Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to the Crema Chaj podcast.
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Great. Grab a seat. Thank you.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: In the new year, we're going to talk a little bit about sowing and reaping.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: She was telling the story very nicely.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Actually, what happened was that we were discussing, because we really have. It's really important to sowing good soil.
Okay. You don't sow. Jesus was really clear. Sowing good soil, not bad soil. If you want a good return. Sowing good soil.
Joe, that we were talking. I'm going, no, no, I think we need to sow in the UK and this. The Americans have got enough money.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: And you see, that's the problem in the thinking. They don't need it.
Okay. And anyway.
And jeops. No, I really think the Lord is speaking that we need to sow to Bethel. And I'm going, no, I really don't think. And anyway, if the Lord wants to sow Bethel, he'll speak. He'll tell us, which is why we didn't do it last week. We were just having a little marital tiff and just. But this. Look, don't marry a woman who hears from God unless you want to sometimes be humbled.
Okay? So Tuesday, this email. So she comes in, look, got it. God says, And I went, all right, all right. Okay, Lord, that's good enough for me. I surrender. So that's what we're doing. But, you know, often that's what it's like walking with the Lord. And if you're married, that's what it's like being married. You know, sometimes the Lord speak to one of you, sometimes to speak to the other of you, and you're trying to figure out how you do this. And, and every now and again, you need to pause and allow the Lord to speak and see who's right.
Unfortunately, on this occasion, it was Juliet.
But that, that's, you know, that's. That's how I, I, I much prefer being right.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Anyway, we're. We're going. We're going. We're talking about the ways of God because we want to walk in the blessings of God. And so it's very important we start to understand how God wants us to live so that his blessing from heaven can be released in every area of our life. And I'm not just talking about finances. I'm talking about every area.
So we're going to. Today. We've got to. We're almost through. The Ten Commandments. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Why would this be one of the ten?
Why is this one? You know, there's Lots of laws. If you read through the first five books of the Bible, you'll see there lots of laws. But why is this one of the 10? Because none of us would. You know, when we think about bearing false witness, stand in court and lie to send someone to prison. Right. None of us would do that. You know, I once was a character reference for someone. It was a young guy, he'd given his life to Jesus and was trying to get his life together. But he had a.
A string of offenses that had gone past. He had a story mostly stealing, breaking an entry, shoplifting, all those kind of things. And then, and it was, it was many years ago, and he'd come into our church and given his life to Jesus. And he said, would you. I think they're going to send me to prison this time. Would you speak on my behalf? And I said, yeah, sure, sure, I'd come. I'd never done anything like that before. I thankfully never been inside a court building.
And anyway, I turned up, it's all quite formal. There wasn't a jury or anything, just a judge.
And they hand you a Bible.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: And they say, just place your hand on the Bible and swear on the Bible. And I said, oh, I'm sorry, I can't do that, and looked at me, why not? Well, I'm a Christian and the Bible says, don't swear upon anything. Just let your yes be yes, you no be no. And I remember watching this young guy going, oh, no, this is not going how I'd planned. And anyway, so they weren't fussed at all. They went, oh, no problem.
They took the Bible away and just gave me a card saying I'd say the truth and I wouldn't lie, which was absolutely fine.
And, you know, he was just down sitting down in the front with his solicitor and my job was just to speak about him. I said, look, I'm just getting to know this young man.
I understand the many things he's done and he probably deserves to go to prison.
And well, he did.
He did.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: And I said to the truth is, I.
I can't tell you he's not going to do it again, because he might.
But what I do know is that he's given his life to Jesus, that he's now in a community that loves him and will direct him in the right ways.
And that my experience of what the blood of Jesus does in someone's life is that he redeems them and turns them around and he gives them another chance.
And my suggestion, that's right, my suggestion would be to do that for this young man.
And the good news is they gave him a suspended sentence and he was.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: In our care to kind of look after him. As far as I know, he's still walking with Jesus. It was a long while ago.
Jesus says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Now, obviously, what he's talking about is being witnesses of all he's done, witnesses of the resurrection.
But I believe we are not just witnesses of what he's done. We're witnesses of who he is and what he sees. He says, you will be my witnesses.
You see, we are witnesses of the effect of the cross and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And no one is beyond rescue.
And when God gets a hold of someone's life, he pronounces them not guilty.
He changes their future.
And I've been saying the Ten commandments lead us into blessing. And so they could easily be called the ten blessings.
