testament prophets,
again, preaching against people in authority,
and there's a place for that,
but that wasn't the primary thing
the preachers of the New Testament were doing, right?
The preachers of the New Testament,
their primary focus was to reach the lost,
was to preach the gospel,
was to teach believers the word of God.
That was the primary purpose,
and you say, well, what's the reason?
Why is that?
The reason for this,
and I'll get you to turn to 1 Peter chapter two.
Turn to 1 Peter chapter two,
because under the Old Testament,
God established a covenant with a physical nation, okay?
With a physical nation,
and that nation was made up of priests and governors,
and eventually they brought in,
you know, they desired a king,
so he falls under that area of authority,
and so within the covenant of God's people,
God desired that Israel would live godly,
that they would live righteously, all right?
That they would be blessed on the earth,
and when the authorities failed,
even when priests failed,
you know, God would often raise a man from somewhere
that would bring righteousness back into the nation,
that would preach against the wickedness,
and many times those prophets lost their lives,
or were persecuted for the message they brought, okay?
So they were preaching to a physical nation,
and within the context of preaching to that physical nation,
they obviously had to preach against the sins
of those people in authority, okay?
Now, when it comes to the New Testament,
you're turning to 1 Peter chapter two.
Actually, before we read that,
let me just read to you the Old Testament passage
I wanted to read.
Exodus 19 verse five reads,
these are the words of God to the physical nation of Israel.
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed
and keep my commandment,
then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
above all people, for all the earth is mine,
and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests
and an holy nation.
These are the words which thou shall speak
unto the children of Israel.
So God says about the Old Testament Israelites,
you are gonna be a kingdom of priests,
a holy nation, a peculiar treasure,
something different, something that stands out.
And so when God's nation would do wickedly,
yes, God will have to bring judgment upon them,
would raise prophets to preach against them,
and so we see that practice time and time again
in the Old Testament.
Now you're in 2 Peter chapter two,
look at verse number nine,
2 Peter chapter two verse nine,
I want you to compare this
with what we see in the New Testament.
And here, God is not speaking to a physical nation,
he's speaking to believers.
And he says in verse number nine,
but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
notice the next words, and holy nation,
the exact same words that God said
to the physical nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
Notice the next words, a peculiar people.
What did he say about the Old Testament nation?
They're a peculiar treasure.
What does it say about you and I?
We're a peculiar people.
Hey, we, all the believers of Jesus Christ,
make up a holy nation.
In Galatians, it's called the Israel of God.
It's a spiritual nation.
It's a spiritual kingdom.
Notice the next words,
that ye should show forth the praises of him
who have called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
in which time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy.
So when we preach, the purpose of the preacher,
the prophet, the pastor, whoever it is
that's standing behind the pulpit,
my purpose is to preach to the holy nation.
That is the spiritual kingdom.
That is the local church
that God has given me authority in.
My primary goal is not to change
the hearts of the politicians.
My aim in life is not to get into politics
and think I can change the world for God through politics.
No, my goal is to preach to the people of God,
to the holy nation that makes up New Life Baptist Church
and Blessed Up Baptist Church down in Sydney.
That's where my authority lies.
Now you're in 1 Peter, go to chapter four.
Look at this, 1 Peter chapter four, verse 17.
And I asked you the question,
where do you see New Testament preachers
going and preaching against all types of authority?
And they had very wicked authority that they were under.
I tell you why, because they belonged to the holy nation,
the spiritual nation and the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords is always perfect.
Jesus Christ will never fail us.
We will never get to a point
where we have to preach against Christ.
And you know what, the new man that's in us,
that God has given us a new creature
is perfect without sin.
I'm not talking about the flesh,
the flesh is corrupt and it's gonna continue to sin.
I'm talking about the new man is without sin,
it's perfect and it's that same new man
that God has made into priests and kings.
And so when we talk about the kingly,
the authorities, the priests
that make up the New Testament,
it is all a perfect picture,
sorry, it's not a picture.
It's all a perfect man in Jesus Christ.
So our goal is to preach to the people of God
so they can learn and gain understanding.
That's the primary purpose of the New Testament church.
You're in 1 Peter, look at chapter four, verse 17.
