Claudeth Hitchman | Free Fall Into God's Arms - He Catches You

i'm going to open up with the scripture from the book of saint john chapter 16 and verse 33. john 16 verse 33 i'll read it from the esv and they're going to take us into another version these things i have spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer i have overcome the world hallelujah so my title as you may have seen is free fall into the arms into god's arms he catches you he catches you free fall into his arms he catches you i'm going to read that same scripture john 16 33 but from the amplified bible i like it lots of people don't but i like it because it expands the meanings and i love the extra words that can help me to understand the scriptures a little bit better and so it says i have told you these things so that in me you may have perfect peace can you imagine what life is like with perfect peace and confidence in the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration but be of good cheer take courage be confident certain undaunted for i have overcome the world i have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you he's deprived the world of power to harm you and you may be thinking now well that doesn't make sense i go through this i go through that i've been harmed i've felt harmed but journey with me this evening and let's understand a little more what's being said now the book of john and i like to look at my esv notes it's a brilliant bible where it's got some extensive notes on what the books mean what they're about what the context is and some really helpful notes and from there i take much of of what i will share in in the sense of the context of the book of john this gospel has an emphasis on jesus as son of god now the other gospels have an emphasis as jesus as the son of man he's also the son of god but that's more their emphasis the son of man whereas john emphasizes his deity that jesus is the son of god and jesus in this context he's talking to his disciples the ones who have walked with him they're gonna really be the ones who form the nucleus of his new covenant he's leaving the earth and he wants to say some things to them before he goes so this is part of his last words to those disciples that were with him that were close to him he wants them to understand some things that he has maybe not explained before and i was thinking about the fact that as he was speaking to them he already knew their future he knew what they would carry what they would do what they would become he knew how they would die for him how their lives in turn would be laid down because they believed in him and as he shares with them these final talks before his crucifixion he wants to encourage them in how to stand when he's no longer with them so he's strengthening the believers he's encouraging them that they're going to have to also bring others into the kingdom but he's encouraging and strengthening right now the believers so before i delve back into my key verse i want to jump to one or two scriptures that bring some points together chapter 16 interestingly begins in verse 1 by saying i have told you all these things so that you should not be offended you should not be taken unawares and falter or be caused to stumble and fall away remember i'm reading from the amplified it says a little bit wider i've told you these things that you said that you should not be offended so that you should not be caused to stumble and fall away jesus wants to keep these disciples from falling away and so fall has a negative meaning they were moving in the wrong direction so why would i call my title free fall but they're moving in the wrong direction and jesus is encouraging the disciples to not let the trials of the world cause them to give up and be distracted so we go into verse 7 of the same chapter as jesus further reveals his plans for the disciples so verse 7 of chapter 16 says however i'm telling you nothing but the truth when i say it is profitable it is good advantageous for you that i leave you that i go away because if i do not go away the comforter the counselor the helper the advocate the intercessor the strengthener the standby will not come to you will not come into close fellowship with you but if i go away i will send him to you to be in close fellowship with you jesus is making a promise to his disciples and if any of you were listening very carefully to our senior minister this morning he was speaking about the holy spirit and he actually used this scripture and he talks so much about the need that we have for the holy spirit in our lives jesus was saying to his disciples i'm not going to leave you alone when i leave you i'm leaving you with strength i'm leaving you with help i'm going to be with you so we established that help is at hand via the promised holy spirit for his disciples so this scripture back in 60 john 16 33 it says so in the world jesus said you have tribulation and trials you have that in the world there's no promise of a rose garden out there for them he wasn't saying to the disciples now that you believe in me everything's going to be perfect and wonderful you're going to enjoy life and sail through it he didn't promise that he told them that while they're in the world there will be tribulations and trials and distress and frustration why they were to go through not just ordinary things that take place in life due to a fallen world we're all victims are we not in a way or victims is the wrong word but we we we are touched by a fallen world a world that is without christ a world that denied him did not understand god the creator and so here's that word again a fallen world fallen it has no good tone about it does it yet i'm asking us to free