Greg Ford - God Is a Good Teacher
Jesus four different times in the gospels, once in Matthew, twice in Luke, once in Mark, is referred to as a good teacher. And good teachers make complex things simple, not simple things complex. If you’ve ever walked out of a talk and you are more confused than when you got there, and they used a lot of big words, and you needed a thEsaurus the whole time. And you walked out like, «Man, she’s really smart. He’s really smart, but I didn’t learn anything». That person was smart, but they weren’t a good teacher. Good teachers make complex things simple. Jesus, the Bible says he never talked without using illustrations. This is how complex his teaching was. He’s like, «Hey, there was this guy one time who had some seed. And then he threw the seed on the soil. And some of it got choked out and some of it took root».
And then he explains. I mean, he was very simple in his teaching. And really that’s what we’re trying to do. I’m not trying to wow you. I don’t want you walking out like, «Boy, that guy was smart. I have no idea what he was talking about, but he’s smart». I wanna present it like Jesus did so that you can walk out and decide what you’re gonna do with it. Now it’s up to you, you gonna obey or be disobedient. Are you gonna be a rebel? Are you your gonna harden your heart? Or you’re gonna be receptive? You gonna put it in action or are you not? That’s up to you. But it’s my job to teach as clearly as I can. What I’m gonna do today is I’mma give you a simple grid. And I’m gonna teach you not just what Jesus talk, but how Jesus talk.
So that we can learn from the good teacher of how do we develop and learn. Alright? And I’ve got a classroom with me today, come on. You guys ready to learn today? I see, I see we got some Bibles in the house. You guys ready to do this? Alright. We’re gonna interact today so go ahead and bust out your Bibles. Go to Matthew 4, and you guys too. I’m gonna ask questions today. Okay we’re gonna just turn this into a big old classroom and if you got the answer yell it out, alright? You don’t even have to raise your hand, that’s how much fun we’re gonna have today. Alright, we’re gonna start in Matthew 4 and just go ahead and fasten your seatbelt 'cause we’re gonna go pretty quick.
Matthew 4 through Matthew 10 and we’re gonna make these seven chapters, we’re gonna make them simple. Okay? Alright. Here we go Matthew 4. Spoiler alert, it comes right after Matthew 3 and Matthew 4, in Matthew 3 Jesus is baptized. «And a voice from heaven says this is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy». Well, what’s happening there is the father is setting the identity of the son. He’s like, «Listen, son, you’re gonna go through some low lows. You’re gonna go through some high highs. You’re gonna have some testing and temptation and then you’re gonna be really empowered. You’re gonna walk on water. You’re gonna turn water into wine. And then some people are gonna call you Beelzebub and literally say you’re the devil. I mean you’re gonna have it all. And so, when you’re up, and know, I don’t want you getting too high, too low, I want you to be steady. That you’re my dearly loved son, in the valley and on the mountain. You’re my dearly loved son who brings me great joy».
Then he immediately in Matthew 4 goes into the temptation and the wilderness. His flesh is tempted. His everything’s tempted. And then what does it say, guys, in verse 18? Let’s look at headings. What happens? Alright. So, he calls his first disciples and what did these disciples, how are they identified in the scriptures? They’re fisherman, alright? So Jesus, when he calls them, verse 19, what does he say?
— «Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men».
— Fishers of men. Alright. So, he’s essentially saying, «Hey, what you’ve done for a living, you’ve developed a skill set. You put food on your table. This is how the world identifies you, fishermen». Even the gospel writer, Matthew, identifies him as fisherman. But he says, «I’m gonna take your skill set and we’re gonna use it for an even deeper purpose. Alright? You’ve learned how to fish and some of the same things, the skills that you have applied to your business and your livelihood, you are going to apply to a divine purpose». He said, «You’re gonna become fishers of men».
What does that even mean? No one knows what it means but it’s provocative and it gets the people going. Alright, so Jesus says, «Just stay tuned. I’m not gonna tell you yet. You’re gonna learn in the journey». Okay, now think about this, the gospel writers, all four of them, talk about Jesus calling these fishermen and then one of the gospel writers says, «Jesus tell them, 'put down your nets and follow me'».
