Northside Church - Sydney
From The Heart – Week 1 PM: Michael McQueen
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well hello everyone, I've been looking forward to this night, I've got a confession to make before we begin and that is that I've never preached before in my life. For those of you who don't know me, I do this for a living every single day and I'm nervous. I'm nervous because I know so many of you. It's amazing when you speak to a couple of thousand people and they're just like a mass of faces that you don't recognise, a very different thing when actually I know and love so many people here. We're going to have some fun tonight, we're going to move very, very quickly because we've only got a very short space of time but I believe God's going to speak tonight and in fact he already has been and I want to honour Michael in fact, it's a bit of a parade of the Michaels tonight but I want to honour Michael because I don't think anyone has worked as hard this week as Michael for the Global Leadership Summit and phenomenal job, thank you so much. Look, I don't know about you, I'm not sure what it is in your life that reminds you every now and again, just catches you off guard and reminds you that you're no longer as young as you used to be. Now for those of you who are like seventeen, you're like nothing like really but for those of you who are 17, there's probably stuff in your life that reminds you you're no longer as young as you once were, whether it's grey hair or like no hair, like in my case, maybe a changing body shape, maybe it's like my mum, remember she said she was getting older when suddenly she could no longer comfortably read without wearing glasses because her arms were too short, some of you might have had that experience but for me it's sleep. I remember a few years ago when Hallie and I first met, Hallie's mum used to complain, she used to say, you know, the worst thing about getting old is sleep. I no longer sleep anywhere near as well as I used to, I wake three times during the nights and nights, I just don't get to sleep at all and I thought, really? That's not very cool, I couldn't relate to that at all and yet I've noticed in the last few years I've had the odd night, every few months when I've one of those nights where I go to bed and I just know this is going to be a night where are they going to get very little sleep or no sleep at all and this is a sort of new thing to me and any of you have had this experience and on those nights I hate the ones where you go to bed and you've got to get up early and you start counting the hours, you know, five hours I've got to get to sleep because I've been up here five hours time and once you start counting hours it's game over, there's no sleep happening that night and a few weeks ago I had one of these evenings and I was lying there and Hallie was blissfully asleep which made me mad and I couldn't sleep, about 1.30 in the morning and I thought, well I can't really turn the light on a reed or it's going to wake her up or get out my laptop and do some work so I thought, well I'm lying here, am I just going to pray and a few months ago Graham actually asked if I would preach tonight and I've got to say I was hesitant to preach, you know, like I said, a bit nerve-racking, a very different experience for me, so a few weeks ago I'm lying there couldn't sleep so I said, Lord what do you want me to say? What would you have me bring to the church in a few weeks time and within a few moments of that prayer it's like this message was downloaded. I grab my phone, I turn my phone on trying to shield the light so it didn't wake Haley up and I said, are you opening the notes app and I wrote and in 5 minutes the entirety of this message was downloaded from God I believe and what excites me is that I think God is going to move in a very powerful way in the coming minutes, so I think he's going to speak in a very profound way to some of you, some of you are going to get truth like you may not have received it before and I believe this truth and revelation is going to change the way you live your life, it's going to change your relationship, it's going to change your work, it's going to change your relationship with God. So are you ready? Well that's encouraging, I'd like some of you already, can you flip if you've got your Bible's Edeluke chapter 4, we're going to read from verse 1 through to verse 13, for those of you who don't have a Bible with you that's cool we were prepared, it's up on the screen for you, this passage is entitled The Temptation of Jesus and it starts like this then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan River, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days, Jesus ate nothing all that time, it became very hungry, I would suggest that is the most understated comment in the Bible, I did the 40 hour famine once and that was sufficient for me to be very hungry, I still can't have barley sugar after the 40 hour famine, I can't stand this stuff, okay but it goes on, then the devil said to him how interesting then he waited until Jesus was vulnerable then he said, if you were the son of God tell this stone to become a loaf of bread, but Jesus told him no the scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them the devil said, because they are mine to give to anyone I please, I will give it all to you if you will worship me, Jesus replied, the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve him only, then the devil took him to Jerusalem to the highest point of the temple and said if you are the son of God, jump off, for the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect and guard you, and they will hold you up with their hands and so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone, Jesus