Anthony Whitehorn - Class 3: Our Response

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   This is day three of the 2008 Idlewild Bible School. Our second period teacher is our brother Anthony Whitehorn. His general topic is a life worth living. Today's topic is a response. Brother Anthony. Well, good morning, brothers and sisters. Great stuff. Well, did you see on today's green Idlewild newsletter, did you see that? There was an English column.

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   I tell you, by the end of the week, we'll have a whole page. And by the end of the year, you'll be a colony.

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   Okay. I'm going to start off by telling you a story. It's a story about my son who's just sitting over there. And when he was about 15, I remember it quite vividly. There was a girl that he quite liked. And he's now going, really red. This is great. And they're all sitting around, and this girl was there.

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   And all of a sudden, James became really animated. He became really amusing. He became vibrant. And, you know, this is the guy who used to sit at the breakfast table all morose. And, you know, it was like a complete character transformation. And the reason, of course, that he had this transformation was because his whole demeanour was affected by somebody else.

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   And it had changed him completely. Let's now just think about, bear that in mind, let's think about what we've been doing so far. We started off by looking at our situation. And we thought about that whole idea that the cards eventually go back in the box. That life is only about getting ready to have that eternal relationship with our Father.

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   That's our situation. And then yesterday, we realised about our status. That previously, we were down here. We were down here with a death sentence. Literally. Living under God's righteous judgement. Now, what I used to think is I used to think that, yes, there was a state of grace. But actually, you only went into that state of grace at the judgement time.

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   But actually, you don't. Because it says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And therefore, it is now, in this lifetime, that we change our status. Not right at the very end, when we move into the state of grace. It is now that we are in that state of grace.

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   That we have moved from that state of God's wrath, now to the state of grace. It took me years and years to appreciate that now, because of my decision to believe and to trust in God's grace, that now I am in that state of grace. And really, now, the purpose of this session here, is because of our situation, and now I am living in a state of grace, what should my response to be, now that I am up here, that I am here in this state of grace?

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   I believe that there are a couple of moves that happen. Firstly, there is my, attitude. And, there is another point as well, and that is, because of my response to living in this state of grace, it is my actions. So we are now, having decided that we want to live with God forever, and recognising that his grace is sufficient, that we are living in this state of grace, that all of us in this room here, having made that decision, have those two situations, that we now must look at our attitude as a response to what God has done for us, and also, some actions that we should take as well.

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    Now, the actions is really what we are going to talk about tomorrow, because that is our responsibilities. What I want to talk about today is very much that whole idea of our response. Now, I believe that we can respond to living in this state of grace in one of three ways. And I liken it, in terms of our attitude, I liken it to this.

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    We can actually either be a stone, be an egg, or be a piece of clay. What do I mean by that? Well, it's, it's like a hammer hitting each of those elements. The stone, the egg, or the clay. I must tell you a story, actually, about this. I, um, we had an evening meeting at Maidenhead, and, uh, we had a fair few people there, and we had, uh, an interested friend, who was sitting on the front row.

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    And I wanted to try and explain, as to, you know, what the Lord Jesus Christ does to people. And I said, you know, it's very much like having a stone, an egg, and, uh, a piece of clay. And I had them all there in front of me. I said, and the effect that Jesus has on you is like a hammer.

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    I said, it's a bit like, you know, yes, you could be like this egg. I picked up this egg, which was in a bag. In a, a plastic bag. And I went, and, you know, it could be like this. And I hit the egg, in the plastic bag, really hard. Yes, the egg broke, but so did the bag.

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    There was this interested friend sitting right there, who was absolutely covered in egg. What a disaster. After we'd cleaned him up, I then said, okay, we could be like that. But actually, that's not a particular, we could be like a piece of stone. I then got the hammer, and I hit the stone.

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    The terrible thing was, is the stone broke. So, there's just one of those things whereby things just went wrong. And, of course, therefore, there's the piece of clay. And, what I want to try and explain here is, what is our attitude to the effect of this state of grace? What is the effect of the Lord Jesus Christ on us, today, in our daily lives?

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    I tell you now, it isn't like an egg. An egg just shatters. And actually, you wouldn't be here today if you were an egg.

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    So, really, what we're saying is that the effect of the Lord Jesus Christ on our lives, this living in this state of grace, is one of two states. It is either, your attitude and my attitude can either be like a stone or it can be like a piece of clay. So, let's start then by thinking about it being like a stone.

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    Now, when we think about Adam at the very beginning, we know what happened. He'd taken of the fruit and then he went and hid. And he hid because he was afraid. Why? Why was he afraid? Just think about it if it was you and me. We're taking of that fruit and we go and hide.

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    We hide because we're afraid. Why? Well, because I've done wrong and because I have disobeyed God. Wrong. Let's have a look. Genesis chapter 3.

