Markers of Maturity - The 'Little Foxes' of Compromise

 Series: Markers of Maturity

This week Pastor Judith warned us to be on our guard against the little things that can lead us away from fully trusting and following God - and gave us some helpful pointers to help us. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

How is everybody? Yeah. Um, so we're continuing in our series called Markers of Maturity. Um, Matt spoke last week on self-control. And this week I am continuing in that series, but I wouldn't say that I'm preaching on a specific marker of maturity. I've broken the rules a little bit. It gets a touch. Um I'm speaking on something that can get in the way of us maturing as Christians. So something that can actually be a hindrance, which in a sense then leads us to maturity, right? Because we grow through some of those most difficult things. Um so this morning I'm speaking on the little foxes of compromise. Hmm, I know we can all just leave now. And it is it's quite a tricky one to that, you know, as I've been preparing to bring this today, it's really like I've had to look at my life and search my heart and be like, oh okay. Thanks, Lord, for revealing some of those little areas in my life where actually there are some changes to be made. So when I'm speaking today and preaching and God's speaking to us, it's not just to you, it's to me also. Let me read to you from Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 15. It says, Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. And I know that this book of the Bible, um, it's an interesting book, isn't it? Um, there's a lot of imagery in there, a lot of metaphors, and ultimately eight chapters of ancient Israelite, um losing my words there, ancient Israelite love poetry. And it's a book that highlights this beautiful, loving, intimate relationship between a man and a woman. But I think there are definitely parts of that book that we can look at and I guess take wisdom from them when it comes to our relationships with each other, but also our relationship with the Lord, and that's kind of what I'm going to talk about today, if that's okay, because I don't know about you, but when it comes to my relationship with Jesus, I want it to grow, I want to mature, I want it to blossom. And you know, this is not about you know coming in strong and being like, this is terrible, this is terrible, this is terrible, but it's actually just it's about protecting our relationship with God, and we value that, right? We protect what we value. So that's kind of where I'm gonna come at it from today. So shall we pray before we start? Awesome, Lord Jesus. We thank you, we thank you so much for the relationship that we get to have with you. We're so grateful, Lord, that we don't have to walk through life on our own anymore. But we get to walk step in step with you. Lord, I thank you that you care about our growth. You care about our relationships. So, Lord, I pray today that you would speak to us individually, but that Holy Spirit would just shine a light on those areas of our life that are holding us back from walking in total fullness with you, Lord. We thank you for your grace and your mercy in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Terence. So, um, as Annabelle mentioned earlier, a bunch of us um spent some time together yesterday to celebrate Annabelle's birthday. And we were talking about, remember when not all everyone in the room will remember this, but you know when you used to tape songs off the radio? Did you ever used to do that? So every Sunday night in the top 40 was on, and you'd be like sitting there, and then your favourite song would come on and you'd run, press, play, and pause together. That would record, right? And then you'd try and stop it before the who did that? Yeah, that was the best. But then, right, eventually, CDs got popular. Get CDs? So, my first ever CD, my dad bought me. Now that's what I call music 1994. Really good, really good one, right? But it was like two discs, right? So you'd have like one disc on one side and then you'd flip it open, there'd be another one. So my dad, right, was like ridiculous about how he looked after his CDs, because he loves music. So you'd have them all colour-coded, like in alphabetical order, like, and if you take a C D out the case, it goes back in the case and back in it where it goes. That's not me. Sorry, like I am shocking, right? So I remember got this first CD. My dad would say, When you get it, you always put it back, always. So at first, I was really obedient, I really looked after this CD. I thought we was great. Um, but then like over time, you know, as you want to change from C D1 to C D two. One time I went, Oh, I'll be putting it back on in a minute and just kind of left it on the top of the ghetto blaster, really showing my age now, right? You do. And like you do it, and then you think, oh, that's fine, and like doesn't matter, does it? So I'd end up with this collection