Put down your nets. What’s he saying by put down your nets? Essentially, put down everything you’re confident in. Put down your whole self, your whole identity. And this is a full surrender to him. This is really important to understand because when it comes to following Jesus, this is not an addendum unto your life. This isn’t like, «I do this other stuff, okay you know what, I got, I’m about a b plus, you know and now I just need, got a little God in my life to get me over the hump. I just need, you know we, I kinda like my life but now I’ve got children, and so you know, I don’t want my kids to grow up to be bad». So, we better start going to church now and get them around some good teaching, some good people. Alright, let’s keep rolling, or we’re gonna run out of time. Alright? Second is Matthew 5 through 7. What do you see in Matthew 5 through 7 guys? Sermon on the mountain. What do you see? Start reading the headings.
— Salt and light.
— The salt and light. The beatitudes, okay. The beatitudes you know it says, «Blessed are the, blessed are the, blessed are the». Jesus begins to teach. It’s interesting to know, by the way, Jesus asked 307 questions and he preaches one sermon. At least recorded, you know. He has one recorded sermon. Matthew 5 through 7, «Blessed are the, blessed are the blessed are the». And then look what he does here: teaches about the law, he teaches about anger, he teaches about vows, he teaches about revenge, he teaches about love your enemies, teaches about giving to the needy, he preaches about prayer and fasting and not judging others, he preaches about prayer and the golden rule: whatsoever you want people to do to you, do to them. He talks about bearing fruit, he teaches all kinds of stuff. But look how he teaches, it says in verse 31, it says, «You’ve heard it said this, but I say this». He said, «You’ve heard it said this».
So over and over again, every time Jesus teaches on a subject, he said, «You’ve heard it said this, but I say this». And what he’s doing is teaching both learning and unlearning. You’ve heard it say this but i… Okay, so, when he goes into talking about revenge, he’s saying, «You’ve heard it said this, but I say this. You’ve heard this about love your enemy, but I say this». And so, Jesus introduces us to a huge concept about information that you gotta both learn and unlearn. I have to tell you, I think in some ways unlearning is harder than learning. In some ways, if you’re here and you have no church in your background, no Bible in your background, no God in your background and you’re overwhelmed you’re like, «Man, this is gonna be an uphill battle».
I’m gonna tell you, if you come with a blank slate, you’re, actually, in some ways, better off than those who have to go unlearn stuff. Even church folks. So, Jesus is unteaching them that, «You’ve heard it said this, but I say this. I’m wanna give you a new covenant. I wanna give you some new ways of thinking. I wanna give you something new. A new wine». In fact, Jesus even says, «You can’t put new wine in old wine skins, or it will bust». You gotta stay flexible in learning and unlearning. And so friend, I would encourage you to embrace the journey of unlearning. I just think all the time, we should be asking the Lord, «Lord, what is something that I need to unlearn»?
And let the Lord illuminate that for you. It can be very difficult because if you spent your whole life being a proponent of something or it’s the way you were raised, or this is what you’ve always taken as facts. But you didn’t take the opportunity to really dig into it. You just accepted the behavior, and it has some nostalgia for you. You gotta be willing to go in and uproot the thing that’s not. So, Jesus went through. I mean, it’s one sermon, three chapters, «You’ve heard it say this, but I say this».
So, learning and unlearning. I gotta keep rolling. I could get stuck there. Let’s keep going. Matthew 8 and 9, go ahead and read the headings. What do you got? Jesus cleanses the leper. He starts healing people. What else? Calms the storm. The cost of following Jesus. Yep. Okay, sending out more disciples and he’s calling more disciples, and okay, he’s doing all this. I wanna look at this, go ahead and…Matthew 9, keep your finger on Matthew 9 and skip over to Acts 9. Okay, so quick context, Matthew is the story of Jesus life. Acts is the acts of the apostles. So, these are the people after Jesus left and what they did when Jesus was gone. I want you to see this. We’re gonna go back and forth, Matthew 9 to Acts 9. Matthew 9 under the heading Jesus heals the paralyzed man, in verse 6 it says, in the middle of verse 6 says, «Jesus turned to a paralyzed man and said, 'stand up, pick up your mat and go home'. And the man jumped up and went home».