So when we say, do not bear false witness towards your neighbor, what is the blessing part of that, but rather bear witness to what could be because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
We don't need to lie about someone. We can speak what could be in this person's life. If you like it. We speak the truth of heaven through the lens of the kingdom of God.
You know, what does the Holy Spirit see in this situation?
Because now the power of the Holy Spirit is in the mix.
So because he is there, everything can change.
Okay, I want to say three things quickly.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: First, I'm going to talk a little bit about false witness. So if you've got your Bibles, find two Samuel, chapter 15, and hopefully I've cheated and it's already there. I've got my tassel. So why don't you stand? Whenever we read the Word of God, we stand. This is his word. And if you want the context for this story, it's a story about Absalom. Absalom has murdered his brother Amnon.
He's been in exile. David has forgiven him and he's back.
So this is chapter 15, verse 1. After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him. Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision that Absalom would call to him and say, what city are you from? And he would say, your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel. Then Absalom would say to him, look, your case is good and right, but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.
Moreover, Absalom would say, oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me. Then I would give him justice. And so it was anyone who came near to bow down to him that he would put his hand out and take him and kiss him. And in this manner, Absalom acted towards all Israel who came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
We'll stop there. Take a seat.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: One of the things you're going to find today, this is a whole new world for me.
We are surrounded with fake news.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: Sometimes people are lying, or sometimes people are simply bending the truth to make their own opinion seem right.
And it is very difficult to see the wood from the trees.
It's very difficult to see what's true and what is false. We're in an age where videos can be edited and everything is changed. The meaning has changed. AI can change the content, making it look absolutely real.
What people say on social media by influencers is treated as truth.
And even if they're saying crazy things because they have all these followers, it must be true.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Absalom was an influencer.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: If Absalom had had social media.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: He would have.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: Been as happy as could be.
He was somebody who influenced, but he didn't influence. Truthfully, he turns the people's hearts from his father David to himself.
And when people are trying to influence you, that's often the goal. People want your heart.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Because if they have your heart, they have power over you and they have your attention and it makes them feel important.
So they tell you a story to influence you.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: There's normally an element of truth in the story.
It will often tickle your ears.
It often involves flattery or benefit to each of us.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: David was busy fighting battles on every front.
He didn't have all his ducks in a row.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: David has made some catastrophic mistakes, Bathsheba being one of them. We talked about that a few weeks ago.
But God is using David to deliver Israel.
And it will be Solomon who gets more of his ducks in the row. But if you know the story of Solomon, not all of them. So the first thing I want to say to you today, right, if you find the perfect church, don't join it, because you will ruin it, because the church is full of imperfect people, okay? So if you find the perfect thing, don't join because you're going to mess it all up.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: But David was God's man, not Absalom.
This is important.
The result of Absalom's treachery, his false witness, his undermining, his influencing leads to murder, family strife, national turmoil, public immorality and his own death and David's. You'll read if you carry on reading the story. David's intense grief.
We are surrounded daily by influences like this.
And some are in the church, some say they're for the church.
What should we do?
And the second thing I want to say is an influencer is not a builder.
Let me say that again. An influencer is not a builder. An influencer just is trying to get your heart.
They want you to follow them. Builders build something of worth.
Building is hard work.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Jesus says, I will build my church and hell will not prevail against it. Jesus is a builder. He doesn't want to influence you. He wants to transform you. It's very different.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: We're in a season. I look around the church a little bit at the moment and, you know, I mean wider in this country, abroad.
And there's a bit of a season of righteous judgment.
And by that I mean the church hurt my feelings.
So I want justice.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: Hear me? I'm not talking about sin.
I'm talking about people who don't like something so it upsets them. Well.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: I need justice. Paul says this. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except by two or three witnesses.
That doesn't mean two or three upset people. It means two or three totally separate accounts of sin.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: When he's saying, don't receive, he's saying, don't let your heart turn.
You know, the Apostle Paul was thrown out of the Corinthian Church and not for sin, but for holding them to account.
That's why Paul was thrown out, for holding people to account.
And I've seen over the last few years, I've seen really good men and women pushed out of ministry because of an accusation that had no grounding to it. There was no sin.
And people say, well, there's no smoke without fire.
[00:14:57] Speaker A: Well, sometimes people see a bit of smoke and they think they're fighting a just cause, but actually it's more about them.