fall into god's arms but they were not just to go through the ordinary things that take place in life more so for these disciples due to their belief in christ difficulties were promised to them because they believed now over in the book of john chapter 17 jesus is praying to the father a final prayer as it were for his disciples before he sacrifices himself on the cross and in verse 14 of chapter 17 i it reads i think i'm reading this from the esv i have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as i am not of the world so due to their belief jesus is praying to the father that they're already hated by the world because they're not off the world jesus is not of the world we too in our daily lives must realize that difficulties are still with us in the world we live in it we interact with it we're subject to many things in it whether we want to or not earthquakes are taking place holidays are being ruined we're subject to the fallen world and the things that happen in a fallen world so they're still with us in this world now jesus makes a very important statement in also chapter 18 of saint john and verse 36 when he is before pilate the pilot asks if he is the king of the jews my kingdom jesus says is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world my servants would have been fighting that i might not be delivered over to the jews but my kingdom is not from the world jesus had been walking in the world while he was on earth but never was he subject to the world's ways its principles etc as he walked in the earth he was in command he was in authority so the disciples they would have trouble in the world but jesus is establishing with them before he goes that they must be of good courage for they belong to a different world a different kingdom how can you be in something and belong somewhere else how do you know what you should live by how do you choose which kingdom to obey jesus shows his disciples how to do this so they're in a different kingdom as he says be of good cheer take courage be confident not because they would experience the things of the world and the suffering but be confident because jesus said he has already overcome the world that they were living in i have deprived it of power to harm you and i have conquered it for you i have overcome the world but how would that translate to them why should they take courage why should they be confident back to the prayer of jesus in john chapter 17. i hope you're keeping up with me i'm going back and forth over some scriptures but verse 15 says i do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one jesus promises his disciples protection as he prays to the father i didn't say remove them from the world they're in it and they've got to be in it for a while but i'm asking you to protect them i'm sending a promise of protection over their lives so that they are kept from the evil one they needed to trust in the protecting power of jesus christ through his holy spirit jesus was trying to teach them there's a power greater than what you see on earth greater than the troubles that you will face that you have already faced for believing in me and loving me and following me but there's a greater power which stands against what you are about to face jesus promises them that because he has overcome the world this is the kingdom they now belong to they're in a different kingdom already let me just pause there sometimes you go about your daily life and i don't know if i wouldn't say we forget who we are but i was doing something quite ordinary um a few weeks ago i went to a new hairdresser i'd never been to before and i'm excited that i'm getting my hair done and i might look um a bit okay after weeks and weeks of scruffy hair and um i go in there with the full intent to be pampered have my hair done and get out and the hairdresser begins to talk to me it's just she and i there and she asks me questions about who i am what i do and she becomes quite intrigued but she asks me a question which is very difficult to answer in this day and age as a christian because she's asking my opinion about some of the things that are changing in our world some of the woke agenda type of things and some of the things that she knows that the bible speaks against so i didn't go armed i didn't go ready to witness or to have an answer but she asked me a very deep question about my opinion and the holy spirit helped me jesus promised his disciples that he would send the helper i began to answer not the difficulty of the question but who jesus is i started by saying well i start from here i believe the word of god i believe it from the beginning to the end anything that's contrary to the word of god is sin it's outside of his will and i make a choice in my life to live inside the will of god it got her going we had a beautiful deep conversation there was no animosity no arguing about what the bible shouldn't say this or that she just accepted that my starting point was this and if i wanted to be in the will of god then i needed to obey his word the holy spirit helped so when jesus promises his disciples that because he has overcome the world they belong to a new kingdom there was the aspect of the kingdom of god coming out of me into the world i love how the amplified expresses or expands this meaning deprived of its power to harm you and conquered it to the world the disciples would understand from jesus that they now reside in a kingdom that has already conquered the powers of darkness it's not going to it has con conquered the powers of darkness and the disciples would understand that they could take advantage of the power of god in all situations when scott was praying he prayed keep your eyes fixed on jesus