responded the scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God, when the devil had finished tempting Jesus he left him until the next opportunity came, and this evening I believe there are five lessons, five very powerful lessons we can learn from Jesus' experience of being tempted or tested, facing opposition in the wilderness, the first one is this, the first lesson we can learn from Jesus' experience is that we have an enemy, we have an enemy, this is something we don't talk about much in church but the Bible talks a whole lot about it, and one of my favorite authors a guy named C.S. Lewis wrote one of my favorite books apart from the Bible called the Screwtape Letters, and the Screwtape Letters if you are not familiar with it is a book that gives us a bit of an insight into how the enemy works, how the devil actually operates in the supernatural realm, and it's on my once a year reading list, once every 12 months I read that book to be refreshed because it has some profound insights in it, and it's a comment that C.S. Lewis made and it was this, the greatest trick that devil ever played was convincing the world that he doesn't exist, because if he doesn't exist, if we don't believe he's alive well and working he can get away with all sorts of things and we're not aware of where it's come from, we don't know the source. And see what's interesting is he has been effective at convincing the world he doesn't exist but he's the sad thing, I reckon he's been pretty effective at convincing the church that he doesn't exist. On the odd occasion where we talk about the enemy, where we talk about the devil we describe him more as like a doctrine or a theory, and that's it, not a force, not a power, not something that is at work on a daily basis, we look at our Pentecostal cousins and sometimes in arrogance look down on them like the fruitcake factor, we say oh you know they want spiritual warfare, casting out demons like seriously guys, stopping so strange, and I've been in environments where you see it and sometimes it's off-putting because it seems so unusual but there's power in that, and we read the gospels and we read of the man who was demon possessed by the sea of Galilee and we think they thought it was demon possession because those primitive people in that age, they didn't realize, that was actually advanced schizophrenia. That's what that was, and if they were aware of that they were to realize that's what they needed to pray for, not a demon to be bought out of that man, it was just a mental illness but they weren't aware, poor old them, they thought it was, a demon but the Bible is a very clear in its discussion of the fact that we do have an enemy and he is working. In fact there's a verse that I think that we need to be aware of because many times as Christians I believe we put things that are happening in our lives, opposition we face in our life and in our faith, down to things like bad luck, unfortunate circumstances, sometimes even fate, without even realizing there's actually something else going on in the book of one Peter, Peter says this, dear friends don't be surprised, don't be surprised at the fiery trials that you are going through as if something strange is happening to you in other words, like don't be shocked when stuff happens because there's a lot going on that you're not seeing, it says stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. You may have seen on the news this week the case in Ohio of a man who released his own sort of personal zoo and the pandemonium that set in in rural Ohio in suburbs where lions and tigers and bears roamed around the neighbourhoods and people were told stay indoors, don't come out because there's every chance that you might get eaten and people aren't etched because they knew of the clear and present danger and yet the reality is the same thing as occurring on a daily basis in the spiritual realm and most of us are completely oblivious to it and on the book of Ephesians Saint Paul says this, put on all of God's armour, not some of it, all of God's armour so that you'll be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil, all of them because there's a whole lot that he'll use and if you are not aware of this as a believer or as a human being it's like a soldier being sent into battle with a blindfold on, with an eye-pot in their ears and their hands tied behind their back, not only defenseless but unaware that bullets are whizzing around their head, that there's land mines buried at either side and so many of us walked through life completely oblivious to what's going on in a spiritual, from a spiritual perspective. So you know we have an enemy, he hates us, he hates you, he absolutely loads you, his native language is lying and the word tells us, his desire, his intention in all things is to what? Steel, kill and destroy, that is what he is about and so temptation is not some morality tale, it's not like the Hollywood version where you have an angel on one side and a demon on the other and it's all about getting you to make a choice swaying you in one way or the other, no no no, temptation is far more insidious, temptation and trials from the enemy are a way that he can drag you from the purposes of God, we can steal your joy. So the second thing we can learn about temptation from Jesus' experience and the wilderness is this, temptation tends to be strategic, so the devil is smart. He wasn't born yesterday, in fact he's been around since the beginning of time itself, he knows the human condition, he knows the human heart and he's very clear and strategic in how he works. So there are two ways that the enemy is strategic, firstly he's strategic in his timing but he's also strategic in what he targets. So let's look at the