Becoming Friends With God | Ps Joel Erskine

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Newman Church podcast. Wherever you are in the world, we are so glad that you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our heavenly Father is as we grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus. Enjoy the message. Thanks so much for having us today. We're gonna have a good time. Is that all good today? We're here to have a good time, you know, the Lord is fun. The Lord is good. The Lord is not always super serious, though he can be, but we're gonna have some fun. Gonna have some fun. I just wanna honor pastors Glen and Lynn. These guys, you guys have some of the best pastors on the planet, like legitimately, like they're such fathers and mothers and like to see the experience that these guys have walked through, to see all the things, the diversity, the different nations, the experience, all of it, and to be so humble and to be such approachable people, I tell you. Can we give it up for Glenn and Lynn? Amazing. And Pastor Josh. Come on. J Long and Kelly. Love you guys. Looking forward to many years ahead. Running with you, getting to know you more. We love you. Oh, God is good. Amen. I just ask Kai to keep playing for a moment because I don't want you just to switch off and to change gears when the word spreads. Sometimes we just can turn off, we get into comfortable mode, we sit down, we just kind of listen. But I really want you to encounter the Lord today. I really believe that the Lord is bringing breakthrough to people. And that message that Lynn brought just before about breakthrough, that's real. I wasn't expecting that to happen in the worship, but there was Cain just mentioned about angels being in the room, and there was breakthrough in the room in that last moment. And so when Lynne got up and she started speaking about breakthrough and said, hey, your breakthrough is here this morning, I totally believe it. I believe people are going to get healed. I believe miracles are going to happen. I believe the love of God is going to overwhelm people again. Because who knows that God is not just a concept. God is not just theological, just to understand in your mind, but he is to be fully experienced in all of our being. He is to be experienced. Heaven is our reality. Jesus is our reality. We need to know him, experientially know him. We're going to have fun. It's gonna be good. I'm gonna read, I'm gonna read from John 15 in a moment. I do have a lot of notes. All my notes are in my bag, though. I decide to leave them there because I just want to go with the flow. It's in my heart. I'm just gonna bring it. Is that cool? Awesome. If you don't know me, my name is Joel. I've been in Melbourne for about a year now. Before being in Melbourne, I was in America for two years. And before that, I'm a sydneysider. Don't hold that against me. There's, like, an unspoken rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. I'm like, what the heck is this? It's, like, so funny. Everybody, like, Melbourne's the best people. Sydney's the best. So funny. But I love those cities. They're both amazing. And it's a privilege to be here in Sydney. I was a youth pastor. I was a chaplain. I was a scripture teacher. And then the Lord called us to pack up everything and to go overseas and to go study over there in America. And so we did. We just went over. We left everything. We left ministry opportunities. We left it all just to pursue the call of God and to seek him. To seek his face. And it was an amazing two years. Amazing two years. And then now we've come here. The Lord's brought us here. And I want to teach you about something about friendship with God. Is that cool? Because I've learned some things about friendship with God, and Jesus teaches us some things in John, chapter 15. And I believe that there's revelation here today. And I believe that some of the things that I share from my story and from the word, that there's going to be things that are unlocked as you're sitting there. So I would encourage you, don't just turn off, get expectant for breakthrough in your life. Let's just pray. I just want to give this service to the Holy Spirit. It already has been, but I just want a fresh. Lord, we give this to you. It's not about me, although it's not to speak your word. It's not about me. It's about you and your presence and your glory and your love for your people, what you've done for them, and getting greater revelation of that God, I pray that this morning apathy would die, Lord, I pray, God, that there would be a fire that you burn in your people, that we would come alive into the things of God. We'd come alive into friendship. We'd come alive into obedience. We'd come alive into abiding in you, Lord, I pray that you would bring breakthrough, that things would break even as I'm speaking, Lord, that you would come in on the word, Lord, that you would come in on the word God, that you would come in on the word, and Lord, that you would ride in on the word and the holy spirit, that you would break things in people's seats. And God, as people would even respond to you even