Or sometimes they're fighting out of their own pain, their own. Something has happened that has touched pain that's in our life and it causes us to react.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Jesus wants to heal your pain.
I'm not negating pain, but he wants to heal your pain so that you can become a Witness for him so that the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon you and you would witness what he sees, both for you and for others.
Because if you stay in pain, you cannot walk into blessing.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: God wants your pain so that you are free to walk into his blessing.
You see, each one of us could find ourselves in these situations.
We could find ourselves telling a story that makes the other person look not so good. Have you ever done that? You find yourself telling a story and you become the hero.
There are a few giggles. Yeah, come on. We've all done it.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: We're just telling the story. And they did this, and then they did that, and then. But I did this, okay?
[00:16:24] Speaker A: Or someone could be doing it to us.
So somebody could be telling stories. It could be happening at work, it could be happening at church, could be happening anywhere. That undermines us.
And they're saying things that just aren't true about us, but they're saying it so that they will look good.
So what should we do in either situations? Well, if we find us telling the story, you know, we're halfway through becoming the hero, and the Holy Spirit starts to go, you know, excuse me, we need to stop.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Repent. That just means change the direction of the story and go, do you know what?
I just realized what I'm doing. I'm kind of making myself out the hero. And I may not have given you the whole picture.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Let me give you the whole picture so that this person doesn't look bad.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: Okay?
That's what Juliette in the off, and she didn't stand up and go, steve can't hear from God. I can. This is where we're going to give the money.
She said, isn't it great that God would pause us and we'd be able to pray and we'd be able to think this through and weigh and hear what God says, see the difference?
And I'm just going. And I'm like, well, what actually happened was we're just painting the whole picture for people to see, or we feel the insecurity of being undermined.
You're at work, and people are trying to get your job or trying to pull you down.
And in answer to that, firstly, I'd say, understand God is good.
God is for you.
He loves you.
Okay? You belong to Him. He has put you where you are, and only he can remove you. Other people think they can remove by telling false stories, trying to pull us down. But I'm at the table because he put me there. You know, Jesus tells the story, sit at the lowest part of the table and wait to be invited up. No one can invite you down the table unless it's Jesus.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: And there's a security in that.
You see, Jesus went to the cross beaten and broken, but he was raised in glory. And it is this risen Christ who invites us to rise with him.
You see, we don't bear false witness or we bear heaven's witness.
And when we speak heaven's witness, he raises us up.
That's the deal. That's the story of what Jesus says, okay? That's the first thing. Number two.
God defends the attacked.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Jesus says, blessed. Are you happy? Are you thrilled? Are you? Why? Because the great news is God is our defender.
He is our shield, our protector, our refuge in times of trouble, our strong tower.
But have you ever thought how it works?
[00:19:48] Speaker A: You see, God is so good. He is only light.
There is no darkness in him. There's not even a shadow, a turning. And I've experienced this.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: I tried to get a shield.
This is a shield for a four year old.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: So he was the best. I wanted one of those big, big Roman ones, but they don't sell them on Amazon.
Okay, so this is.
This will have to do for the moment. So think bigger, okay? Think surrounding. Think little person.
Okay?
[00:20:28] Speaker A: You see, when I've been attacked, when my family have been attacked, when we felt the attack come, God's shield comes around us to protect us.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Now the temptation is to attack back, right? I mean, I always, whenever I'm attacked, I always just check in with the Lord. Could we call fire down from heaven this time? You know, one, because one day he might say yes, and two, it's way better to have the dialogue that way than that way.
I'm talking to him.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: And he's going, nah, we're not going to call fire down from heaven today.
We're going to do it a different way.
So his shield is around me and it strengthens me, okay? But there's still something in me that wants to go on the attack, that wants to get them because they're saying things that are not true about me and it's not there.
I want justice.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: And you see, when we go on the attack.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: What happens is the shield goes and it goes over there because he is the defender.
And suddenly I'm exposed because I'm attacking and I feel bad.
But then they attack back.
The shield's back.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: And someone has to break this cycle. I want to Lord, I'm just going to get them, but I'm holding onto the shield. I don't want you to go, Lord. And it's one or the other.
It's one or the other.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: You want my defense?
You want to be built on my ways?
Don't attack.
I am your defender.
Revenge is mine, saith the Lord.
The problem with that is he'll probably bless them.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: You see, God can only be your shield.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: When you are attacked.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Not when you are attacked.