1 Peter chapter four, verse 17.
The Bible says, for the time has come
that judgment must begin at the house of God.
And if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God?
Look, there are those that obey the gospel of God.
How do you obey?
You believe the gospel.
You're a believer, then you should join a church.
You should get baptized, join a local Baptist church.
And then there are those that do not obey the gospel.
They're the unsaved, right?
But it's very clear here where judgment begins.
Judgment begins in the house of the Lord.
And so my priority is the house of God,
to preach to the people of God,
to help you change from your sinful ways,
from your worldly ways,
to be aligned with the Bible,
to understand the scriptures
and be aligned with our Lord God.
And not, you know, to change what you need to change.
We all are weak.
We all have struggles.
We all have sin.
We're at different levels in our spiritual walk.
And my goal is to help you change.
My goal is to help you adapt to the standard,
the standard being Jesus Christ and His word, okay?
Judgment must begin at the house of God.
This is my primary place for influence.
Of course, besides my family,
it's the local New Testament church.
And if others get influenced, you know,
through the ministry of the local church, praise God.
That's the cherry on top,
but that's not what I'm focused on.
I'm focused on the people of God.
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13 verse 17,
obey them that have the rule over you
and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls,
speaking to believers, okay?
The office of the bishop, the pastor,
his job is to watch for the souls of the believers.
It's not my job to watch for the souls of our politicians,
of our governors, of the unsaved.
No, my goal is to watch for the souls of the believers.
And the reason I'm going through this,
and this is still my introduction.
I think the meat of my sermon
is gonna be a lot shorter than my introduction,
but I just wanted to obviously cover this
because you can spend your life, you know,
irritated by the government.
You can spend your life protesting against, you know,
them removing your rights, removing your freedoms.
There's nothing wrong with that in of itself,
but I just personally think that's gonna be a waste of time.
That's gonna be a waste of my personal time
when I can be using my time for other things.
You know, the Bible says in 1 Peter 2, verse 11,
you're in 1 Peter, aren't you?
So go to 1 Peter 2 and go to verse 11.
And this is after what we just read,
how we read that God calls us a peculiar people,
a holy nation, that was verse number nine.
In number 10, he says that in the past
we were not a people, but now are people of God.
In verse number 11, it says,
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul,
having your conversation honest among the Gentiles,
that whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may by your good works,
which they shall behold glorify God
in the day of visitation.
What's that saying, brethren?
Is that we are, verse number 11,
strangers and pilgrims on this earth, okay?
We're strangers, we're pilgrims, we're passing through.
This is not our home.
Yes, I'm an Australian citizen.
Actually, I'm also a Chilean citizen as well.
Okay, I got that a few years ago.
But, you know, I will use that,
I will use those rights that are given to me,
I will use that freedom that's been given to me
by these nations, when it serves my purpose,
when I can, when I kind of need to just to interact
in the nation that I'm in.
But at the same time, these are not my nations.
Okay, I'm a stranger, I'm a pilgrim,
I'm just passing through, you're just passing through.
Yes, we live in Australia, but this is not our home.
Our home is heaven above.
And we need to keep that in mind.
And that's why I'm expecting our nation
to get worse and worse.
I don't want it to get worse and worse.
I'm not saying it's okay for our nation
to get worse and worse.
But when it gets worse, when it becomes more ungodly,
I'm not gonna panic about it.
I'm just gonna say, well, God, this is not my world.
Thank God it's not my world.
You know, home is above, and I'm gonna do the best I can
to serve you in the capacity that I have to serve you, Lord.
And as things change, help me to adapt
to the change that we have, Lord,
so I don't have to live a frustrated life.
They don't have to live a life that's depressed
and worried about the future.
Now help me to adapt so I can remain serving you.
And again, that's the purpose for my sermon tonight.
And actually, if we keep going,
look at verse number 13, same chapter.
It says, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man
for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme.
And you can see how it ties in.
Hey, you're strangers and pilgrims.
This is not your world.
Australia's not really your nation
because you're part of the holy nation of God.
But still, because you have to live in this world,
you have to submit to the governors, to the kings,
to the authorities that God has put into place.
And so we have to sort of juggle these two ideas
in our minds, right?