as I'm speaking, that this would be a holy ghost encounter of love this morning. In Jesus name, amen. If you have your bibles there, if you could turn to John, chapter 15, that would be awesome. Verses one through 17, he says this. Jesus says, before I get into it, a little bit of context, this is most likely the night before Jesus death. They say that this is known as the upper room discourse or the farewell discourse. It was some important words that Jesus gave to his disciples before he was about to leave them. Now we know they weren't the last words Jesus ever gave on the earth because Jesus came back. And after he raised to life, he visited his disciples. We know that he visited at least 500 because 500 saw him go into the heavens. But who knows that when you leave someone, you give some pretty important words. You don't just give any words. Don't just give fickle words. Oh, hey, guys. See you soon. Like, if you're leaving someone, you. You give someone the best. You want to really leave a mark on them. And so these words, Jesus was leaving a mark on his disciples from John, chapter 14 to 17, what's known as the upper room or farewell discourse. And we're going to jump right into verse 15. He talks about many things. He talks about prayer. He talks about him leaving, dying, burial, death, burial, resurrection, that he was going to leave them. Talks about the Holy Spirit. He talks about persecution. He talks about many things. But in this passage, he talks about abiding. He talks about how to abide in the love of the Lord, how to abide in his love. So let's look at this. It says, this is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Sorry, I'm reading from the wrong part. Sorry. Excuse me. Verse one. Here we go. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch of me that does not bear fruit, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may become even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, and you are the branches, he who abides in me, and I in him. He bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Verse six. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words, abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you. Verse eight. By this my father is glorified, that you might bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. Just as the father has loved me, and I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commands, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that your joy, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is verse twelve. This is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do what I command, no longer do I call you slaves. For the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard from the father, I have made known to you, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And whatever you ask of the father in my name, he may give to you this. I command you that you love one another. I'm going to focus on verse one to eight for the beginning part where Jesus gives us analogy of him being the true vine and we being the branches. And he says that we are to abide in him, and as we abide in him, our lives. Bear fruit. What is fruit? I call fruit spiritual effectiveness, christian effectiveness, or christian success. What we're called to do, bear fruit. And he says if we abide in him, you will bear much fruit and he will even prune, prune things so that even more fruit will come. But he says, if you do not abide in me, then you will not see fruit. You can only see fruit if you abide in me. The word for abide literally means to be kept or to be present, to be held continually in God. To be present in God. That's the goal. Sometimes we can get so focused on actually trying to bear fruit that we actually miss the goal of intimacy with Jesus. The goal is not. The goal is not to bear fruit. In this passage. That's the outcome. The goal is to abide in the vine. The goal is to be in Jesus. The goal is to position ourselves close to the vine. And from that the byproduct is that there will be christian or spiritual effectiveness from your life. Randy Clark, Doctor Randy Clark is a great theologian, charismatic theologian. If you love going deep in the word and understanding what the scriptures say and also being open to the spirit, I'd encourage you to go there. He's got many books such as baptizing the Holy Spirit. It's incredible, incredible place, resource to really learn and go deep. And he comes across from many different perspectives, so you really understand what the word's saying. But he says that this passage, in terms of the fruit, he says that this fruit is the fruit of doing. And he says, galatians five is the fruit of being, you know, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. But this is the fruit of doing. But I would like to propose to you that you cannot have any fruit unless you be in him. So it's all being in him. It all comes from being in him. So whether we're seeing the mighty power, miracles, signs and wonders, seeing people give their lives to Jesus, seeing people repent and turn unto God, whether it's that or whether it's seeing the fruit and the