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    Genesis chapter 3. And, of course, isn't it lovely how God comes round and he says, where are you? Where are you? He knew exactly where he was but he wanted Adam to confess where he was.

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    And then, in verse 10, Adam says, after God had said, where are you? He answered, I heard you in the garden and I was afraid. And why was he afraid? Because I was naked. So I hid. How strange. How really strange. He was naked and that's why he hid. Now, that Hebrew word there is the word arum, A-R-U-M.

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    And it literally means to make bear. And it appears just a couple of other times in the scriptures. One of the times is when it talks about making Edom bear. exactly the same word. What does that mean when it was making Edom bear? Well, it was talking about to disarm Edom. To making Edom vulnerable.

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    So, perhaps an interesting way of looking at this here is I heard you in the garden I was afraid because I was vulnerable. vulnerable.

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    And I find that in itself really interesting. He hid because he was vulnerable. That's you and me. We don't like being vulnerable, do we? We don't like being unsure. We like to be absolutely sure of many, many things. We don't like it and we don't like it when someone asks us something. We are very reticent to say well actually I don't know.

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    We like to say well this is what I think. I put it to you therefore that I'm certainly one of these people. I have a tendency therefore to to have that that closed mind. I love to have all the answers.

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    And I would suggest that sometimes our community is a bit like that. that we absolutely right, we set ourselves apart on our beliefs and that's a good thing. And we should have convictions about what we believe. That is absolutely right. John writes and he says that everyone who cares for truth and has feeling for truth hears my voice.

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    So that is good. If any of you have read it's a great book by Brother Dennis Gillett and the book is The Genius of Discipleship. There is an entire chapter on conviction and the importance of conviction. However, there is as well a little bit of a tendency when we have conviction to also be closed minded.

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    closed and we have to be really careful of that. And perhaps we ask ourselves is it okay to be closed minded? The answer is no. You see the Pharisees they were like a stone.

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    Their impression of what the Messiah should be made made them blind to what he actually was. Now, I sometimes look at the Pharisees and in a strange sort of way I sort of have a bit of sympathy with them because actually they weren't really bad people they were just humans. They had lots and lots of human tendencies.

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    they had studied the scriptures in good faith but actually they had become very rigid in their thoughts and their minds. And then when Jesus appeared and it didn't seem to be what they thought that the scriptures said. They said that's not him then.

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    And I have that tendency. I like to put things in boxes and go yep that's it that's fine I really understand that right that that's sorted now let me go and sort this one over here.

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    That's not healthy. And I know that because I think this when I'm sitting in the audience I say that's just what brother so and so is like. He's just like that. He's so stuck in the mud. He won't open his mind to some of the thoughts that I've got.

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    And you know the old situation when there's one finger pointing at him there's three pointing back at me. And that's the challenge that we have. That's human tendency. That's what Adam was all about. He didn't like being vulnerable. I didn't like being vulnerable. I don't like it when someone asks me and I say I don't know.

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    I like to be sure. We as a community absolutely like to be sure. We as human beings like to be sure. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have conviction. We have to be extremely careful though, not to be like a stone and have that closed mind. mind. And that's the challenge that I put to you and me.

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    That living in this state of grace does not at all mean closed mindedness. It means something completely different. It's not being a stone, it's being that piece of clay. That's what we should do. And that is now really, really unnatural. natural. I've heard people talk about this before, I'm like a piece of clay, of course I am.

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    I'm not. It's not how I naturally am. The challenge is for you and me to be like that piece of clay. Let's look at Jeremiah. It's Jeremiah and it's chapter 18.

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    I'm going to read the first nine verses. It's from the NIV. So follow it if you can please. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Go down to the potter's house and there I will give you my message. So I went down to the potter's house and I saw him working at the wheel.

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    But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands. So the potter formed it into another pot. shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does, declares the Lord, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

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    If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned represent repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a national kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

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    There are three things you know that was required here. And the three things in this passage is obviously one, a potter, the master craftsman. Secondly, was the wheel, that was the conduit which enabled that craftsman to use his craft. And thirdly of course was the clay, the malleable material. So in our lives, when we read this, what does that mean?

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    Well it obviously means that the master craftsman is the Lord. That is him. He works. We realised that from Romans yesterday. That in all things God works for good. And then that is that conduit, that wheel, when he's working, that is how he is moulding us. He is using circumstances in life. He is using, yes, the scriptures and he is using other people.

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    24-7 he is spinning that wheel. But it's only going to work if the clay is malleable. how malleable are you and I? Ephesians 2 talks about that we are his workmanship. That word in Greek is the word poema and it literally means works of art. God looks at each one of us here today and he says I'm working you.

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    I'm working you brother Dick. This is me working you here constantly working you and you are my work of art but I says God can only work you if you allow me.