We are not from here, but at the same time,
we should be subject to the authorities that are here,
and the change that's happening,
while at the same time,
we still need to continue serving the Lord.
You know, I was thinking about King David
and how King David had the power, had a united nation.
He lived very much in a time of peace as a king.
He had great victories, he had great power.
You would think out of all places, out of all people,
he would be one that could say, hey, this is my home.
This is my nation that I've been given rule over.
But in one of his Psalms, in Psalm 39, verse 12,
it says, these are the words of David,
hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry.
Hold not thy peace from my tears,
for I am a stranger with thee,
and a sojourner as all my fathers were.
King David, who had the entire nation,
under his authority, even he says to the Lord God,
look, I'm a stranger, I'm a sojourner,
I'm just passing through.
Okay, and he says, as all my fathers were.
He's talking about the spiritual forefathers that he had.
He's talking about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses.
He's talking about Samuel, and Gideon,
and he's speaking of all these great men,
all the great people that have gone before him.
He says, I'm just like them, Lord.
I'm just a stranger.
This is not my world, and he was the king.
If anyone was going to be part of this world,
you'd think it'd be King David.
He says, no, I'm still a pilgrim passing through.
And you're in 1 Peter, go to chapter one now,
1 Peter 1, verse 15, 1 Peter 1, verse 15.
And so while we're living in this changing world,
we need to understand that,
we can't allow this world to corrupt us.
We can't fall into sin
just because our world is becoming more sinful.
What did Jesus want?
He wanted us to be protected from evil, right?
Look at verse number 15, 1 Peter 1, verse 15.
But as he which have called you is holy,
so be ye holy in all manner of conversation,
because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father,
who without respect of persons judgeth
according to every man's work,
pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.
Okay, so we're commanded to be holy,
to be separate, to be different from the world,
just as God is holy or different from this world.
But then notice the next last words in verse 17,
pass the time of your sojourning here.
Once again, you're just passing through,
you're just a pilgrim, okay?
But it says, pass your time here in fear.
We ought to have a fear of God.
Whatever we decide,
however we adapt to the changing world around us,
we need to not forget the fear of God.
That's gonna help us,
drive us to make the right decisions for ourselves,
for our families, for our church, for our workplace,
whatever place you have to operate in within this world.
And so, you know, adapting to change.
And I've got, I think, is it five points that I've got here?
Let me just double check.
Yeah, I've got five points for you tonight,
for you to think about when it comes to adapting to change.
All right, stay in 1 Peter and look at chapter four.
1 Peter chapter four, verse 12.
The first point that I have for you, brethren,
we are living in a changing world.
And as I said to you,
I've found myself getting frustrated.
I'm sure you have.
But if we want to adapt,
then we need to welcome the challenge.
We need to welcome the challenge
and say, this is a challenging time.
This is a time where I have to make certain decisions.
Am I going to comply?
Am I not going to comply?
What do I do, Lord?
And you can get worried, right?
But no, embrace the challenge.
Welcome the challenge.
1 Peter chapter four, verse 12.
1 Peter chapter four, verse 12 reads,
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial,
which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you.
Look, when we talk about a challenge,
we talk about something that is going to try you.
It's going to try your faith.
It's going to try your patience.
It's going to try your wisdom.
You are going through a period of trial right now
with all these changes.
So am I.
So is the entire world.
So are believers across this world,
going through trying times.
But how are we to handle these trying times?
How are we to do that?
Look at verse number 13.
But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers
of Christ's sufferings,
where glory shall be revealed,
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy,
that ye may be glad with exceeding joy.
I'm trying of your faith.
Wow.
You know, this is something that is so challenging for me
as a believer, because I know I hate change.
I know I hate having to adapt
when I've gotten comfortable in doing things
in a different way.
And then you have no choice but to make some changes.
The Lord wants us to be glad, right?
The Lord wants us to rejoice
when we go through these challenges.
And so we need to accept the challenge.
See how God will mature you,
how God will change you,
how the things you once did,
you may have to re-examine and say,
well, I need to do things a different way.
Hey, you're going to have to face your fears.
And that's not always a bad thing.
The only way you can overcome your fears
is by facing those fears.