of CDs, and none of them would be in the boxes, right? And my dad would try and warn me, and like you get away with it for a while until this happens. And that sound, do you remember that sound? And I just knew when that started, my dad was gonna run up the stairs and be like, I'm told it, you haven't put them away. And I'm like trying to scroll up the back of the CD, and he'd come up and he'd flip it over and the scratches that would be round. I was like, Oh, isn't that like such an example of where we can do little things and it's fine, but then after time, you have to face the consequences of it. I said to Jess at the start, she was asking me, When should I play that clip? I said, Have you have you heard the sound of a C D scratching before? No. So some of you have never experienced that, the younger people, so there you go. Um but yeah, there were certain things, right, where we can get away with it until we can't. And at first, when I first didn't put the C D away, I knew I was being a little bit disobedient. Like I knew, I was like, oh, I shouldn't, I should really, really put it back. But then over time, it just gets a bit more blurry, it's not as much of a big issue, and soon it just became normal and harmless. But the damage happened quite slowly. Have you ever had life situations like that? Oh, you know where I'm going today, don't you? Little compromises, little temptations, little things that we think, ah, that's fine. It's not a big deal, like that's not gonna cause any problems, it's fine, it's not a big deal. And then one day you're like, how have I ended up here? Have anyone else or just me had those situations? It's like, you know, when you've learned to drive, and then you have those moments when you get in the car and all of a sudden you've you're at work and you're like, it's just being on autopilot. You know, these are really little things because we often think, oh well, I I'm not doing this and I'm not doing that. You know, the the big sins, but actually the little things that we don't really think about, like the little distractions, the little things that cause us to compromise, those are the things that we need to watch out for as well. Those little foxes. Okay, foxes are cute, right? Yeah, I've got some pictures of foxes that would get interactive today. Is that cute? I love foxes, I think they're really beautiful animals. What about the next one? Oh foxes are cute, adorable little animals, but they can also cause absolute havoc in your garden. Um I'm I'm I mean, I'm fine. Like a fox can come into my garden, like literally, literal garden, and uh make some damage, but they can dig up your borders, your plants, destroy them, leave droppings, spread disease, eat your chickens, eat your chickens. Um, and in ancient vineyards, foxes were known to sneak in and nibble at the tender grapes and the tender vines. So, you know, those flowers that were almost just about to ripen, so they were in the early stages of growth. And the little foxes in our lives, those subtle compromises, in the same way, can slowly eat away at the fruit God wants to cultivate in us. Because God wants us to be fruitful, right? Like He calls us to be fruitful. I'm going to read to you again something you'll a verse you've heard so many times, John 15, 5 to 8. It says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is too my father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. So it's for his glory, for his glory that we bear much fruit, that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, that those are the things that would grow in us and out of us. In Colossians 1, verse 9 to 10, and Paul's writing to the believers, the Colossean says, So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honour and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit, all the while you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. So God wants us to be fruitful, doesn't he? And if we're going to be fruitful, if we are gonna produce fruit, then we have to deal with the little foxes because the little foxes are after it. They are sly, they like to come out in the dark, they like to creep in when we're not looking through the small gaps, the sneaky foxes. We've heard that phrase, haven't we? Sly as a fox. And they can be really easy to miss. It's easier to stay away from the obvious stuff that isn't really great for us, but the little foxes are trickier. You know, I think back to Eve in the garden in Genesis. It's not this big prowling lion and roaring lion that comes into the garden, but a crafty, a crafty serpent. It's like, did did God really say that you're not meant to eat from that tree? Is that what he really said? And try to twist that little bit of truth. I think of Judas, Iscariot, eventually like trading Jesus in for 30 pieces of silver. But if we read like earlier on in the scriptures, it tells you that he actually would help himself to the money bag and that you know, as he looked after the