Acts 9:33, this is Peter, so Jesus protege Peter. Says, «There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, 'Aeneas Jesus Christ heals you get up, roll up your sleeping mat, ' and he was healed instantly». Now, I want you to think about this. If you were Peter, where would you ever get the gumption, where would you ever get the confidence, where would you ever get the idea to walk up to somebody paralyzed on a mat and say, «Get us, take your mat and walk». Except you saw Jesus do it. You saw Jesus do it. Your mentor had done it. You’ve had it modeled for you.
The third part of this, when Jesus got to work was, he was training them through imitation. Imitation. Principles need a personality. Principles need a personality. It’s not enough to just have it bullet pointed, to just sit in a row and get a lecture. At some point it’s got, it has to take on a personality. Look at this one Matthew 9, let’s go back to Matthew 9:23. Noticed the details of this story. It says in verse 23, «When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard funeral music. 'get out'! He told them. 'the girl isn’t dead'. So, Jesus clears the room. The crowd laughed at him. But after Jesus». Excuse me. «After the crowd was put outside, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand and she stood up».
Notice that. «He puts the crowd out. He grabs the girl by the hand, she stands up». And then look at this. «The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside». That’s Matthew 9. Let’s go to Acts 9:39. Now, this is Peter, «So Peter returned with them. And as soon as he arrived, they took him upstairs to the room. And the room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and the others that dorcas had made». And verse 40, «But Peter asked them all to leave the room». He clears the room. «Everybody out»! Why? «I don’t know, Jesus did it. I mean, that’s what my mentor did. We’re about to raise a dead girl, okay? So, that’s what you do before you raise a dead girl». Why? «Get out. I don’t know. So, he told them all to leave the room then he knelt down and prayed and turning to the body and say, 'get up, Tabitha'. And she opened her eyes and she saw Peter, she sat up».
Now, what he did next. «Gave her his hand». Just like Jesus, «And helped her up, and then called in the widows and all the believers and he presented her to them alive». And look what happened in verse 42, «News spread throughout the whole town, and many believed in the Lord». Jesus knew that the Book of Acts, that the disciples were going to need to live their leg of the journey. Every generation needs people manifesting the gospel in the world. Every generation needs believers doing what Jesus did. So, what did he do? He trained them, he taught them, he gives them imitation, so you’ll know what to do in Acts. «Watch me, in Matthew 8 and 9, I’m gonna personify this. Watch what to do».
And then they went and they did as Jesus did. Imitation, this is massive. And this is where we rub off on each other. What’s it like? What’s it like to be a godly businesswoman when you’re dealing with business gray areas? I don’t wanna hear about bullet points. I wanna watch you when the heat is on. How do I know how to be a godly husband unless I see you in action. How do I know? How do I know how to do healthy conflict unless I see a godly woman or a godly man, right in the heat of battle knowing how to do healthy conflict. Life on life imitation.
Now, think about this in chapters 8 and 9. He models it, so you gotta think they’re watching him do all the things that they’re about to do. And Jesus now flips it on them and says, «Hey, all these things you’ve seen me do, now I’m sending you out». Because there’s a certain amount of development, right? Like, you could sit in the classroom and be highly educated, right? Like, PhD level. PhD surviving in our kid’s ministry. God bless you. So, you can be highly educated but until you get in the practicum, you get in the internship, and you start working on people, and you start working on projects, there’s just a certain development that just doesn’t happen with the fill in the blank. Or even an essay. So, Jesus says, «I’m gonna put you into action».
Now, look at this, «'cause this doesn’t seem like what a good teacher would do». He goes in and says, verse 9, «Don’t take any money and in your money belts, no gold silver copper coins. Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes». For what? I don’t know. «Sandals»? No, not even a walking stick. «Jesus, what do have against a walking stick»? «I don’t know, don’t take one». I’mma tell, it’s interesting, he strips down their resources to the bare essentials. How many people are holding back from taking a big step because they think they don’t have enough excess? They don’t have enough excess. But he gives them something better than excess, it rhymes. Access. He says, «I’m gonna give you access to me. I’m gonna give you access to the Holy Spirit. I’m gonna give you power beyond what you have in yourself, so you don’t need excess. You don’t need a change of clothes. You don’t need a walking stick». He said «I’m gonna renew your strength».
