Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It. Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. MattheW 1016, welcome to the Gracehouse Podcast. Brian Phillips here with you today. Just want to talk about this verse and pray it, apply it to our hearts. I've always pulled strength from this passage. This is actually a passage where Jesus is like, if they called me Satan, they're going to call you Satan. You're not going to get treated any.
[00:00:28] Don't think that you're above the treatment they gave me. And I think in our first century, 21st century culture, Christianity can have this easy feel to it. This cheapening grace has been watered down. The standards of God have been watered down. And we think to be Christian means to not have problems, to not have to always have an answer.
[00:00:50] The things of God, the power of the Holy Spirit is not a magic wand. I mean, we're walking in a covenant with God, a covenant filled with power, covenant that he made, and he moves in his time, in his way, and he'll even let us surfer at times he wants to discipline us at times. I mean, there's all kinds of things that could be going on. But don't be surprised Christ is telling his followers, don't be surprised when the world absolutely hates you for following me. Don't be shocked when the world absolutely hates you. When your father and your mother turn on you. Don't be shocked. I mean, this is the teachings of Christ.
[00:01:25] Maybe if we shared more of this stuff, it would make Christianity feel a little more robust and it would make me actually want to rise to the occasion of actually following Christ and taking one on the chin form if I need to.
[00:01:36] And you're going know if you don't want to follow Christ and you think it's all silliness, which if you're looking at the church nowadays and you're trying to decide if you believe in, know it's a sad day for the church and we're watering things down. We're trying to attract people with the good news, and we're not bringing them and drawing them into responsibility.
[00:01:55] Jesus, just this passage that I'm giving you is a passage about responsibility and covenant.
[00:02:02] He says, I'm sending out like a sheep in the midst of wolves. And that's the truth. If you don't want to serve Christ, the enemy's already got you where he wants you. But as soon as you yield yourself and you humble yourself and you receive the power of his salvation, you get a target painted on your back that's why we need one another. That's why we need a band of brothers. You need at least one good friend that you can pray with and that they can know you. They can see past your walls.
[00:02:29] Sheep in the midst of wolves. I mean, think about that. There's no chance for a sheep to survive in the midst of wolves. So I've thought about this a lot, and while many years ago it hit me, I was like, man, for a sheep to make it in the midst of wolves, you would need to stay close to the shepherd.
[00:02:49] You would need to stay close because that shepherd has a rod and he has a staff and he knows how to use it and he's going to protect you.
[00:02:56] So I like that about the passage a lot because it talks about my relationship with God, my relationship with Christ.
[00:03:03] It talks about the intimacy I should be walking in, the closeness, the drawing near the actual disciplines, engaging those spiritual disciplines that lead me to the presence of God.
[00:03:15] And we want every man to go onto our app and click call to action and take the 212 goal. We're asking every man in grace Ops to read two chapters of the Bible every day and to pray for twelve minutes every single day. And it's going to be a goal that you'll hit. It's going to be a goal that you won't hit at times. It's going to be a goal that you'll be like, oh, that's nothing, man. I read five chapters today. I prayed an hour today.
[00:03:38] But the point is that we would engage God and gauge his heart to be a sheep in the midst of wolves. We got to know our Father to overcome the enemy that came against Jesus in the wilderness. We got to know the word.
[00:03:52] We got to know how to say, just like Christ did. It is written, Satan. Get away from me.
[00:03:59] I'm not living to excel in this world. I'm living to excel in the world to come. If I excel in this world, and I have favorite man, great.
[00:04:08] I want to use that favor and influence to expand the kingdom and advance God's great name and his power, his sovereignty.
[00:04:15] Then it goes on and says, be wise as serpents.
[00:04:20] There's a wisdom that a man is supposed to have. And when you draw near to Christ and you stay close to the shepherd, you're going to have wisdom in your life. You're going to have discernment.
[00:04:31] You'll be able to. Now, this is in the context. I don't want to take out the context in the context of persecution. It's in the context of people hating you for following Christ.