character of Jesus in our life, none of it can come unless we abide in him. We must abide in him. And I wanna tell you, abiding is so much greater than striving. You can strive all you want in your own strength. And guess what? I'm going to bear fruit. Maybe it's a mango tree, maybe it's an apple. But no, if you're not in the vine, can't do it, you need to remain in the vine. And I learned something in my little journey in life. I was, as I said, I was a youth pastor leading youth ministry, and I prophesied to the mountain about seeing God move. And I was prophesying and prophesying and prophesying, believing God was going to move. We didn't see much movement of the Holy Spirit in our little youth ministry, little local church, maybe 2300 people. But all of a sudden, four years in, God broke in, totally broke in. We began to see people falling in the spirit. We began to see people laughing in the spirit like crazy. I'm talking like 40, 50 people in a meeting. I remember my wife was there. I remember just going in there and I was like, so for lack of a better term, intoxicated in the spirit. And I'd never ministered under that level of anointing before. Been preaching for four years, and then all of a sudden, I come and I'm like, whoa, God's here. Wow, this is amazing. And the people were getting delivered and people getting set free, and miracles are breaking out for the first time in our young people. And it lasted not just for one weekend, we stewarded it for about two years. And it was a beautiful, beautiful time. But what I realized after my travels was that I had a level of performance. I had a level where I was striving in my own strength to keep things going instead of just simply abiding in the vine. See, when I went overseas and I said no to some ministry opportunities, what began to happen is I did nothing except abide. I wasn't seeking to do, I was just seeking to be. And there were things that opened up and things that I got to do, but for 90% of it, I did nothing except learn about my king and dwell in him and live in him and learn to be close to him and connected to him. And I got to surrender the accolades of the ministry and I got to surrender, like always looking to the fruit and just being in him. And sometimes we as christians, we can look to the fruit, we can focus on the fruit. We can even get into comparison. We can even start to compare ourselves and look at our external circumstances and go, why am I seeing it? But this person's seen so much and this and that. But let me just say, you can surrender that and just live in a place of abiding. And I guarantee you, it's not a matter of if you will bear fruit, it's a matter of you will bear fruit. It's going to happen. You will be bearing fruit as you just abide in him. And in my journey, as I look back on those two years, it wasn't until I got out in that environment and just spent time with him that I realized, oh, I was trying to. I was trying to do things in my own strength in the secret place where I had this performance mentality where I would. I would even, like, try to have this. I'd have this guilty conscience. If I didn't spend enough time with the Lord, then God wouldn't move. And if I didn't read my word enough, then God wouldn't move. If I didn't spend enough hours preparing the word, then God wouldn't move. And I had this subtle performance complex in the secret place. It wasn't fully seen by others. But I realized it after my dad was a, he started a baptist theological college back in the day, and he used to say things like, oh, for every minute you preach, you just got to spend an hour in preparation. And we get taught that. Like, some people get taught that. And I'm like, that's. I'm like, I get it. I get the earnestness of that. But I also struggle with the performance, because if it just overflows from you, why, like, let that be? Let it come out of the overflow of your relationship and connection with God? Why do you have to try to work this thing up? It's like, no. The Holy Spirit is the one that teaches us what Jesus said. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us, the Holy Spirit. And we should have a love for him, just a love to abide. And from the abiding, it all begins to overflow. It all begins to come out. And I had this thing where I would try to be obedient and please him so that he would move. It's like I was twisting the arm of the Lord. I was like, oh, God, I'll do this if you do this. And I put this, this performance thing on my life, and God still honored it. My intentions were great. I wanted to see people encounter God and see him get all the glory. My intentions were pure, but it was still there. And it wasn't until I came out of that that I was like, wow, God, you're good. God, I can actually. There is a place where I can just be. I can just be with you. I don't have to worry about what it looks like. I don't have to worry about the fruit. I just gotta be abiding in you, remaining in you, being present in you. You see, because he's done everything. Jesus has done everything for us. Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. Jesus gave his life for you and for me. The perfect savior of the world, the son of God came and lived on this earth to identify with us, to empathize with us, to walk out this life of righteousness for us so that we could live with God. Suddenly we can get into this works mentality where we tried to earn it and we tried to strive for it, but it's all based on the grace of the Lord, that the wrath of God was taken, that our face was turned from being away from God to being turned toward him, all because he has made a way, the perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God slain for the sins of the world, all because of him. And I realized, oh, Lord, your love. I've received it freely. I've received it freely. I've just got to abide in that place. I just got to receive that place. Let me tell you, there's people in this room that are going to get a fresh revelation of his love this morning. I really believe. Listen, his love is not conceptual. It's not just theological. Theology should move to experience, and it needs to be something that we actually encounter. I remember the first time I was 18, when I really gave my life back to the Lord. I was living a life since 14, on drugs, partying, doing my own thing. Rebellious, but had great family, great christian parents, and knew all the things. Went to a reform dutch, reform school and knew all the theological answers. But when I was 18, I was living and I was empty and I was broken. I remember going into a church building and I, and I just sat there. And let me tell you, in the worship, I was aware of my sin, but I was more overcome with God's love. And it went from being this head, knowledge of I think God may be real and somewhere up there and kind of cares to, oh, he's so close. Oh, he's right here. He's made a way. Oh, the cross is not just a theory. It's not just, it's not just empty words. It's reality. It's life. It's true life. And everything began to change in that place. I just want to encourage you. If you in this place and you're like, hey, I need a fresh encounter of love. I'm not going to wait till the end of the sermon. You can just stand, you can respond however you want to because the holy spirit is here to, to minister. He's here. Thank you, Jesus. See? Yeah, it's good. I just invite you to come down. Come on down. The love of the Lord's going to meet with you. Come on down. Just focus on him. Holy spirit, we, we honor you. Holy spirit, this is your service. This is your time. And God, I thank you for being Beth. I thank you for a faithful one. Wow. God, I bless her, Lord, right now. I ask, holy spirit, that you will come and that the waves of liquid love would come upon her right now. The waves of love, that the reality of the cross, the reality of your love for her, that you would renew things, Lord, that she was so. Just receive. That's it. Just receive all you have to do. Call it your love time. Let your power come. Let your love come. Just move in. Your daughter, she so love God. What you've done what you've done. You've taken it all. You've taken it all. You've taken it all. And you're removing a spirit of heaviness. You're removing a spirit of heaviness. And there is lightness in her step. And there is grace coming to you. Oh, Lord, I thank you that she can just soak in your love this morning. Totally. Soak in the love of God. Fill her right now. I pray the fire of God come. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. Let it go deep. Let him go deep. Wow. Yep. He's taken. He's gonna come like a. Like a warm blanket just over you right now. He's gonna come. He's gonna come in this whole service. You're gonna be soaking in his love, this whole. You've already been in it. You've already been in it, but you're gonna soak in it even more. And you're gonna get lost in the Lord found in him. Hallelujah. Wow. Fire on it. Yep. More, God. More, God. See it. Just receive. Just receive. God, I thank you for fresh joy. Wow. Fresh joy over your daughter. Let it be a highlighted one in this season. God. This is just holding the highlight of the pen. God. Let it be a highlighted one. God. Give her great joy, Lord. And may it not just be her knocking on the doors. I feel like there's been seasons where you've had to knock on doors and you've had to see which door is going to open. But in this season, you're going to find that the doors are going to fling wide open for you. You won't have to even knock. You just begin to walk into the things that the Lord has prepared for you. There's going to be a grace on it. You're going to find grace in your steps. So, holy spirit, would you open the doors and would you anoint this one as a highlighted one? And, God, I pray for the love of the Lord to come right now and fill her body in Jesus name. Come more, God. Fresh joy for her. God, fresh joy. Yep. Just breathe him in. Breathe him in. He's here. Fire. Thank you, Lord. Bless him, Lord. Bless him, Lord. Let him know that he's safe in your arms. He's safe in your hand. I just declare to you that you're in his arms and not those times where you felt like you felt like you're out. Felt like. Wow. But, God, you're in his arms. He loves you