And so, he sends them out and then he says in verse 16, «I’m sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware»! Look at this. He’s letting them know, «Don’t expect it to be easy. It’s gonna be hard,» he says. «Beware you’re gonna be handed over in the courts and flogged with whips and you’re gonna stand trial». Now, look at this, verse 19, «When you are arrested». What a terrible way to start a sentence. «When you are arrested». Like, «Jesus, how about we just, what if we didn’t get arrested, you know»? «When you are arrested don’t worry about how to respond or what to say». Watch this. «God will give you the right words at the right time».
Man, when you find yourself in a zone, you’re not familiar with, you find yourself in a situation, that you’ve never been in, he said «I’m gonna work through you in such a way, when it comes out of you, you’re gonna go, 'that wasn’t me'». Seriously, raise your hand if you’ve ever had God flow through you in a way you’re like, «That was not me». If you’ve not yet experienced that, that’s gonna be your next level of development. It’s a cool thing. You didn’t have it in your bag. You didn’t have the right words. You didn’t have the right questions to ask. You didn’t even know what question to ask. And all of a sudden it came out of you. I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve come home and my wife’s like, «How did it go»? I’m like, «It went really good». She said like, «What did you say»? I’m like, «I can’t remember but it was good». I mean, it was good. I can’t even remember.
Have you ever had God flow through you in such a way you’re like, «That is beyond my maturity. My flesh doesn’t respond like that. My flesh doesn’t do that». And so now, it’s the power of the Holy Spirit. Because of the access you now have that God flowing through, even sometimes, despite a lack of copper, silver and gold coins and no walking stick and no change of clothes. How many changes of clothes do you need? You’ve got the clothes on your back, time to go. Matthew 10 he says, «I’m sending you out. And when you need words, I’ll give them to you. And it’s part of your development». The growing and the development of your faith. Alright? So, the last word here is innovation. Innovation. You gotta get out and you gotta apply the stuff. This is not a spectator sport. You don’t live vicariously as a disciple, through other people. This is your time. Now, we’re gonna go quick here. Think about stages of human development. Think about kids. Kids, small kids, what are kids like? Little kids. Little, tiny kids, what are they like.
— Dependent.
— She said loud.
— Loud. Spoken like someone who got a few in the house. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Loud. What else? What are kids like?
— Energetic.
— Hungry.
— Hungry, yes. How they whine. Yep.
— Make messes.
— Yeah, they make messes, absolutely. Yep. Alright. Is there anything good about children? They’re cute. What else? Huh?
— They’re curious.
— You get to watch them grow.
— They grow. They grow fast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They’re quick to imitate, right? At a certain point they start doing stuff. We can’t blame them cause they’re just doing what we taught them to do. Or what they’ve seen us do. Alright. So, think about this. Children are exciting. They’re exciting little beings. They’re high in maintenance but they’re exciting. And the Bible says, «Anyone who’s in Christ, is», what?
— A new creation.
— «A new creation». We come into relationship with Jesus, we’re a new creation. Jesus says, «You must be born again». So even, here’s the reality. You come to Christ as an adult, in some ways you go back, almost, like being like a child. And I see this happen in the community where people are learning something new. They’ve lived their whole life a certain way, and they’re learning quick and they’re excited and they’re energized, they’re grown quick. And then they make a mess. And they’re embarrassed of their mess 'cause, «I’m an adult and I said I’d never do that again and then I did, and I regressed, and I relapsed. I went backwards». And because of that shame and embarrassment they hide form God. And they hide from the body of Christ. And they hide from healthy community and I gotta tell you, don’t do that.
This community is designed to embrace you at whatever season you’re in. We come alongside and we expect there to be messes. It’s okay. You made you me, that’s fine. Come on. Come on back in. Welcome you home. Come on back, let’s walk through it. Let’s learn. What do we need to learn? What information do we need to learn? What imitation do we need? What’s the new step of faith? For some of you, you just get back up and take another step? Okay? Teenagers. We love teenagers. Say it again. «We love teenagers». Teenagers are great. Teenagers are smart. Teenagers are learning new things. Powerful little beings.
Teenagers, teenagers. Adolescents, psychology tells us that when they’re little, they can only think in concrete terms. Which is why back in the little kids love Noah and the ark, and the two-by-two animals. They’re like «Ah, they’re so cute and fuzzy. All the animals». And they make a little craft with, you know, the animals. And then once they hit junior high now they think and they can reason in abstract ways and they start thinking deeper. So, you teach junior high small group and they’re like, «Hey, I was reading Noah, how did God get all of the animals in the entire universe into one boat»? «Good question». They said, «So God send a flood and killed everybody except, like, one family? Even elderly folks and women and children, and kids and infants»? «Shut up, kid, eat your donuts. You know, just eat the donut».