first one, timing, if we go back to the passage, beginning of chapter 4 begins with one word, very important word to be aware of, it's the word then. So whenever you read the word then or therefore in the Bible you've got to go back because it's in context, you've got to look at what happened before this and what of course happened before this was the baptism of Jesus and this wasn't just like what we do here where we sort of bring the curtain back and we dunk in the water and then pray and then close the curtain and go on with our service. I mean this baptism, I mean this was full on. The heavens opened, a dove came down, the word of God, the voice of God said this is my son in who am I? Well please, so an amazing triumphant moment where the ministry of Jesus was announced, a ministry that would divide history from BC to AD that would spark the greatest religion the world has ever known. In that moment his ministry was released then what happens? This is interesting, it says the spirit led him into the wilderness, God, God led Jesus into the wilderness, not the enemy. God had a purpose, this was about preparing him for the ministry in the road to come but of course what does Satan do? The moment God tries to do something and Satan tries to derail it and so you got to be careful because when Satan will speak moments of temptation and trial will come often just after God's done something powerful in your life just after a moment of revelation, just after he's given you a new goal or a new dream or a new vision for the future the enemy will swoop in and that's when he wants to steal to kill and destroy. You know I remember one night leading worship and it was about 18 months ago and it was one of those nights in church and some of you were here perhaps it was just an absolutely powerful night, probably a bit like tonight was and I remember getting back in the car and for some reason Hailey wasn't here and so I was driving home on my own and we just had this amazing service and driving back along River Road because we're living over that way at that time and I went from this great moment of praise and God that was amazing, God I can't believe how you used the band and the team and what I said and the way you led me to lead the church, then as I was driving along River Road through Lane Cove it was like the whole tone changed in a moment and suddenly I started to feel so depressed like this burden is weight upon me and thoughts started coming into my mind like you're a fraud, that wasn't God that was you and it was even a poor version of you I can't even believe they let you sing at that church, all these words of condemnation and attacking I thought where did that come from, do you ever have times where did that come from, now can I encourage you to have asked that question then follow through with the answer because if there's no explanation the natural realm for things that are happening in your life often you can actually look to the supernatural realm for a good idea, see that wasn't just an energy lull, that wasn't just me needing some sugar, something powerful happened to you that night and the enemy stepped in, so the first few weeks of a new believer's life is a key, when you make a decision for Christ to tell you what the enemy will come in and try and snatch you away almost immediately, don't be surprised by that, be aware of it and be prepared for it, it's not just about timing though, it's also about what the enemy targets strategically, so you notice what did he say to Jesus, each of his temptations began with these words, if you're the son of God, now think about the significance of that, a few moments before we see at his baptism on the shores of the Jordan River we see God say you are my son in whom I am well pleased, so what is the enemy question first, what God had just said, the enemy went straight for his identity because the enemy knows if he can warp or distort your identity he will have the rest of you very, very soon, if he can cause you to question yourself, if he can cause you to feel insecure, it's amazing how he can destabilize all sorts of other areas in your life, so he'll say this, you know, if you were really smart enough, if you were man enough, he were woman enough, if you were a real Christian, if God really loved you, this wouldn't be happening, he begins any temptation typically with an attack on your identity, the third thing we can learn from Jesus' experience is this, temptation is not sinful, it's not, temptation is neutral, it's of course what we do with temptation that counts, in the book of Hebrews we're told that Jesus was like us in every way but did not sin, and so if Jesus was tempted and did not sin we can conclude that temptation in and of itself is not a sinful thing, but it's of course what we do next that really counts, I don't know if you're like me you have thoughts that pop into your head from time to time, and they're just like hideous, you think that is just the most awful thing to think about that person, or they're lustful, or they're so dark and so evil you think I can't believe that I came up with that, I bet Helen Solomon doesn't think thoughts like that, but it's easy to think these things, you know, I must be the worst in the world, I must be the worst Christian because if I was a good Christian that wouldn't happen to me, and I take great comfort in an old proverb that was attributed as one of these Chinese proverbs, you know and people don't know where something came from, they say it was a Chinese proverb, this might well be a Chinese proverb, but I take comfort in it anyway, it says this, you can't help it, if a bird lands on your head you can sure prevent it from building a nest, and so if you apply that to our thought life you have very little