money, he would take a bit for himself. When Mary poured the nard on the feet of Jesus, I think in that moment we see a little bit of evidence of that erosion in his heart. Um, he complains, doesn't he, about the financial wastefulness. I'm gonna read it to you actually from this bit here. In fact, I'm gonna read Matthew 26, 14 to 15. It says, Then one of the twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you? So they counted for him 30 pieces of silver. And you know, he didn't start off, did he? Judas didn't start off like portraying him in that way. There was little things, little things where we let his heart go unchecked. And we see that erosion of his character bit by bit. And I think Jesus spent all night praying for who his disciples were going to be. But actually, we see that development over time. I don't think Judas set out to betray Jesus in the beginning. There's so many more examples of people in scripture of little foxes creeping in and destroying destinies, destroying plans. So, as followers of Christ, can we address those pesky foxes in our own vineyard? Whether it's those little things like, oh, I'm I'm I've got so much to do, so I'm gonna spend my time with the Lord a bit later, or I'm gonna pray a bit later, so it's fine, like, but then that doesn't happen, and then that can roll into the next day, can't it? You know, those little things little white lies that we might tell to make our story sound better, that's fine, it's fine, it's not gonna hurt anyone. You know, those little voices they creep in slowly and take our attention off. Oh god. So, who's with me? Who wants to look at some practical steps on how we deal with the little foxes? Wow, that goes fast, doesn't it? Right, okay, point number one. If we want to catch the foxes, we need to know what they are. So the first step is to identify the foxes in the first place. We can't catch what we can't see, especially a fox that might go quietly harder to see. We need to examine ourselves, don't we? We need to check in with ourselves and search ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13 5. I'm going to read it in the Amplified Classic, and Paul's writing to the Corinthians as he's preparing to visit them for the third time. He says, examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves, not Christ. Do you not yourselves realize and know thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are counterfeits, disapproved on trial and rejected. I'm going to move swiftly on to David and what he writes in this Psalms. Psalm 139, 23 to 24. Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there's any wicked or hurtful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. So I don't know, some of you may have already started to think about or identify some of those little foxes in your lives right now. Maybe the Holy Spirit has already been revealing those things to you. Some of us may need to go away and sit with Jesus. Search me, oh God. See if there's any offensive way in me, like shine a light on what I need to deal with. And he's not revealing this stuff to shame us. It's not to shame us or to judge us, but to heal us. Let's remember that. He wants to heal us, to protect what's growing and the harvest he's preparing. I've noticed personally, I know that when I start to justify things, it's often the sign that there's a fox present. Oh, it's fine, it's not a big deal. I can handle it. So-and-so does it, so like if they do it, it's fine. Oh just once, just one more time. There are people who do much worse than this, so it's fine. It's not really that bad. Oh, and I know that if my language starts to go there, I'm like, mm-mm, there's something that I'm compromising on. That defensiveness can't, it can indicate the presence of a fox. Remember like Judas, but this money could have been given to the poor. That's not why he was bothered about the money. And we can kind of twist it, can't we? And and make it about something else. I will say, when we're looking and trying to identify a fox, not everything is a fox. What does God do when we bear fruit? When we produce loads of fruit? He prunes us. Thanks, Lord. He prunes us. John 15, 1 to 2, I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes. So that it will be even more fruitful. So he double prunes us. He cuts off the branches that don't produce fruit and he cuts off the branches that do. So it's our ongoing journey, right? So sometimes what we can think is a fox causing damage is sometimes the Lord pruning us, isn't it? So again, that's why we've got to examine ourselves and not blame everything on the enemy, not blame everything like, oh, I'm under this attack. It's not always that. Sometimes we have to really tune in at what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our lives. We have to distinguish is this a fox I need to catch, or is it a pruning I need to submit to? Alright, point number two. Point number two, catch the foxes. You're still with me.