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    I love that verse 4 but the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands so the potter formed it into another pot shaping it as seemed best to him not best to the pot as seemed best to him do you know right next to the potter's house there was always a potter's field and the purpose of that potter's field was this as the potter was making his pot gradually what would happen is that the clay would become hard and it would become unmalleable and if it wasn't exactly as the potter wanted he would discard it and what he would do there was always a window from the potter's house into the potter's field he would take that clay and he would throw it out into the potter's field and that's where the discarded pieces of clay remained so where do we read about the potter's field you know it that was Judas's blood money so perhaps just perhaps that's a lovely little link there isn't it perhaps those people perhaps you and I who don't conform who don't conform to the potter are synonymous with betraying Jesus because that's where we're discarded so as a response to what has been done for us in other words setting up this state of grace and we now living in this state of grace what should be our state what should we be our attitude we should not have set minds but we should have a mind set we should allow the potter to mould us and it's very difficult I find it really hard to have that that conviction without being close-minded now

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    let me take a little example what I would like this side of the room to do here please including you people at the back right outside I want you all now to close your eyes keep them closed these people who keep their eyes open just look at the screen now these people on the left hand side all of you keep your eyes closed on the right hand side the left side here you shut your eyes okay now the left hand these other people who had their eyes closed originally you open up your eyes and look at the screen okay excellent and now then everybody open their eyes okay you here over here what did you guys see rectangle what do you guys see circle let me tell you you both saw exactly the same thing are you sure you saw a rectangle yeah yeah well that's that's really that's just flaky that's not that's not even molding you sure you saw a rectangle yeah are you sure you saw a circle you get into a really heated debate here can you because I tell you now you saw exactly the same thing I promise you you saw the same thing you now this now is making you feel a bit more fervent about what you saw you now becoming a little bit more entrenched about what you saw you guys are more certain that you saw a circle you guys are more certain that you saw a rectangle and in a strange sort of way you're !

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    becoming a bit ! aggressive towards these people over here you're both becoming aggressive towards me because you're saying definitely they weren't the same let me tell you they were and I'll show you why they were the same this actually is what you saw you just saw it from different angles some you saw it from the front some you saw it from the side but the thing is is that we're so convinced as to what we saw that only we could be right just take a look at this and immediately you've seen it before I'm sure what's the first thing that you see do you see put your hands up first of all if when you see it immediately that you saw the young lady !

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    Ah! And how many saw the old lady first of all Ah! Okay! And you can now see both of them you can see the old and the young lady okay if you just can't see the old lady the old lady if you look at old I can't do it now in the middle there is her eye and that's her nose now perhaps you can see the old now you can see it okay and a chin that's right okay they're there isn't it?

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    so they're both there I'm going to move on because you're going to be looking at for a long time I can see it okay you can see it let me go back to another one shall we right let's go back to that the thing is is that what God does is I believe he provides us with the direction that's what the New Testament is all about isn't it he gives us the direction what he doesn't do is he doesn't say follow these particular footsteps that's why we're all so different and that's why we look at each other and we learn from each other the thing is is that I think that we actually as Christians get a lot of negative press because certainly in the UK I don't know whether it's quite so true in the US but a lot of people who are non Christians will say to the Christians the trouble with you guys is that you're just robots you don't think for yourself because someone just stands up and tells you what to believe the great thing about our community is that we're not like that or we shouldn't be like that because we have different perspectives we have some people talking about a circle some people talking about an oblong and because of that we see a tube we should therefore encourage lots and lots of different perspectives because it enables us to see the picture more clearly and I believe that that is God moulding us that is him working the wheel with his hands changing us continually that is why as I said on Sunday at the exhortation why

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    I believe that Jesus chose Matthew the tax collector and Simon the zealot you couldn't have two different people because he wanted a combination of people you see I would suggest that we have two responsibilities as Christians on this earth when we're here living in this state of grace there are just two responsibilities I like to be simple here they are the first one is we should be stewards and we're going to be talking a lot about that in the next two days we have a role of stewardship and the other the other role is one of transformers that as stewards we should preserve certain things that we have been given and as transformers we should change certain things that we have been given but we can only transform if we have a mindset set not a set mind and we don't like it we don't like change I know some of you at the Palm Springs Bible school I'm not going to do transformation here really at all and that's what that was all about I talked about being transformed that is an obligation that we have we absolutely have to change if we haven't changed then we are not fulfilling the purpose for which we were made and we don't like it there's a friend of mine who's actually a Baptist and I thought this is interesting how similar this is and he tells the story about the light bulb and he says at our church we say how many Baptists would it take to change a light bulb change and I'm thinking yeah I have some feeling about that as well and then