We don't like to be challenged, okay?
But these are challenging times.
What do we do as believers?
How do we operate churches under these new restrictions?
How do we go soul winning?
All these things that we speak about
with different brethren,
we all have different ideas,
we all have different thoughts around this,
but it also challenge us in how can,
asking yourself the question,
how can I further serve the Lord?
And for our church,
for those that know,
some people have asked me,
will you ever do live streaming?
Are you ever going to live stream your church services?
And since we started the church,
some two and a half years ago,
I've always said, no,
that's off the table.
I'm never going to live stream a service.
But that was before the COVID-19 restrictions.
That was before the new normal.
And so when we've been challenged with something new,
the question is, do we stay?
Do I just keep doing the old?
Do I just continue doing things the same way?
Or do we re-examine and say,
well, this is a new challenge.
How can we adapt to this challenge?
And one of the great blessings that I've seen come about
is we've been able to reach out,
just organically,
to other believers across Australia
that listen to our preaching,
that have participated in our prayer time.
And now I'm not just thinking about my local church.
I'm thinking about saints
that are scattered throughout Australia
that may not have a good church to go to,
or may want to supplement the preaching
that they hear from their church.
We're preaching here and that's fine.
But now I realise we need to offer these people
an opportunity to be part of the live services.
And this is something that I've been examining.
We don't have the technology in place.
We don't have the internet connection in place right now.
But the question is then,
do we start thinking about these things?
Do we embrace the change?
Do we adapt to this new situation?
Because I believe now we can be a greater blessing,
not just to our church,
but to brethren that are throughout this world.
If it were not for this COVID-19 restrictions,
I would still be saying no to live streaming.
I'd still be saying that's not something I wanna do.
But you know what?
We need to adapt to change.
And we need to see where we are
and rethink the current situation you are in.
And that's where things get uncomfortable sometimes.
Point number one is embrace the challenge.
Point number two is to choose to be positive.
Choose to be positive.
You know, there are some people that are glass half full
and some people are glass half empty.
You know, those that look at a glass with water
and if there's only half that glass is filled with water,
some will say, well, it's half full.
And that's a positive mentality.
They're thinking about what the glass contains.
But the ones that say it's half empty,
they're focused on what it doesn't contain, okay?
And they're the ones that are more negative minded.
But we need to choose to be positive.
If you want to adapt to change,
you need to have your mind set on positive things.
Philippians four verse eight says,
finally brethren whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report.
If there'd be any virtue and if there'd be any praise,
think on these things.
You know what that means?
Think positively.
You know, think of good things.
When you're going through a change,
think about what's the benefit?
What can I get out of this?
How can I be positive about this situation?
You know, not to think about all the things
that you wish you had,
you know, in this new environment,
how can I continue serving the Lord?
How can I continue being a godly father?
How can I continue growing in knowledge and experience
so God can use me in a mighty way?
We need to choose to be positive.
Colossians three one says,
if ye then be reasoning with Christ,
seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God,
set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth.
Set your affection on the things above.
Think positive.
This world's getting worse.
You know, this world's becoming more ungodly.
We're going to get closer and closer
to a one-world government,
closer to a one-world religion,
closer to the mark of the beast,
closer to the persecution of God's people.
But if you're only focused on this earth,
if you're only focused on the temple,
you are going to be negative.
You are going to be downcast and depressed.
And so the command is,
well, don't think about the things here.
Think about above.
Think about heaven.
Think about the future.
Think about eternal matters.
That's going to help you stay positive.
You know what I desire most of my children?
Oh, that they get a great education,
that they get a high-paying job.
No.
What I want for my children is that they get saved.
What I want for my children
is that they would have their hearts set on eternal things,
that they would be rewarded by God,
that they would be greatly appreciated in heaven
for the works they did for the Lord.
That's where the true riches are.
That's where you can stay positive-minded
if you have your hearts and minds
set on heavenly places, not on this earth.
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5-16,
rejoice evermore,
pray without ceasing.
And then it says this in verse 18,
in everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
What is God's will for me during this lockdown,
during these restrictions?
What is God's will for me?
Well, in everything give thanks,
for this is the will of God in everything.