Blessed are you when you are attacked because the presence comes and he defends you.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Okay, is there a mother here?
And you've got a four year old son.
The one closest to the front. So is there a mother here with a four year old son?
[00:23:19] Speaker A: Five. It's close. Have you got a four year old?
Anyone got a four year old son?
No. Daughters don't count.
I mean they do count. Sorry. I mean they do count. I mean.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: Look what you're doing, it's falling the bits now, they do count.
Who's got a four year old son?
[00:23:42] Speaker A: No one's got a four year old son in this room.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Okay, you got a five year old. This is yours.
They go.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: What was I talking about? I just didn't. I felt it was just too small for me.
Bless the Jesus overcome. Ah, yeah, there you go. Jesus overcomes the attack of the enemy by silently walking to the cross. For you and I.
He defeats every attack of the enemy by walking to the cross.
That is why we're all here. When Aaron and Miriam attack Moses over his wife, which isn't the real issue, what they want is the hearts of the people.
You know, Moses, Does God only speak to you? What about us? We do all the work.
I love this verse. It says, now, now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the face of the earth.
[00:24:53] Speaker A: And so they attack Moses and the Lord says, come out and talk.
Come and have a chat. So they come to the presence of God and I can, you know, I can see Aaron and Miriam just. He's going to get it now. We're going to get our promotion. Forget it.
The presence of God. The Lord says, why were you not scared to speak against Moses who I speak to face to face. And the presence of God lifts off and Miriam is leprous.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: And Moses has to pray for her.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: Ladies, I just.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: If your husband isn't getting the visibility they deserve, encourage and pray for your husband, but do not go on the attack for them.
Because that's one of the lessons we learn from Miriam. You see, God defends the attacked. It's more blessed to be on the bad end of false witness, because the Lord is there with you.
And you go, oh, Steve, you're exaggerating. You know, when Absalom drives out David and David has to flee for his life, King David, with his mighty men who's slain tens of thousands, is fleeing for his life. There's this guy called Shime.
Do you know what he does? He picks up dirt and rocks and he's throwing them at David, saying, you're cursed, you're cursed. And David's mighty men, who've got real shields and real swords are going, let us take his head off. Do you know what David's answer is?
It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction and that the Lord will pay me with good for his cursing this day.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: See? Who do you want to follow?
An influencer who has never won a battle, or a man whom the Lord loves, but he has a limp.
Please hear this. God takes the broken sinner, redeems them for his purposes. Saul looked so good, but he feared people. Absalom just wants the hearts of the people. David is a man after God's own heart. Whether he's a shepherd, whether he's a king, or whether he's in exile.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: David knows the Lord, whatever his situation.
And that's what God wants for us. And I want to really. I realize we've run out of time really quick. We are to be heaven's witnesses.
Philippians 2. 3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility, consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
We are no longer living for ourselves, but for the Lord Jesus Christ.
We carry the witness of heaven wherever we go. It's no longer about me doing well, it's about you doing well.
You know, I don't need to be famous. There is only one superstar. Jesus.
He is the superstar. The selfish ambition, the empty pride has died on the cross with Jesus. I am now small change in his pocket. He can spend me however he wishes.
I want you all to thrive in your walk with Jesus.
You have to understand something. You know these guys that sing and play behind me, you know they're way more famous than me.
They get views and likes on all over the world. They're way more famous.
But because of that, do you understand? I get a grade A in heaven.
Because that's the point.
They're meant to be more famous than me.
Because it's not about me.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: Look, I had dreams of destiny when I was 13 years old. This is true. I had a vision of stadiums full of people worshiping.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Obviously, I was singing.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: You see, God can give you a dream. I assumed it would be me.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: This is why I've dedicated my life to ministry. But now God is doing it.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: But I'm not the singer. But I am the father of the house.
This is what God does. This is what he wants to do in your life.
This is his hand.
Each of you should look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. You see, false witness is for you. Heaven's truth releases the abundance of heaven.
I started telling my story of my young friend in court. On the edge of prison. That's all of us. All of us were on the edge of prison by the grace of God.
[00:30:01] Speaker A: You see, heaven's witness, our message is that you are no longer a prisoner. I am no longer a prisoner. The chains are falling off and witnesses is Isaiah 60:1 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness, that you may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified.
And the church said, amen. Why don't you stand up?
Thanks for listening to the Cromer Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship, and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