unknown 18:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Right, catch the foxes. So foxes are sometimes gonna get into your vineyard. They definitely sleep into my vineyard. And when God is high when God highlights those things and how you know brings them to light, and we've identified them, we then have a responsibility to deal with them. We need to take action. So the word for catch here means to seize or to grasp, take hold of the foxes. So how do we do that? Do you want to know? Romans 8, 12 to 13 says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. We need to put to death the misdeeds of the body, and that's hard, isn't it? That is hard. And I want you to notice here that the Holy Spirit is our strength and helper. It doesn't say that the spirit will put to death the misdeeds of the body. It says, by the spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body. Right? So we need to tune into his strength. We can't do it apart from him. It's by the Holy Spirit that we do that. And what does that look like? It's different, right? It's not always an instant thing. But it starts with, Lord, you've revealed to me, I recognize there's a fox here. I need your help to get rid of this. I need your help to deal with this situation. Sometimes catching the fox is making that hard decision, isn't it? Like saying no to the really tempting business deal that you just know is not right. Or deleting the app that you know is just not helpful for you in this season. You know, putting to death the misdeeds of the body, it's not a one-time event, it's a daily walk with the Lord. And you know, I want you to remember that we we do this from a place of victory. All right, the enemy's already defeated, the victory's already won. Like we have to remember that we're not doing this to try and win a battle that hasn't finished yet. We're doing it in the strength of the one who is victorious. Another way we can catch the foxes, confession. Both to God and to another person, breaking the secrecy because things, especially foxes that creep in the dark and things like to thrive in the dark. But when we bring them into the light, things change. 1 John verse 1 to 9 says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. In terms of confessing to each other, James 5, 16 says, Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Say the moment that you grab a friend, it's really hard, isn't it? It's really hard. And you sit them down and you say, Oh, I'm struggling. That takes so much, so much vulnerability. And actually, as I bring this message to a close soon, I am gonna share a little bit of a personal story about where I had to walk through that. Um, because I think it's important to share actually how God can redeem those situations. So share with somebody, be courageous and let's be the people, right? Who when when we're approached and someone shares like what they're going through, can we can we just be so graceful and trustworthy and hold that, hold that trust between each other and and you know we're meant to walk those things through together. All right, point number three guard the vineyard. All right, so we've got to identify the foxes. We've got to catch the foxes and put them to death, but we've also got to guard the vineyard. We need to catch the ones that get in, but also keep watch so that we can stop them getting in before they slip through the cracks. And as we mature, we get a bit better at that. And then there's something else, and then there's something else. 1 Peter 5.8 in the Amplified Version says, be sober, well balanced and self-disciplined. Be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, fiercely hungry, seeking someone to devour. We need to keep watch, don't we? Be on guard. Not out of fear. We're not called to live anxiously and be scared, but actually guard because we value what God is growing. It's not about obsessing over sin and being really paranoid that oh, I'm just not doing anything right. But it's staying close to the Holy Spirit and living sensitively. Does that make sense? So I like to describe it as like, oh Lord, am I prodable? That's what I say. Am I prodable today, Lord? Am I prodable? And I'm like, oh, I don't want to be, but I need to be. And if we contrast this, right, with Proverbs 24, 30 to 34, I'm going to read a little bit about someone who maybe didn't look after the vineyard. I went past the field of a sluggard, someone who's lazy, doesn't want to take responsibility. Past the vineyard of someone who has no sense. Thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered in weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied to my heart what I observed, and I learned a lesson from what I saw. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a thief, and scarcity like an armed man. We don't just deal with a couple of foxes, do we, and think, oh, that's it, job's done, everything else is gonna be. We've got to stay alert, we've got to stay on guard. Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. Thank you, Lord. I think about Jesus as well, you know, when he was in the wilderness and he and he fought the devil. Um the devil still wasn't done trying. It says in Luke 4, verse 13, when the devil had finished every temptation, he temporarily left him until a more opportune time. Until a more opportune time. So he's left for a bit, and like that's again, I want to re-reiterate. This is not about us living in fear, not standing in authority. That's where we want to be ready, alert, keep and watch. Are we tuned in? Sometimes, I don't want to repeat what Matt spoke about last week, but sometimes guarding the vineyard's also about those boundaries, isn't it? And like putting up some fences in some places. And if you didn't listen to last week, go back and listen to those stories about boundaries. But we need to look after the vineyard and protect the fruit. Okay, I'm just gonna finish up um with a little story about where I identified a fox quite late down the line. And then when I identified the fox, I didn't catch the fox. Um it wasn't great, but God redeems, right? So can I share that with you this morning? So, as many of you know, for most of my life before we decided to step into this, um I've always worked in health and fitness and been run my own health and fitness coaching company. And I was always really keen to grow um the business and expand, and not always from a financial perspective, but I really had a heart to help people, right? I wanted to help people with their food and their nutrition and their training and looking after themselves. So I always valued investing back into the business and improving what I was doing and getting better at my craft. So there was this one time uh I joined a series of mentorships, and there was a mentorship that I thought, yes, yes, yes, this one, I'm gonna join this one. And there was some felt like, felt like some like-minded people in the group, and we did some group Zoom calls, and week by week went by, and you know, when you start to get that little nudge that something's off, I was like, There were like certain things that that had been said that I was like, oh, that's totally not Bible, and I was like, oh, and in that moment when I felt that check, there was probably a different path. Well, there was a different path that I probably should have taken, but I was like, oh, but I but Lord, I've like spent like so much money on this mentorship. It was the most expensive mentorship I'd invested in because I'd grown and grown, and I was like, ah, put so much money in. Like, and I kind of want that that stuff, the should the stuff here, there's bits of it here, but I know that that bit's not great. I just carried on, if I'm honest, and uh I went to the calls and I pressed in and I pressed in, and over time the teaching got even further and further and further and further away from the Bible. And I'm happy to share more with you about it after the service because it would take too long, but it it was really off, and um I didn't end up in a good place at all. My relationship with the Lord was not in a good place, I wasn't honoring God with various parts of my life, and just it's honestly when I look back on that season now, I think, how how could I have gone from being so on fire for the Lord to then like the little and it's the little foxes that haven't been caught, so important, and like let me encourage you now. Like, if you're in a similar situation where you feel like it's already past that, you know, when you feel like what do I do? Like, I'm stuck here, I'm not even at a place of catching the foxes, they're like that everywhere. God can redeem, God can redeem and restore your life always in those situations. And one that for me it was I had to rock up to my church, speak to my pastor, and say, Can we talk? And oh, that was hard, but can I tell you they were the most gracious, loving people in that moment and walked hand in hand with me back to a place of strength and vitality with Jesus? So don't be discouraged if that's you in that place. Oh, there is so much freedom and grace on the other side. I was reminded of the scripture in Galatians: a little yeast works through the whole batch of door. Yeah. He wants every part of our lives, doesn't he? And I just want you to take a moment now to think through those areas again, not from a place of shame or oh, but like Lord, I know that it's because you want to heal me and restore me and produce fruit in me. And he's gonna help us, he's gonna help you. You know, in a moment, Matt's gonna come and give you an opportunity. If you're someone here who doesn't know Jesus and you're not doing life alongside him, we want to give you that opportunity as well to say yes. Because when you invite him in, yes, there's a light that gets shine, gets shone on your life, but there's so much grace, so much love, so much future. And maybe you're not a follower of Christ and you feel like you're in that place where there are foxes in your life that you know you want to deal with. The Bible says that apart from Jesus, we we can't do anything. We've got to remain in the vine to produce that fruit. Shall we pray before Matt comes? Father, I thank you. I thank you for your word. I thank you that you love us so much that you don't just want to leave us as we are, but you call us forward, Lord. I thank you that when you reveal things to us, it's not about pushing us down in shame, but calling us higher, calling us forward. Lord, we just speak to all of us now. Highlight those areas that we need to identify, catch. Help us to guard the vineyard, Lord, the vineyard of our lives, as we want to bear fruit, not in our own strength, Lord, but in yours, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for your grace, for your forgiveness, that you're never finished with us, that the victory is always won, that you're on our side, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.