No matter what you're going through,
no matter how bad you think it might get,
God still wants you to give thanks in everything.
Whatever situation you find yourself in,
this is how you adapt to change.
You think positive.
You give God the thanks that you can go through such a time
so you can be tested and tried, you know?
You can be challenged.
What an opportunity we have to see how we can expand
our influence in this world during these difficult times.
Proverbs 17, verse 22, I love this verse.
Proverbs 17, verse 22 says,
a merry heart, merry means a joyful, happy heart,
a merry heart doeth good like a medicine,
but a broken spirit dryeth the bones.
And look, sometimes we do need medicine.
Sometimes you are downcast, frustrated, depressed.
The Bible says the medicine for that is a merry heart,
a happy heart, a joyful heart.
Think positively, okay?
Choose to be positive.
That's how you're going to be able to adapt to change.
The third point that I have is re-examine your boundaries.
Re-examine your boundaries.
This might sound weird, okay?
But I think it's important.
And I'll get you to turn to Mark chapter seven.
Please go to Mark chapter seven.
And I'll read some other passages to you.
But you go to Mark chapter seven.
I'm talking about re-examining your boundaries, okay?
You see, all of us have some code of ethics
that we live by, okay?
Now, primarily, hopefully, it's built on the word of God.
That's number one.
And God has set certain boundaries in our life.
When God created Adam, he told him that he could eat
of every tree except for one.
You know what?
Adam had a lot of freedom.
But there was one tree, there was a boundary.
There was something put in place
where if he overstepped that boundary,
he would commit sin unto God.
And so God has put boundaries in our life.
First John chapter three, verse four says,
"'Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law,
"'for sin is the transgression of the law.'"
Okay, so God has given us his laws.
He's given us his commandments in the word of God,
written in our hearts as well.
And if you were to break those boundaries,
the laws that God has, then that's when we commit sin.
God wants us to live with a lot of freedom,
with a lot of liberty in your Christian life.
You are free as a Christian, but he's got boundaries.
And those boundaries are you breaking the law of God.
You break the law of God, you cross those boundaries,
you commit sin.
So as long as you operate within the boundaries of God,
you will not sin.
But we should have boundaries.
So we do have boundaries.
I'm not talking about reexamine the boundaries
that God has laid out when it comes to sin.
I'm not talking about that, okay?
But there is a secondary boundary that we all have.
It's not just the word of God.
We also have other things that we have in place.
Just a very quick example of this.
We know the Bible commands
that we have to discipline our children to use the rod.
Okay, that's very clear.
If you don't discipline, you don't use a rod, you're in sin.
But God doesn't tell you how to apply,
how many smacks do you give a child
when there's disobedience?
What about when they're lying?
What if they stole something?
What if they had a bad attitude?
You know, my wife and I,
we have different ways of handling that.
You know, I've taught on this before,
but if our child lies to us,
they get five smacks just for lying.
Okay, plus whatever else they did,
you know, they would get something else for that.
But you know, we have within the boundaries
that God has given us,
we also have our own boundaries or our own set of rules
or our own code of ethics if you want that we live by.
As long as it's within the boundaries of God's Word.
All right, we set some rules.
So I'll just term this the secondary boundaries.
And I'll just read to you from Romans 14 verse 23.
This is speaking about whether it's right or wrong
to eat certain foods.
I won't get into all that topic right now.
But in Romans 14 verse 23, it says,
"'And he that doubteth is damned if he eat,
"'because he eateth not of faith,
"'for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.'"
All right, so if someone, if there's two Christians,
and I think it's right for me as a Christian to eat this,
but another Christian says,
no, it's not right for me to eat the same thing.
Well, if he does eat of it,
even though he, you know, he thinks it's wrong,
and he still eats of it, that is sin,
because he's not eating in faith.
He's eating with doubts, okay?
So this is where it comes to a matter of opinions.
We may have different opinions,
we may have different thoughts,
as long as they are within the boundaries of God's Word.
But if someone thinks, no, this is wrong for me to do,
and they do it, then they've committed sin.
But notice this is someone's personal opinion
versus a personal opinion of another Christian, okay?
And this is why, you know, I never expect anybody
to live their lives exactly like me,
because we all have these secondary boundaries
that we have in place that we wanna stay within,
because if we do break them, we are committing sin,
because we may have certain doubts.