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    he said how many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb it takes ten one to change the light bulb and nine to say how good the old light bulb looked we don't like change we're not good at it we like to be sure we actually like to have a set mind but here is Jesus and God poking us and challenging us and saying you're in this state of grace right I'm going to change you the disciples didn't like it either we're going to look at Matthew chapter 15 Matthew chapter 15 and verse 21 down to 28 this is the situation about the faith of the Canaanite woman leaving that place Jesus withdrew to the region of Tar and Sidon and a Canaanite woman from the vicinity came to him crying out Lord son of David have mercy on me my daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession Jesus didn't answer a word so his disciples came to him and urged him send her away for she keeps crying after us he answered I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel and the woman came and knelt before him Lord help me she said he replied it's not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs yes Lord she said but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table then Jesus answered woman you have great faith your request is granted and her daughter was healed from that very hour very unusual for Jesus to be up north in the area of Tyre and Sidon really wouldn't have gone there the Jews didn't go up

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    to Tyre and Sidon at all at many times but here is this woman who approaches him and calls him Lord and that is the word kuneos which is master and it's a figure of reference and of course she calls him son of David she understood exactly his situation and her daughter has got epilepsy and what does Jesus do he ignores her here is Jesus who ignores this woman how strange throughout the scriptures you don't see that do you when people cry out to Jesus Jesus doesn't ignore them he goes to them why is he doing that is he testing the woman or is he testing the disciples she's disturbing us they say we want some R&R and Jesus in verse 24 confirms confirms their set mind mind he answered I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel absolutely absolutely the disciples would have said told you we are the chosen people that's what all the scriptures says beforehand we're the chosen people therefore the Lord has come only to us and Jesus confirms that but it seems to me like Jesus was poking his disciples because there was this persistence of a woman of a woman for her ill child now we don't actually know as to whether any of the disciples had children but I suggest that some of them might have done and they would have seen this woman pleading for her child who had epilepsy why why did Jesus allow that Jesus is not vindictive everywhere else whenever somebody pleads Jesus responds but not on this occasion therefore I would suggest it is not for the sake of the woman

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    it is for the sake of his disciples his followers and this woman was feisty was passionate and here is Jesus trying to challenge his disciples saying you've read your scriptures I know you have and you lot believe that I've come only for the chosen people let me show you now I'm going to challenge your set mind and the faith and the love overcame that set mind and Jesus healed this woman this is I would suggest all about a an attitude of stone on the part of the disciples when you look at Jonah Jonah was visited and God said go to the Assyrians and say the Assyrians are going to be annihilated you would have thought Jonah said I'm there we hate the Assyrians he said no I'm not going to do that why we read about in Jonah chapter four that Jonah knew about God's grace and that the Assyrians would repent and God would save the Assyrians so Jonah said there is no way I am going to the Assyrians to allow your grace God to be poured out on non chosen people that's what the book of Jonah was about it was a man who had a complete set mind he believed that God should only work and show his grace to the chosen people just a little aside isn't it lovely how it is Simon bar Jonah Simon son of Jonah who was at Joppa where Jonah was when he was visited by the dream of all the unclean and that of course was God saying to Simon son of Jonah that actually my grace extends to everybody perhaps that's a lovely

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    little link between the two and that's the answer because the book of Jonah almost doesn't finish because Jonah doesn't learn the lesson of the difference between a set mind and a mindset so brethren and sisters what response should we have to what has been done for us well yeah we should be stewards but we should absolutely be transformers we should absolutely change you know how it is when you're growing up your dad says lots of things doesn't he doesn't he and it's tedious he has all those pet phrases my dad had lots of pet phrases what I've noticed actually as I've got older so my dad has got wiser because one of the phrases that he used to say to me was it's not how far you've got that's important it's how far you've come that's important and if we recognise that we are now living in a state of grace we have a responsibility to change our attitude and our attitude must absolutely be allowing God to work dramatically in our lives if we think we can do it we just become like hard pieces of clay if we say actually I can't do this God I need you to work in my life all of a sudden my life becomes hugely interesting because I'm allowing him to work actively day by day through his spirit in my life the love that has been shown to us demands a response absolutely demands a response we can have a set mind we can be like stone and actually we could be and have a mindset and be like clay the thing is is that with

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    a set mind being like stone that's like the whoa no no stop let's go back where are we hang on hang on hang on hang on we need to come back here oh here we are there we go so the Pharisees had a set mind that's the natural state as well but that's the human way that's you and me that's where we are we have this attitude of wanting to know the answers however we are challenged here today and throughout our lives to have a mindset to have a mind which is like clay and in doing so we are followers of Christ continually being molded by God every part of our life and if we accept that and recognize that that works in two ways one it works in first of all our attitude and once we have that attitude of being molded then it works in our actions and we're going to be talking about the things that we should be doing in the next two talks but today we must make sure that our attitude is correct and our attitude is being like that piece of clay which God can mold and if we realize that boy is our life dynamic in fact our life really becomes a life worth living and to do and to the way to the way the !