christ how do we keep our eyes fixed on jesus only by the prompting of the holy spirit and by knowing the word of god we have a choice in the world go the narrow way and i'll speak a little bit about the narrow road later on or go the way of the big wide world we can choose our choice isn't taken away from us but these disciples were beginning to know and understand that they belong to a kingdom that didn't look like the world act like the world and was no longer subject to the power of the world so let's go on to free fall here we've seen the negative side of falling you can fall away from something like the disciples you didn't want them to fall away from what they believed you can fall down like trip or be unsteady lots of elderly people i'm learning they fall often because they've become unsteady in their older years so you can fall away you can fall down you can fall out like fall out of a window or out of a tree or something you can fall off like a ladder and you can fall into trouble yet i'm saying free fall into in general it doesn't seem to be a good word fall fall and you are damaged fall and something negative happens now the meaning of free fall in the dictionary that i looked up means a rapid downward movement under the force of gravity so if you think about somebody who dares to jump out of a parachute anybody in here ever done a parachute jump one two wow brave people another one up there three or bungee jumpers anybody in here have done bungee jumping wow you are brave people and skydivers i'm not 100 sure what do skydivers have um like an engine or something but skydiving again i think many many years ago if you ever get a copy of our older magazines you would see our senior minister colin die skydiving but it means it's rapid and and often time if you're doing something like that there's this feeling of loss of control i'm not in control i've let go of all control as you're falling falling by force when i was young i did want to jump out of a parachute i was investigating it but i never got around to it i'd be petrified now to even try it because i wouldn't trust that the parachute would open and that i wouldn't plunge to the ground so there's something about trust in there isn't there falling in this way is a scary thing let me ask you do you trust god in those difficult times how about trusting god enough with our lives with who we what is it that we still hold on to what is it we won't freely let go of and give to god what is it that we won't throw caution to if you like when jesus prayed in the 20th verse of john chapter 17 so again this is beautiful prayer you should really read that chapter and hear how he prays for the saints he wasn't only praying for the disciples that had walked with him on earth but he was also praying for all in the future verse 20 of john 17 it says i do not ask for these only these my disciples but also for those who will believe in me through their word that's us that's ours he's praying he was praying then before he went to the cross for us who would believe that they may all be one just as you father are in me and i in you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me so everything that jesus was teaching his disciples and the promises he was giving them in chapter 16 are definitely also for us he prayed for us that we would understand that he has already deprived the world from his power to harm us how much do we trust in god in light of all that is taking place around us in this fallen world in light of what's happening in our own life circumstances we spend time worrying [Music] we should at that point jump out of the airplane with worry and free fall so that we get caught by god are we ready to free fall into his arms in every situation in other words walk in a place of trust no matter what it looks like i remember i was going through something earlier this year and i heard a word just very delicately to speak to a specific person about it and when i did i i had i received prayer i received ministry i received help what is it that would help us to hear the holy spirit that's been given us and guide us into what to do in every situation or do we just ignore the voice of the holy spirit and try to do it our own way again in scott's powerful opening prayer today he talked about the fact that we take things into our own hands instead of giving them into the hands of the lord and trusting him so falling into god's arms i was thinking about arms nothing is more beautiful than when i see a new baby a newborn baby in the arms of of his father arms symbolize a place of strength and safety don't you love it when somebody puts a reassuring arm around you in a difficult moment this past year and nearly two years now we we lost out on so much with the covid business and people suffered mentally and emotionally at the separation from loved ones at the separation of being able to give a hug it affected the world isolation crept in where it didn't belong and i speak now to those who suffer isolation understanding is under your feet under the power of jesus christ and it has no rights in your life but arms bring safety and strength and god's arms are safe and god's arms are strong i ask again do we trust him enough to free fall into those arms and trust him to catch us i was thinking how precious in a desert land is water and you might find areas where big containers are left near um you know a garage or a part of a house so that when it does rain the precious drops as they fall are collected they're caught that's how i see god's eyes on us every one of us is so precious that as we fall he wants to catch us safely in his arms and catch means to intercept and to hold something which has been thrown propelled