And the reason I say that is because sometimes
those secondary boundaries, when it comes to change,
we are forced to reexamine those secondary boundaries, okay?
We are forced to examine,
kind of like what I just said about live streaming.
You know, I've had to reexamine,
now I think it's a good idea, you know, to try live streaming,
though before that, I didn't think it was a good idea,
but whether I do it or not is not a sin, right?
It's just that I've had to reexamine that,
so we gotta reexamine our boundaries.
You're in Mark chapter seven, verse six.
Mark chapter seven and verse number six.
This is so important, because as you grow, as you mature,
you're going to gain more knowledge.
You're going to, you know, maybe have, you know,
you may do things a certain way today,
but five years from now, you may do something,
the same thing differently,
or you may view that thing differently
than you thought before.
Maybe the way you do it today, back five years ago,
maybe you would have said,
hey, that's a stupid way of doing it, that's sinful,
but then five years down the tracks,
as you've matured in the Lord,
as you've grown in your Bible knowledge,
you realize, hold on, that was just my personal opinion.
Actually, there's nothing that is actually sinful
with the way I'm doing it today,
but if I was five years ago, I would have looked at that
and thought that was sinful, okay?
So we have to reexamine our personal boundaries.
Mark chapter seven, verse six,
and Jesus Christ is speaking to some religious leaders.
He answered and said unto them,
well have Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites,
as it is written, this people honoreth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
Howbeit in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,
laying aside the commandment of God,
ye hold the tradition of men,
as the washing of pots and cups,
and many other such like things ye do.
So what is this about?
This is when Jesus Christ and the disciples were hungry,
they ate some grain,
but they didn't wash their hands before eating.
Now should you wash your hands?
I think you should, all right?
These Pharisees thought that Jesus and the disciples
should wash their hands, okay?
So they had certain rules that they had placed.
You know, God was very careful about teaching,
you know, about being clean and unclean,
and the Pharisees took it one step further and said,
well, hold on, we need to create some laws here.
Nothing wrong with that, okay?
Like I said, God gives us certain instructions,
and then even me as a father, my wife,
we need to come together sometimes and say,
well, how are we going to manage our family, our lives,
in light of the boundaries that God has,
and we may establish certain traditions,
certain ways of doing things in our families.
You may demand your children to go wash their hands
before they come to sit on the dinner table, right?
And so there's nothing wrong with that in of itself, right?
But what had happened is the Pharisees
were so stuck in their ways, right,
that they had created new laws,
and they were saying, hey,
if you don't follow the laws we've put in place,
if you don't follow the traditions we've put in place,
then you're committing sin, okay?
They've had gone so far in making their traditions
like the commandments of God.
Instead of it being a help
to appreciate the commandments of God,
they had basically diminished the commandments of God
and were elevating their traditions
as though they were the commandments of God.
And so these Pharisees couldn't adapt to change.
Hey, I'm sure if Jesus and his disciples had a dinner table,
had somewhere they could wash their hands,
I'm sure they would have gone
and just washed their hands before they ate.
But they were in a situation where they were very hungry,
they had no choice but to eat some grain of wheat
that they were walking by, and they ate of it.
Hey, they were ready to adapt to change
as long as the change was within the boundaries
of God's Word, okay?
So sometimes we need to re-examine our boundaries,
and there's nothing wrong
with having your secondary boundaries
as long as they are not contradictive to the Word of God.
And you'll find as you grow, as you mature,
as you learn the Bible more,
there are gonna be things that you think today
are so important for me to keep.
And then you'll find out a few years later,
I was probably a little bit too strict on that, okay?
As long as, once again, you are within the boundaries
of God, that you're not sinning against him, okay?
If you need to be able to re-examine, okay,
change your thoughts, your ideas
to be more in alignment with the Word of God.
The next point that I have is to admit your mistakes.
If you wanna be someone that is able to adapt to change,
you're gonna have to say from time to time,
I made a mistake.
You know, I was stubborn, I didn't wanna change on this,
but now I realize I was mistaken.
You know, Proverbs chapter 28, verse 13 says,
he that covereth his sins shall not prosper,
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
We need to admit when we do wrong.