so much. Well, you felt like you've had to hop around. I see you getting anchored in. I see you getting planted. I see you getting. Just setting your feet on solid ground, Jesus, Lord, I bless him, God. Fill him with your fire. I pray right now. Fill him with your power. Fill him with your love. Jesus name. Wow. So it's a place to not switch off from what he's doing. Anne. Actually, Ann, I. I saw you before, and I feel the heart of the Lord for you. I saw you like a gatekeeper. And I saw you, it was like. And we know Jesus is the gate, and we know that Jesus is the good shepherd. And the sheep come in and out of the fold. I see you being like a gatekeeper, being like a one that points to the way, one that just goes, hey, come this way. I see you been gathering people, and I see you pointing to the direction pointing. And in your prayers and intercession, it's like you keep careful watch over the sheep, and you keep careful watch over the church. And even when things come in, it's like they don't on your watch, because you have a strong spirit of conviction that you have this strong connection with the Lord, but you're like, no, I know righteousness, and I know what things aren't righteous. And I saw you almost, like, in this watchtower. The picture I got was, like, literally at an airport. It was like, literally in one of those towers, you high, and you were actually being part of the operations to welcome what's coming in and welcome what goes out. And I bless you to be, like an operation. A woman in the spirit. To be a woman that operates in the spirit, a woman that is welcome. A woman that says, not on my watch. And yes, come on in, Lord. Would you anoint her, God? Would you pour out the prophetic anointing on her, God, would you mark her with fire, God, would you call her higher, Lord, I pray, God, for encounters with you in the secret place, God, that you would totally mark her, totally set her ablaze. God, thank you, God, for your fire. Thank you for your love. Oh, thank you. That I just literally see like, a furnace over you, around you, like you're consumed in the fire of God right now, consumed in his love. Oh, Lord, increase it, God. Increase what you're doing, God, in Jesus name. And I saw you and this lady. I don't know your name, but I just feel like you guys would make a great team. I don't know, Joe. I feel like you guys would make a great team. I don't want to move past him. Oh, I feel his presence. I want to give you O Jesus, there's a way of glory in this room. Oh, thank you, God, for your ministering angels. God, thank you for your ministering spirit sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. I thank you, God, that you've already commanded them to be here in this room and they're coming to distribute gifts to your people. God, would you distribute things to your people right now? Lord, I thank you. I don't know if there's someone in this room that has like, a problems in their toes, like their left foot. When I put on my shoe this morning, my left foot had like, a sharp pain in my toe. If that's you, I just command the toe to be healed. Is anyone here that has a problem in their left foot or in their feet? Yeah, a couple. Okay. Lord, we just command healing over the feet. Over the toes. In Jesus name, Lord, let your power come, Lord, let your love come. God, we just commend healing to the feet, Lord, we thank you, God, that you love to heal and you love to reveal your love and lavish your love upon your children. So, Lord, even this little child, Lord, is not exempt from a miracle. This little child, actually, we're called to be like little children. We're called to be like this little child. This little child be an example. Oh, God, in its young age. Oh, Father, I thank you even for your whole family. Is it this little one? Another one? How old? Three. Let this little child, God, be an example to their family of how to enter the kingdom, God, and how to run and adventure and have so much fun in the things of God. Lord, I pray, God, that you would take this family on an adventure, Lord, that they would adventure in you, that they would adventure with you, God, that you would blow their mind as they lay their lives down for you afresh, that you would blow their minds and that this little child, Lord, the wonder of God will be seen through this little child. In Jesus name. I really believe that you're going to encounter the presence of God in your house, in your room when you're a little kid. Your little. Is it this boy? Yeah, a little boy. You're going to just have so much fun. There's like an old playfulness and an adventure on this child. He's called to be wild and you need to let him be wild. And you're going to, there's going to be an unlocking. It's going to be beautiful, bro. It's going to be beautiful for your whole family. But I want to give you a, I want to give you a couple of keys. That Jesus teaches in this passage because, whoo. I'm going to just find the verse because it's in my notes, but it's here somewhere. Haha. And verse nine and verse ten. Just as the father has loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. This is a