[00:04:43] So the Scripture, Jesus himself says, be wise, stay close to the shepherd. You're going to be like a sheep in the midst of the wolves. Apart when you're disconnected from Christ, is what he's saying. If you don't buy to me and I and you, if you disconnect in relationship with me, you're like a sheep in the midst of wolves. You're toast.
[00:05:02] You're like a sheep in the midst of wolves anyway. But you're close to the one who has power to comfort you, the power to protect you, the power to make sure you know. I mean, I think about this in the context of John the Baptist. I mean, John the Baptist was doubting. He baptizes Jesus and knows he's the son of the living God. And then he gets put in jail and he's getting ready to die. He sends his disciples. He's doubting. He's like, are you the Christ? And Jesus sends him a word back and says, the dead are raised, the sick are healed. And he says, I hope you don't lose faith on account of me. So what is he saying? He's saying, God's will for you, John, is you're going to get your head cut off.
[00:05:43] You're going to suffer persecution, because once we go through it, we'll realize it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be.
[00:05:55] But are you, as a man after God, are you willing to be persecuted for your faith?
[00:06:03] I mean, some of us cower just when someone makes fun of us or someone calls us a Bible thumper or whatever name. I mean, do. I've been called so many names. I've been serving Christ for 31 years now.
[00:06:22] I've seen a lot of persecution. I've also been an idiot at times. And what I thought was persecution was just because I was stupid and I deserve to be treated that way.
[00:06:32] Made some mistakes along the way. But be wise as a serpent, be harmless as a dove.
[00:06:40] We're supposed to walk with sensitivity.
[00:06:46] Wise as a serpent. Being discerning, understanding the times in which we live. Understanding that we're like sheep in the midst of wolves. We got to stay close, walking as a dove, like walking in innocence, sensitive to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
[00:07:07] And when we stay close to God, we can hear the voice of God. We can walk in that wisdom, and we can actually walk in a powerful innocence about ourselves.
[00:07:20] I think the greatest days of the kingdom of God are coming upon us even now.
[00:07:27] I really do. I think we're going to see the greatest gore and the greatest glory that the world has ever seen or known. I think we're going to see God oppose Satan and win. We're going to see Satan take territories and seem like he's winning in some ways.
[00:07:43] We're going to see souls come into the kingdom in powerful ways.
[00:07:50] So buckle up and don't be just looking at your retirement plans.
[00:07:56] There's wisdom in all that.
[00:07:59] But tune into the greater battle, the greater storyline of your life. So I just want to take a moment, pray with you. Pray through this one verse, Father. It starts off, let's just pray, Father. It says, behold, which feels like Jesus is like, hey, make sure this gets your attention. Hold on to this. Behold it.
[00:08:21] And thank you, Jesus, that you tell us the truth about following you, that it's going to be tough, even though the Church might not have prepared us for that. Or maybe people listening to this weren't attracted to you because of these, they weren't ready for this type of messaging or whatnot. But we thank you, Father, that you, Jesus, you yourself, you prepared your followers through your word.
[00:08:47] We thank you that you're our shepherd and that you know how to love us, discipline us, protect us, lead us and guide us down passive righteousness for your name's sake. And Father, today we just ask that you would help us to live like a sheep, help us to live close to you, help us to engage the disciplines, help us to encounter the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Father, we're asking for you for wisdom like a serpent, wisdom of toughness about ourselves, that we'd be tough and we'd be tender walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. So, Father, we ask that you bless us and keep us. Help us to be men and women who walk in covenant with you.
[00:09:24] Help us be men after your own heart.
[00:09:28] Help us to be better than we were yesterday because that's what grace does. It's training us to be better.
[00:09:34] Grace looks at us and says, I know you got more in you and I'm going to coach that part of you out. I'm going to get the best part of you out. That's why it trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self controlled, upright and godly lives. All right, God bless you. Live a powerful week. Until next time, live upright.