And especially if you're someone in leadership,
if you're a pastor, you need to admit to your church
when you've done wrong.
If you're a father, if you've done something wrong
to your family, you need to admit when you've done wrong.
If you're an employer, you know, and you mess up on the job,
you need to admit when you've done wrong.
One thing I've learned and discovered,
this might seem contrary to your thinking,
but when a person of leadership does a mistake,
and they just own up to the mistake and say,
guys, I'm sorry, it's on me, you know,
it rallies the people under them.
And usually they're more loyal.
You know, they've got a greater appreciation for the leader
because they realize, hey, this guy is not prideful,
he has humility, he is looking out for our best interest.
Yes, he made a mistake, but he's willing to change,
tune and go a different way.
And in order for you to be able to adapt to change
is for you to admit when you've done wrong.
I'm not saying you've, you know,
we all do wrong at different points in life, right?
You know, even the Bible says in James 5 16,
confess your faults one to another and pray for one another
that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much.
You see, even your faults, these are not your sins,
we're not to go to confess our sins
and get our brethren to forgive us for our sins
the way God forgives our sins.
No, no, listen, when we have faults,
you know, when we have weaknesses, we should pray.
When you're sick, you know,
ask your brethren to pray for you.
If you're struggling in an area,
ask your brethren to pray for you.
If you're struggling to adapt to the restrictions
that we have in Australia,
ask your brethren to pray for you.
The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much.
You know, if you just have people praying for you,
it's going to help you.
It's going to help change you,
to help you overcome your mistakes
and the faults that you do have.
And brethren, once you have admitted your mistakes,
you move on.
You don't live in the past.
You know, the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3 13,
brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus.
Now Paul says, man, I made a lot of mistakes in my life.
I messed up.
You know, I thought I was something,
but I realized I was nothing.
Is I'm just going to forget all that
and I'm going to move on with my life.
I'm going to admit the mistakes
and now I'm going to move on
and serve the Lord.
You know, you cannot adapt to change
if you're holding onto your mistakes.
If you're too prideful to admit that you've been wrong.
Hey, let go of it.
Just confess it, put it behind you and move forward.
Recognize the new challenge that God has allowed you
to go through and see how can I be effective
for the Lord in this situation.
And the last point that I have for you,
let me just read the first four points.
Number one was welcome the challenge.
Number two was choose to be positive.
Number three, re-examine your boundaries
and number four, admit your mistakes.
The last point that I have for you
to help you adapt to change is look at the big picture.
Look at the big picture.
Don't be focused on just the coronavirus
or just the changes that are happening in our law.
Don't be focused on this.
I'll just read that passage to you.
Hebrews 11 verse nine, Hebrews 11.
You can actually turn to Hebrews chapter 11 verse nine.
I realize when you're focused on the bigger picture,
you're going to understand why the changes are necessary
and how I can adapt to those changes.
You know, there are times that in my workplace,
I personally, I liked to bring about change
when I felt this was going to be a positive impact
in my working environment, okay?
But I realized when I would talk about the change,
other people didn't like it sometimes, okay?
And the reason for that is because I've looked
at the big picture and I looked at and I realized
if I make these changes here and there,
it's going to help the big picture.
We're going to be more effective as a business.
We're going to reduce the amount of effort it takes
to do one job and we can spend more of our time
doing some other jobs, okay?
I was focused on the big picture and then what I discovered
when other people wanted to make changes,
I didn't like their ideas and again, the reason was
because I didn't know the big picture.
They would tell me what the changes were
but I didn't understand how those changes tie in
to the bigger picture but they spent the time obviously
looking at the big picture
and how these changes affect that.
So I realized once you understand the big picture,
you'd be more on board with the changes, okay?
What is the big picture for the Christian?
Hebrews chapter 11 verse nine.
Hebrews chapter 11 verse nine and we're sort of
coming full circle now as the way we started this sermon
but it says here, by faith, now this is speaking about
the Old Testament saints, by faith he sojourned
in the land of promise as in a strange country
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise
for he looked for a city which have foundations
whose builder and maker is God.
So this is about Abraham, right?
So what was his big picture?