key for us. There's actually a cost to grace. It's freely received through faith. Grace is free gift of salvation. It's freely received through grace. It's all by believing in the finished work of the cross. It's believing in who he is and what he's done. But there's a key here to actually remain in that grace, remain in that love, and that key is obedience. He says, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. There's been a thing that's come into the church which is like cheap grace. Oh, if God's already forgiven me, then I can do whatever I want. Like it's my life. Like I'm gonna be forgiven. Like, it's all good. Jesus, you just kinda come into the backseat of the car and like, hey, come on. It's like jesus is our hitchhiker. We go to pick him up, we're like, hey, Jesus, come on in. And he's like, sweet. And then we just put him in the backseat and it's like, cool. And we're like, jesus, so what should we do today? Oh, you want to go? Oh, no, I'll go here and I'll do this and I want to do that. And we actually stay still in control of our lives. But let me tell you, there is actually, that's actually not good doctrine. That's actually robbing the church of victory. That's robbing the church of divine enablement. That's robbing the church of abiding in the love of God, because he calls us to abide in his commandments and we abide into his love, and we abide by being obedient to his commands. Diedrich Bonhoeffer is a great theologian, like early nineties around the world war, I think two, maybe three one, not three, one or two. Jesus help us. But he was a great theologian and he wrote this thing all about costly grace. The idea that it does that, the sacrifice, to recognize the sacrifice of what Jesus made, the least we can do is to give our lives to him. Romans twelve talks about it, says, in view of God's mercy. Offer yourselves as living sacrifices, for this is holy, pleasing, and acceptable worship unto him, and do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then you'll be able to test the will of God, the perfect, acceptable will of the Lord. Something along those lines, Charles paraphrased toward the end, but it's beautiful. Like, that's. It's the least that we can do is actually be obedient and to give our lives to him. And it doesn't become a burden. It doesn't become this hard thing when you realize how great he is and how good a father he is, that he is a good shepherd, that he loves this. And it's like, oh, I get to. It doesn't become I have to anymore. It becomes, I get to actually give my life to you because it's the least I can do in response to the grace that I've received. It's the least I can do in response to, wow, Jesus, you gave everything to know me, and I want to be close to you. And so to be close to you, you've said that I got to obey your commandments, and I'll abide, I'll remain, I'll be in your love. And obedience to the Lord is not just a once off thing. It's not just like I say, yes. When I was 18 and I gave my life to the Lord, 18. Whoo. Said yes. Got the golden ticket. I'm on my way. Do whatever I want in this life, and I'll see you in heaven. No, it's actually a life to pick up our cross daily and follow him. Luke says. Luke. In the book of Luke, Gospel of Luke, he actually says that you had to pick. Jesus said, you have to pick up your cross daily and follow me. I remember when I, as I said a little bit before, when I was 18, I first came back to the Lord, and I became overwhelmed with God's love. And it was. It was a beautiful thing, but I had to go on a journey of saying yes and denying myself. And I remember one day I was in my room, and I was reading the word, and the word just came alive in me. It was the first time I can recall the word just going boom, like an arrow, like a sword to the heart, which the Bible talks about. Hebrews 412, I believe it is, mentions that somewhere around there about the word of God being like a sharp, double edged sword. I remember reading this verse, Matthew 1039, and it says, those who love their life will lose it. But those who lose their life for my sake will find it. And I remember when I read that and I was in my room and I just lived the last four years of my life all for myself, literally all for myself, did whatever I wanted for myself and I went, wow, this is not the way to life. This is not the way to live. There's actually a better way. And if I, if I lose die to myself and I die and I pick up the cross, this place of absolute surrender, and I pick up that cross and I say, God, I'm actually wanting to live for you, then that is where true life is found. Because Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. He's not just a way, he's not just a way of life. He is the way of life. He is the life. He's not just a way of life, he's the lifestyle. He's the only way to live. And in him is abundance of life. John 1010 sometimes we think, oh, God's gonna, God's gonna rob us of a good life. Like what? No, it's like you get to know him. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than abiding in the vine. He doesn't rob you of a good life, he wants to be your life. And when you realize that true life, true life is found in him, everything changes. It becomes a pleasure to serve God, it becomes a pleasure to draw near to him. It becomes a pleasure to give up everything and go overseas for two years because of a whisper of the Holy Spirit, a dream that I had. And we went and it was like, okay, I will go and I wouldn't change it for anything. Why? Because I'm following his voice, I'm abiding to his, I'm abiding in him. I'm following the voice of the Holy Spirit and the commands that he gives me. And it's a beautiful thing. Let me just tell you. It's not just a once off. Yes, it's a continual yes, it's a day in, day out, yes, and sometimes that's hard, but let me know when you're feeling faith less. He's faithful, but it's a continual decision. That's why it says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Because if it was just a golden ticket, I got a golden ticket, I can do whatever I want, don't have to work out anything sweet, but he wants relationship, he wants intimacy, he wants friends, not just servants, he wants friends. And to have him as a friend, we got to have him as lord, not just saviour. We've got to put him as lord and savior, and we'll become close with him and abide in his love. As you go down to verse twelve, he said, this is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down his life for his friends. Then he goes on another key, you are my friends if you do what I command. I mean, these guys have been walking with Jesus for three and a half years. They've been telling everything from the father, everything just flowing like they didn't live. And they're watching him. They're still a little bit confused at times, but they're watching him and they're learning from him. And then he goes on to say, hey, hey, just guess what? You're my friends. But isn't just that you're my friends. And full stop, he says, you are my friends if you do what I have commanded you. I mean, I want to get to the end of my life and I want to be known as a friend of God. I don't want to be looked back on my life and go, hey. When I was 18, I had a great encounter with God and it was awesome, and I've been doing it on my own ever since. But no, those moments lead to a burning fire of pursuit and passion, where we begin to chase after him and we begin to be continually filled with the spirit. I think, as Ephesians, I think it says, I don't want to be one that knew God back when and just did my own thing. I want to be one that listens, that tunes in, that's obedient and willing to go the extra mile with Jesus because he's worth it all. And 1314 years down the track, how long it's been, I wouldn't change it for anything. I actually want to grow in childlikeness. I want to become more hungry. In fact, I've got a greater fire than I have now, than I have when I first started, because it's not supposed to be this. Oh, hey, Jesus back seat. He got a whole new car for us. We actually got to jump in his car, the upgraded car, the way of life car, jump in with him and let him take the wheel. So maybe there's people in this room where you've actually been looking to your past. You found it hard to say that you're really close with the Lord in this season. Maybe you find it hard even to be obedient to him, to lay things down and follow his voice. Maybe you've got disappointment and you've like, oh, I've given some things a go, and I don't really know if I can trust him again. Well, let me tell you, he's a good and faithful father. He's so faithful. He's so good, he's so worthy, and you can trust him. And it might look different to the way that you thought it was going to look, but let me tell you, your obedience draws you to the vine. And when you're in the vine, your life will bear fruit. And not just fruit that comes and goes, but fruit that will last forever. It remains. The fruit remains as we remain, eternal fruit. Hallelujah. You know, for me, in my journey of coming here, it's been a really interesting journey, to be completely honest with you. It's been a challenging one because I came to Melbourne with certain expectations of what the calling, what it's going to look like, where we're going to go, what we're going to do, timeframes, things like that, of when the Lord was going to send us and do certain things. But I came here and. And it worked totally different. It was totally different. And I was like, okay, but thank the Lord that the Holy Spirit spoke to me. At the end of last year, I was at city location. If you've ever been, you can imagine it. And I was there, and I was laying down on the altar, and I was, like, laying down like this on the altar, and I was like, oh, I feel like I'm in a coffin. I thought, that's weird. And then the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, I'm gonna make you like a dead man next year. And I went, oh, okay, cool. So I started looking up, oh, what's it mean to be like a dead man? Oh, John the revelator, he has wild encounters with the Lord. Maybe I'm just gonna fall on my face and have these great experiences with Jesus and. And he's gonna reveal things to me in his word, and it's gonna be awesome. And I