or dropped so i think again of the parachute jumper the adrenaline is racing and out they jump from the aircraft there's no way i can do it and they begin to plunge quickly out of control out of control life feels like that sometimes doesn't it out of control like a wheel that you've got onto you don't know how do i get off this wheel out of control but when the parachute opens wow it breaks that fall suddenly the rapidity has stopped and there's this feeling of safety and that's what it's like in the arms of god as we fall i've got you i've got you but those that do um these what i call dramatic sports they there's a deliberateness about them they want to fall they want that adrenaline rush so they purposefully fall free they trust the apparatus they trust the equipment that they're using to bring them to safety i was thinking about shadrach meshach and abednego and they were in daniel chapter 3 they had told king nebuchadnezzar that he could thrust them into the fiery furnace but that their god was able to deliver them they decided that natural forces were not more powerful than the kingdom of god and even if god decided not to deliver them they were going to go into the fire anyway because they were not going to compromise their faith as we know they were not burned and they were not alone in the fire for god had deprived the fire of its power to harm them and they were delivered look again in the book of micah in chapter 7 and verse 8 he says rejoice not against me o my enemy when i fall i shall arise when i sit in darkness the lord shall be a light to me and when he says those words when i fall i shall arise i have a picture of of of of him falling but god scooping him up in his arms and that's how he rises because he rises with the strength the safety the power of god catching him when i sit in darkness the lord shall be a light to me in other words when things come against me micah was saying and they're dark when the world comes against me the lord shall be a light to me catching me rescuing me where in the world just like the early disciples we experience what takes place in the world we're touched by it too sometimes we become unwell we suffer loss of finances we experience breakdown of relationships some of us pass into glory but the kingdom that we're now part of is everlasting it's eternal so even if we do leave this world we've not been harmed we've just simply continued into eternal life we don't lose we don't lose those who are believers we don't lose the power of the world cannot harm us anymore for me it's important to think that the lord has deprived the world of its power to harm and conquer because we do go through things but we do live in a different realm and it's about getting hold of and understanding that kingdom realm and living in it in the midst of it all we should remember we are safe in the arms and he is carrying us through i think about stephen in the book of acts when he was about to be stoned he wasn't cowering he wasn't begging for mercy his eyes were fixed on jesus christ only the glory of god he saw so he could be in the world he could be suffering he could be being harmed by mankind yet he was already looking at glory looking at glory is that how we tackle what we're facing in the earth today in the world we should all be purposefully let go of our circumstances of our difficulties and we should freefall them into the arms of jesus christ we have the holy spirit as our helper we serve the one of whom it is quoted in luke 10 18. jesus said i saw satan fall like lightning and in verse 19 he gives his disciples and us authority to trample on the power of the enemy the one who saw the enemy fall from the heavens like lightning knows he's already a defeated foe [Applause] lost his power to harm us hallelujah we serve the one who saw his downfall who derailed his power at the cross who sits at the right hand of the father forever making intercession for us we're not alone that's why we can free fall into the arms of god because we're equipped with the holy spirit to rescue and where we know that jesus is forever making intercession at the right hand of the father saying remember her i died for her remember him i died for him hallelujah hallelujah so take courage to free fall into god's arms he will always catch you there's a an old song that says be magnified oh lord you're highly exalted and there is nothing you can't do oh lord our eyes are on you fixed on you be magnified oh lord be magnified there's nothing you can't do we fix our eyes on you no matter what's going on in the world around us we free fall into your arms because you always catch us hold us so what about those of you who are still on the fence you're watching they're out watching their online this evening welcome perhaps you're here in the sanctuary and you've been thinking about it for a long time you tune into kt perhaps and you still haven't made that commitment to jesus christ why don't you take the plunge why don't you free fall that fear into his arms and begin to trust and believe that jesus christ is the son of god and the only one who can rescue us and set us free the big wide world is not all it is cut out to be we're in difficult times everywhere we look in christianity as i was saying earlier is often depicted as a narrow road looking like it is limiting our freedom but on the contrary as i said earlier on eternal life is forever and ever if you don't know jesus christ take the plunge tonight take the plunge and free fall your life and your future into god's arms he will catch you

Channel: Kensington Temple

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Length: 33min 8sec (1988 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 05 2021