control over the thoughts that pop into your mind, you know that, things come in, you think oh goodness where they come from, again where they come from, but it's what you do next, the counts of course, do you indulge those thoughts, do you dwell on them, do you cultivate them, do you replay them over and over again, because that's when you cross from pure neutral temptation which is not sinful, it's what you do next, if you cultivate those thoughts, that's when sin starts to creep in, that's when the enemy gets what the Bible calls a foothold, to do all sorts of other things in your life, the fourth lesson we can learn is this, it seems like a good idea at the time, if I was Sam I'd make some tragic reference to John Farnham at this point, he loves his pop culture doesn't he, but I'm not Sam so I won't, but it seems like a good idea at the time, see temptation always does, temptation doesn't come dressed up as something that'll kill you, it doesn't come dressed up as something that's bad, I've certainly found in my experience, temptation comes dressed up as something very attractive, something that seems logical, rational, just I mean seriously, we're in the 21st century, everyone does it, if it feels so good it can't be that bad surely, and yet Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12 says to us there's a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death, and see, temptations a little bit like the bait on a hook when you go fishing, but if you want to catch fish here and just chuck the hook in the water because fish are not dumb completely, I mean if they say a hook in the water, they're not going to say something, I want me some of that, I mean that's awesome, a hook is not really on their agenda, and so a hook is useless, what does a fisherman do, they doesn't even put a slice of pineapple on the hook, no they put something on the hook that's attractive, so when the fish goes that's a bit of a good deal, I want me some of that, and of course once they bite then they realise it's too late, the challenge of course we face as Christians is to be able to discern which of the things in our life that come our way are of God, what's from us and what is from the enemy, that leads us to the fifth thing we can learn, it's that temptation tends to follow a pattern, if you look at the things that tempt to Jesus in the wilderness, those three, now typically you can break them up into three categories that most of the things that tempt us in life fall into, and categories like fame, fortune or flesh, remember being at a men's conference a few years ago and the speaker said that for most guys, the things that tempt guys fall into these three categories, girls, gold or glory, and it's true, I mean those categories, basically look at most of the things that tempt us and you get a bit of a pattern form here, I don't know what it is that tempts you, but I put together a list of the things that I find a challenge and that most of the people I speak to find challenging things like greed, of course we can dress that up as ambition sometimes, but it's still called greed, cheating or cutting corners because everyone's doing it, no one will notice it doesn't really matter, lust, lying, gossip or slander, I heard a great definition of gossip a number of years ago, gossip is hearing something we do like about someone we don't like and then repeating it, that's what gossip is, and I tell you I love to gossip, I find this a real challenge and we'll come back and talk about this one because I suspect I'm not alone, okay, and next one anger, impatience, lack of submission, another one for me, ask Karen, she'll tell you, lack of submission, I mean as Aussies we find that challenge and we like to, you serve authority and rile against the establishment, but the Bible tells us it's a sin, missing church, saying you know what, it's a nice night I'll stay at Balmoral and have another shard night, God won't mind, he's everywhere, he's at the beach so we'll worship him here, selfishness, what about pride, now the challenge is of course this is not an exhaustive list and anyone that tries to build an exhaustive list of everything that you'll be tempted by, you know we'll miss the mark at some point, and now one of the things I've found useful is a bit of a test, a bit of a diagnostic test that's helped me in the past know the source of something, whether it's a temptation or not, and that's the thing I call the fruits and roots test, so if you want to know where something's come from, what the root of a thought or an inclination and idea is, look at what the fruit of that is, let me think about it, if the fruit is not stuff that brings glory to God, and Galatians 5 tells us the fruits of God's spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and probably some others that I've missed but all those in that hemisphere, those sort of good things, right, but if the fruit is not those things then it's probably not of God, now I was challenged by this on Friday night I'd dinner with some friends, and the topic of a mutual friend came up in conversation, this friend has been acting very badly in the last few months saying things that have caused hurt and division and envy and bitterness, and I tell you what we just got on a rant, you know what rants sound like, the more wine you have the louder the rant gets, and we rant it, and we talked about what we'd like to say to her if we got a chance and how dare she and all, we gave a shopping list of all the things that she'd done, and I want to tell you even right now, most of what we said that night was justifiable, it was fair and I would back it up, but on the way home, God challenged me, so what's the fruit, what's the fruit of what you just said, and God's word says that life