was like, that tick. That sounds good. But I, deep down knew that it was a place of surrender. It was a place of going, hey, the things that I have ideas of great things. God called things, but the how and the steps I had to die to. And it was really hard for me to die to things that I had a time frame on. I actually said, people said, oh, you know, I just want to encourage you be aware of disappointment over this next season. And I'm like, I rebuke that in Jesus name, but in the season, it was some of the most comforting words I could have received, and I wouldn't change it for anything. To be a obedient to the father is everything. It's everything. And I'm so grateful that I'm connected to him because it's not just about the external, it's about what he's doing on the inside. And I love that I get to be called a friend of God. I get to. I still have the posture of a servant. He's still Lord. But I love that we get to know what he's up to and what he's doing. He gets to reveal things to us because he can trust us, because we're his friends. Through obedience and through faith and through abiding in his love. Jesus. I'm gonna invite the worship team back up if I can. Jesus. I can't sing, but just enjoy. I really want to encourage you that the love of the Lord leads to transformation. The love of the Lord is everything. And having revelation of his love is what shaped and shifted me to be able to pursue and die to things and continually die to things in this season. And it's been a beautiful process. But if it wasn't for knowing his love, knowing that he's a good father, knowing that he's got it all in his hands, it'd be very challenging. So I really believe there's an invitation for north to actually lay themselves down again, to pick up their cross, to run with him, to become friends with him, to abide in the vine, not strive for the outward fruit, but just rest in him, but while picking up their cross. It's the great paradox, and I believe the love of the Lord and the fire of God is gonna come in this moment. So if you'd like to respond and you wanna lay yourself down again, you wanna say, God, hey, I've been a little bit cold. Maybe. Maybe you've been cold. Maybe you've been feeling a little bit off the Lord say, hey, would you come? There's an invitation for north. There's an invitation for north. Would you just come? Would you come? Would you come? If that's you, I'm literally inviting you to come down. If you're like, I want to respond to the invitation of friendship with God, of laying down my life and being one with him, to be connected to the vine, to bear fruit and to do what he wants, not what I want. I want you to come, and I don't want you to be slow about it, it might not be your comfort zone. Just come. Just come, Holy Spirit. The great news is that when he said, I'm going to go, he also said in John 16 seven that it's actually in your benefit that I go. He didn't just die on the cross and say, you're on your own. He died on the cross to put his very spirit on the inside of us, put his spirit upon us so that we can be with him and be effective. The word for the Holy Spirit in John 16 seven is the parakletos. It's a word that literally means the helper. He's the one who comes alongside. He literally comes. And as we yoke ourselves to Jesus, his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The yoke being like an oxen plow, where two oxen would walk together and they would put this machine around their necks and it would plow the ground in a straight line. It's a great picture of the yoking with Jesus, the ease of his burden being light and the ease of his yoke. But let me tell you, it's all by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It's not trying to do it in your own strength. It's not trying to understand all everything. It's just trying to yield. Some people give all their life to trying to understand, understand God in their mind, and yet they're dead because they're not obedient. We have to be in line with the spirit. Numenoth, there is an invitation for you to be in line with the spirit, to be in step with him, to allow him to come alongside and to yoke you to Jesus, to invite you to Jesus. So we're going to worship and we're going to pray, and I'm going to invite some of the ministry team to come and just lay hands on you with us. God's going to meet with you this morning. [00:45:24] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast, and we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or us simply missing the mark, entered the world and separated us from God. Romans 623 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he, Jesus, demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 316 says, for God so love the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus, that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus. The son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore with him. Today you can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord and we do that through a simple prayer. Follow along with me dear Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at Numa Church. Thanks for listening.