Was his big picture how he can become rich
and powerful on this earth?
Was he focused on a physical land?
Was he focused on the temple things?
No, he was focused on a city whose builder
and maker is God, okay?
Look at verse number 13, same chapter.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises
but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them
and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth.
So brethren, what do we need to do?
We need to confess that we are strangers and pilgrims
on this earth, just like the Old Testament saints did.
Hey, do we expect Australia to become
this Christ fearing nation?
You know, where all Australians get saved.
Now look, I want that, I hope for that, right?
My desire is to play a part in that
but that's not the big picture
because I know it's not going to happen.
I know what the Bible teaches.
I know that the world's gonna wax worse and worse.
And the only hope that I have for a righteous government,
the only hope that I truly have
where I can have all my freedoms and all my rights
is in that heavenly city, okay?
That's it, that's home, that's where I belong.
I'm a stranger, I'm a pilgrim on this earth.
Verse number 14, and they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country
and truly, if they had been mindful of that country
from whence they came out,
they might have had the opportunity to have returned
but now they desire a better country that is and heavenly
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God
and he have prepared for them a city.
Please go to Revelation 22, Revelation chapter 22 for me.
And so you can see the hearts of the saints here, right?
They desired the heavenly, they desired to be with the Lord.
That was the big picture.
And for the 70, 80, 100 years of life or more
that they lived on this earth,
they just saw themselves as pilgrims, okay?
Now look, a pilgrim has to be someone
that's adaptable to change
because they're not going to be living in one place
necessarily all their life.
They're gonna be moving from place to place
to place to place just to do what the Lord wants from them.
They're going where the Lord wants them to go,
doing what the Lord wants them to do
and they're just gonna have to adapt
with whatever neighbours
or whatever situation they found themselves in.
Jesus Christ, when he walked this earth,
Jesus Christ, the Lord God was not looking
to reform the Roman Empire.
He was not looking to chase them away
or to have war against them and to bring back the old ways.
No, Christ had his heart set on eternity.
He had his mind set on the big picture
and he instructed his disciples
to have their hearts set on the big picture
and that's gonna help you adapt to change.
Because this world's going to keep changing, brethren.
It is going to get worse and you just have to accept it.
You're just gonna have to accept it
and say, Lord, I live in 2020, right?
You've placed me at this point in time
where there are gonna be some challenges
to our Christian liberties.
Lord, how do you want me to live my life
in accordance to your commands?
How is it that I can see this out, all right?
Look at the big picture.
You're in Revelation.
Look at 22, Revelation 22, verse three.
Revelation 22, verse three.
Speaking of the new heavens and the new earth,
that's the big picture, brethren.
It says, and there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it
and his servants shall serve him
and they shall see his face
and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Hey, we're gonna finally see the face of the Father.
Verse number five.
And there shall be no night there
and they need no candle near the light of the sun
for the Lord God giveth them light
and they shall reign forever and ever.
We're going to reign in a new earth forever and ever
in the new heavens, the new earth,
the new Jerusalem, that's my government.
And the Bible calls us ambassadors of Christ.
You know, we are representatives of heaven.
We are representatives of the new heaven and the new earth,
not of this old earth, okay?
Brethren, I want you to keep in mind these five things
as you struggle through change.
And look, it's not just the coronavirus.
Maybe you're physically changing.
Maybe you have sicknesses you didn't have before.
Maybe you have opinions now that have changed.
Maybe your interests, your hobbies have changed, okay?
Maybe your desires have changed
or maybe you're holding on to old things
and you need to realise, I need to let go of this.
I need to change my perspective
in order for God to use me at my fullest ability.
Well, you need to be someone that is adaptable to change.
And again, we don't like change.
Generally speaking, we don't like change,
but thank God he never changes.
Thank God we can always have him at our right hand.
We can always serve him and we know whatever we do
for the Lord will remain constant,
will remain true with the big picture in place.
Let me summarise those five points once again.
Number one, this is the conclusion.
Welcome to the challenge.
Appreciate that you get to go through a challenging time.
Number two, choose to be positive.
Number three, re-examine your boundaries.
Number four, admit your mistakes.
Hey, move on from your mistakes.
And number five, look at the big picture.
God bless.