They start to think about not, but here’s what I’mma tell you, phenomenal questions. When I was a youth pastor, I’m like, «Brett, those are great questions. Let’s dig». Because when you’re a teenager if you’ll take the questions, the real questions, not, «Shut up eat your donut». I mean, «That’s a good question. Let’s dig in on that». And if you’ll start wrestling with it and you’ll start getting into it. You’ll start to own your faith. And you’ll go deeper in your faith. And you’ll start to learn how to search for answers and you’ll learn how to actually form a belief. It’s a beautiful process. And this happens when you go beyond the Romantic view of God into where you start to realize, like, we just sang a song a little bit ago about, «I’ve been the hospital room and the doctor says, 'there’s nothing more I can do'. But it wasn’t the last, it wasn’t the last chapter».
Well, some of you have lived where there was a miracle and that loved one lived and some of you have lived where that loved one died. And so, when you start getting into the real questions about, when does God choose to interfere in the affairs of men and women? And when he comes, these are good, wrestle, wrestle, get through it. Keep working through it. Keep asking the question. And in this journey, you’ll start to really deepen your faith. And this is what I’m gonna tell you too, teenagers, when I was, I used to be a youth pastor, it was some of the greatest years of my life, I loved it. Because I will see these teenagers who were being sold things by the world, that their pathway to fulfillment was gonna be through consumption and more of themselves.
And I would take 'em into service projects and I would take them on mission trips, and we do stuff. And I would see these students get outside of themselves and start not making it about them and start sacrificing and they’d start to go, «Hmmm, I think I wanna do this with the rest of my life. Hey, I think I’m starting to see the path that God has». That fulfillment doesn’t come with being full of myself. It comes with being free of myself and being so secured that now I can focus on God and focus on other people and then the last is adults. Adults, by the way, the physical sign of maturity is when your systems of your body begin to mature. Particularly your reproductive system.
And as an adult when you reproduce, you reproduce, it’s not about you. You rework your budget to take care of the kids. You get up in the night with the baby. This is why your reproductive system hits as a teen, but we don’t recommend teens reproduce. 'cause you may physically be able to, but your maturity is not there yet. Teenagers will babysit for money by they won’t get up in the night for free. That’s what adults do. That’s what mom and dad does. We pay for this torture. We actually pay to take care of this kid in the night. And so, when you think about the maturity of an adult, just hang with me a few moments, I’ll be done. The maturity of a believer is not that you got all the answers, not that you can win any argument, it’s your willingness to come alongside somebody else and help them in their mess. And to reproduce yourself into somebody else. And to reproduce discipleship in somebody else and to be a mentor, in somebody else’s life.
That don’t mean your perfect. You don’t have all the answers, but you are pouring into them, your patient is their walking through. Your long suffering. You’re loving, kind. And so, to have that type of environment. This is what I’mma tell you, I think, this is a massive misunderstanding in the church, I am not picking on our church, I’m not shaming anyone. But I do think that the perception in terms of being Jesus follower or a Christian is we think that maturity is when, «I’m full of enough head knowledge. I know enough stuff». And I’mma tell you, maturity is your willingness to give of yourself within the community and help people walk through messes and development, and pain, and brokenness. And to go when it gets messy and scrappy and chaotic. And to stay the course to personify the principle.
So, I wanna invite, I wanna invite you. I wanna invite you to have the courage to put yourself in here and to ask yourself, «Where I’m I at? Am I a kid? Am I struggling with simple obedience or sacrifice, or maybe it’s time for me to help disciple somebody else. Maybe it’s time for me to reproduce. Or maybe there’s some information deficiency. Or like, I gotta make time to dig deep in this area. Or maybe taking time to mentor. Making time in somebody else’s life». Or are you finding somebody that personifies something that has a deficiency for you. Or maybe for you, it’s taking a step of faith. We never outgrow taking steps of faith. So, let’s take a moment right now. Let’s turn to the Lord and let’s ask God to take this in and speak to each one of us.