and death is in the power of the tongue, and I tell you I spent a whole night speaking death, I said all sorts of things that were not loving, didn't create joy or peace or patience or kindness, I showed almost no self control that evening, and so even though what I said that gossip we shared was justifiable, it was still sinful, if you don't know the root of something is, look at the fruit, and you'll find that pretty quickly, now regardless of what it is that tempts or tests you want to give you just a couple of things that I found useful in terms of how you respond when temptation comes your way, because it will, not if when temptation comes your way, first response I would encourage you to consider is the response of rejoicing, you know I think well that's weird, it's very grim-esque isn't it, grim-agnew, when stuff gets hard just give God the glory and sometimes I get really, I mean that's just G.A. through and through isn't he, he's a phenomenal leader, I don't know how he does actually just loudly, I mean I've seen him on some weeks where the rest of us would be like you know checking out some sort of centaur, and he's just like through the roof excited, I'm like how do you anyway, how does he do it, I don't know, I think he's learnt this lesson to rejoice, now because if you're being tempted, if you're facing trials and tribulations in life, particularly ones that are spiritual in nature, you're on the right track, because guess what the enemy doesn't bother with things that aren't threatening, if you're not a threat to the enemy's desires and purposes, he's not going to bother threatening you, you know sometimes see people who aren't Christians who just have the most blissfully blessed lives, you think that's not fair, look at people who are Christians who face challenge after battle, after setback, after disappointment, the book of James, James of course was Jesus's brother, so I sort of knew a little bit about Jesus and his intention, I love this verse, he gets such encouragement from this, when again when not if, when troubles come your way, consider it pure joy, not like tolerate them, go all right suck it up, pure joy, now I still struggle with that, but I'm getting there, consider it pure joy, for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow, God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation, afterward they'll receive a crown of life that God has promised for those who love him, you know Bible heroes, those throughout church history that we look up to that we esteem, those that you put on a bit of a pedestal, if you respect your champions in the faith is a really good chance the reason they are respect worthy is because they've dealt with some pretty challenging setbacks, some incredible tests of their faith, some temptations that if they'd given into them, they probably would have had some of the potential God had planned for them robbed, that have wandered from the paths and the purposes of God, but rejoice, and for some of you if you're not facing a spiritual opposition in life, isn't that just on a challenge, maybe you're not in the battle, get out of the trenches, if you're not facing spiritual opposition, you may know what me, you may or not be a threat, get out and get in the game, that's how you know if you're on the right track really, you know any dead fish can swim downstream, if you want a game grand you've got to swim upstream, you've got to be pretty alive, right, now this is of course not some sadistic desire to chase hardship, but to realise that when hardship comes it's often something that should cause us to rejoice, now the second thing I would encourage you to do when you face temptation is to use scripture strategically, now what did Jesus do when he was tempted in the wilderness, notice this, he didn't ignore the devil, he didn't say oh no no, I can't hear you, I can't see you, la la la, you're not there, I can't, I'm just going to ignore you and focus, he didn't ignore the devil, he met him straight on, see what did he do, he didn't wallow himself pity, oh my goodness, I'm Jesus, like seriously I shouldn't have to battle with this stuff, Helen Solomon, she wouldn't have to, so why should I, he didn't wallow himself pity, he didn't even argue, now that's profound, because think of the second temptation that the enemy gave Jesus, I mean it was a dumb one, dumb, what do you say, I've got all the kingdoms in the world there might, I'll give them to you, rubbish, he didn't, it was a lie, but of course that's his native tongue, the enemy, Jesus knew that, the word says that the world, the earth is the lords and everything in it, Jesus could have said, well actually what you said there is not quite correct, I'd like to quote a scripture for you and just tell you how incorrect you are, and he did quote scripture, but it wasn't a debate, see because Jesus knew that the enemy is not interested in discussion or debate, he has hell bent on one thing and one thing only, and that is your destruction, so what did he do when he was met with opposition, he quoted scripture, Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul talks about the scripture being like a sword, the sword of the spirit, it is a weapon that you can use when you face opposition in life, and some of you don't even know you've got one, much knows how to use it, this is why it's so important what Sarah does with the team in kids church, teaching memory verses, because those things sink down deep into a child's heart, they provide a straight line against which that child can make decisions for the rest of their life, beble equal truth, that's why Michael chooses the songs we sing here so carefully, it's like when you're at school, you learn, you know, times tables with songs, and if you do that there's naff songs that you still earn your time tables by, but it worked because when things are attached to a melody they sink in, and many times in my life and experience when I face some sort of opposition, you know what God's brought to mind is a verse of a song, a line of a song with the bridge of a song that we sing here, because they're full of truth, that's why we care, we choose so carefully what we sing. The third thing you can do when you're faced with temptation is this, establish non-negotiables, non-negotiables in life, and I've found it very interesting the last few weeks hearing Sam's message on giving, because certainly in my experience being around churches for most of my life into varying extents or degrees, this area of giving and generosity is one where the enemy has all sorts of plans to tempt you, not to give, to not be generous, and you can hear a message like Sam's last week where he challenged us to give, and I suspect some of you went home and thought what will I do about that, and I bet the enemy said something just a little bit like this, one of these four perhaps, yeah, but look at all the bills that have just come in, now God would want you to honor your commitments before you gave to the church, maybe he said something like this one, but look at all the lights, all the sound equipment that churches got, man they're loaded, they don't need your money, it's just an act, it's just to make budgeting easier, they don't need it, or maybe the third one, hey have you seen some of the cars that people drive at that church, like the morning service, there's a guy who drives a Bentley, I mean seriously, you drive a corolla, how could God expect you to have to give when there are people with heaps of money, now that's not for you that message we're giving, that's for the rich dudes, maybe he said this, oh and after all it's only, it's all about your heart, it doesn't matter what you give because it's all about your heart, here's the problem with those four statements, they're only half true, that's the challenge with the enemy, is he very rarely says outright lies, like we saw in the case of Jesus in the wilderness, he used scripture, he just twisted it, he just distorted it, and see the hardest lies to dismiss are the ones that have some truth in them, and see all of those statements, sure God wants you to honor the commitments you've made, pay your bills, we do a lot of stuff, there is someone who drives a Bentley and God is interested in your heart, but it's only half true, see for Haley and I, we made giving an area in our lives years ago that was just non-negotiable, wasn't a question, we heard a message on tithing, we went okay that's it, 10% we'll give to the church, and you might say well that's easy for you guys because you've got like stuff, we drive lovely cars, we have a nice house, we travel, we've got an internationally successful business, that's easy for you guys, but we made that commitment long before we had any of the results we've got now, and many of you weren't around at that point, some of you were, but you know I left my job, I left paid employment three months before we got married, and we were poor, we were poor, for the first 12 to 18 months of our marriage, and Haley can attest to this, a number of nights each week we'd eat popcorn for dinner, now you get the popping coin, the blue bag and stuff, the ones that cost 89 cents, the little kernels of corn, we'd eat that for dinner, partly because we liked it, it was sort of nice and pretty healthy I guess, but you know we were poor, it was a cheap alternative, at that point our income each week was about $400, but 10% $40, that's it, non-negotiable, there was no discussion, are we going to give this week or not, it was just rule off that belongs to God, and that's where we begin from, I remember one night driving to church, we stopped at an ATM on the way here to get our $40 out for the tithe, because it was 10%, and I got a little receipt printed out from the ATM, and we had $3.64 left in the bank, that was to last us until Wednesday, and I'll tell you what, if this had not been a non-negotiable, if giving was a noble intention only, I'll tell you when they go and get stuff, noble intentions can be shifted just slightly, we would have said oh God doesn't mind, we've only got $3, he doesn't want us to starve, we'll just have more popcorn, but I'm easier here, he wouldn't mind, not this week, but not non-negotiable, and most nights we'd come to church here, this is before we had church dinners, we would miss the church dinner, we would go home, we'd make up some lame excuse and go home, because we'd given our money in the plate and that was it, there was no money to go out for dinner at Gilroy's or wherever else we were going, and I don't say any of that to impress you, but I want to challenge you, what in your life are non-negotiable, because if it's not a non-negotiable the enemy will get in, he will speak words he'll undermine your confidence, he'll question, he'll use half-truths, and I look at so much of the results of our lives today, and the blessing we receive is because I believe we were faithful in that area, faithful when we had very, very little, and this is not just about money, you can establish non-negotiable is it all sorts of areas, I'm on the conference circuit speaking, a number of my colleagues, guys who I just rate very highly, they've confided in me that when they check into hotels, when they're on the road, they will ask the concierge to disable the adult channel, because I said we don't want the temptation of pornography, we just don't want it, they make it a non-negotiable, they switch it off, now what is it for you that you can create in your life, it is a non, it's not this beyond question, because once you do that it's amazing what power you take away from the enemy, and the last response we can have is this seek help, seek help, now there are three words in our church's name, north side community church, I believe the most important one is the word community, and you'll hear that word talked about a lot here, the reason for that is because God created us as human beings to operate best when we are in community, if you're in a great season if you're experiencing joy when you share that joy it's multiplied isn't it, when you're in a hard patch, when life is difficult and you share that it's amazing how that burden gets divided, and when it comes to this area of temptations the things we wrestle and struggle with share them, share the burden, that's what this body is for, now why don't we I believe the biggest reason people don't share what's going on in their lives is because the enemy would have you believe that if you share that people will be so shocked, they'd never want to speak to you again, I take again great comfort in this verse, one Corinthians 10 verse 13 the temptations in your life are no different to what others experience, in another translation of this verse it says nothing has seized you except which is common to man or mankind, see here's a bit of a paraphrase of that verse, you are not the first and you are not the worst, I found in my own experience when I share with people the things that I've struggled with it's amazing, nine times out of ten what do they say, me too, that's amazing right and it's suddenly that moment of freedom that comes when you share something and realize you are not alone, you are not the first and you are not the worst, see some of you tonight you're carrying around burdens, areas of darkness in your life that you think you are the only one in the world and yet that's what the enemy wants you to believe, there's something powerful and we bring things into the light, suddenly things that seem like they have so much power in the darkness, in those dark recesses of our heart that we hope no one ever understands or finds out about, when we bring those into the light suddenly they shrivel, they lose their power, so if you don't just need to seek help from others it's from God too, there's an end to this verse, goes like this, God is faithful, he will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand, so when you're tempted it says he will show you a way out so you can endure, I just want to invite the band up on the stage, we're going to wrap up in just a few moments but I love our God, I love our God, he's faithful, he's merciful, he's kind, now I don't know what it is for you that is that area of darkness, that thing that you hold on to and you think no one else could ever understand how hard it is, you might have this fear that one day this temptation will overcome you, you can't stand up under it in your own strength and that's true, it's God who gives us strength, he's the good news he knows already, he already knows what you struggle with, the battles in your life, he knows the areas of weakness and he's what he wants to do, he wants to set you free, he wants to set you free, you know the word says the God loves each of us, not just as a human race but as individuals so passionately so much that he's sent his only son, he's a profound truth, I want you to remember this as you go into the week, Jesus didn't come into the world to rub it in, he came into the world to rub it out, one John chapter one verse nine says this, if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and it cleanses us from all unrighteousness but again that verse begins with the word if, it's a choice, when you walked in tonight there was an orange sheet of cardboard on your seats and a pen, I'm gonna give you a few moments now just to reflect on what God is saying to you tonight, what is it for you, what are the areas of weakness, how is Satan strategically getting into your life, robbing your joy, robbing the peace that you have in Jesus, I'm gonna give you just a few moments to write down what it is for you, something that you want to say, this is it, for me this is an area of weakness, be bold, don't look at the person next to you write down what is it for you that you want to bring to the Lord and seek his help in, seek his strength in, we'll give you just a minute to do that. Be bold men and women all over this church tonight, who realise they're not the first and they're not the worst, Jesus really did come in to rub it out, to set you free, that you would live in abundance, this week can I carry you and challenge you, take the things that you've written on those pieces of paper, I want to share them with two people, first I want you to share them with a trusted brother or sister, someone who can keep you accountable someone that you can open your heart up to and receive truth in life, I want someone want you to show this to God, go home tonight and say you know what Lord I need your help I need your strength, I can't do this on my own, it's pray to know, Father we love you, as your people Lord we choose to honour you in our lives above all else, above our own ambition, our own desires, our own agenda Lord, Father God we come to you tonight not seeking success or fame or fortune Lord we want to be set free, Lord God there are people in this room who you've spoken to tonight, and Father I pray that as we sing this song that you would encourage them to respond to you in spirit and in truth to worship, to acknowledge their weaknesses, the areas they need you in and to receive your strength, Lord in the coming week just help us to act on what it is that you've spoken to us tonight, we accept your grace, we're grateful for your forgiveness, receive our praise God, Amen.