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It's wonderful to have you here 
if you have your Bible, if you 

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want your page over to the Book 
of John, if you're visiting or 

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maybe here for the very first 
time, or maybe you're watching 

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online in the future somewhere. 
It is April 2026 and you might 

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find us on YouTube somewhere in 
the future. 

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We are doing a series called 
Encounters with Jesus and we've 

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been going through the book of 
John. 

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We're in Chapter 9, so you can 
page on over there. 

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What I want to do this morning 
is just a very simple basic 

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Bible study on the book, on 
Chapter 9. 

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And I want to look at 3 
encounters that happen in 

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Chapter 9. 
One where Jesus encounters his 

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disciples, the second one where 
he encounters Pharisees, and the

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third where he encounters the 
man of the moment, the man born 

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blind. 
So we're going to start in John 

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9 verse one, which says as Jesus
went along, he saw a man blind 

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from birth. 
His disciples asked him Rabbi 

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who sinned this man or his 
parents said he was born blind. 

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Neither this nor his parents, 
this man nor his parents and 

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said Jesus, but this happened. 
You can underline this. 

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This happened so that the works 
of God might be displayed in 

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him. 
As long as it is day. 

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We must do the works of him and 
sent me night is coming when no 

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one can work well, I'm in the 
world, I'm the light of the 

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world. 
But after saying this, he spat 

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on the ground, made some mud 
with the saliva and put it on 

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the man's eyes go. 
He told him wash in the pool of 

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Siloam. 
So the man went and washed and 

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came home seeing I was looking 
at verse 2. 

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It's funny that 2000 years later
we're still asking the same 

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question. 
Whose fault is this? 

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You know, why am I going through
all the stuff I'm going through?

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Why did my business fail? 
Why is my marriage taking so 

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much strain? 
What is going on here? 

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And I, I don't quite know how or
why, but God has put his finger 

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on this over the last while. 
Think of the last few sermons 

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and the last few preachers 
touching on where Christ meets 

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us. 
These encounters with Jesus 

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happen in dark places, difficult
places, when we're facing big 

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situations and circumstances. 
When you got news from the 

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doctor. 
And somehow God has chosen this 

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season to highlight his nature, 
his character and his ways in 

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dark places. 
I've been reading up on this and

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Tim Keller says the following 
says God doesn't waste pain, 

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persecution, suffering or delay.
He often chooses those very 

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moments as the stage on which 
his glory is revealed. 

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Not Amen. 
A Nah, I'll take the 

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mountaintop, you know, taste me 
with 1,000,000 Rand. 

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But he chooses those very 
moments as the stage on which 

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his glory is revealed. 
That's why verse 3 says, but 

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this happened so that the works 
of God might be displayed in 

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him. 
I don't know if you know this, 

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but the New Testament was 
written written in coin, a 

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Greek, and the Greek word 
therefore works is Aragon and 

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means the visible expression of 
God's invisible nature, an 

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intentional display of his 
compassion, mercy, purpose and 

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power. 
That's why we encounter Him in 

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these dark places, because He 
wants to Aragon in our lives. 

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I don't know if you were here 
when Rory was preaching he he 

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quoted from the 1800's the guy 
by the name of Charles Spurgeon.

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And Rory, I have probably read 
that quotes every day since you 

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preached it and I I can't get 
any further without reading it 

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to you again. 
This is what he said. 

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All believers. 
Now this is 1800 English. 

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I'm sorry for your Afrikaners, 
but this is I'll explain as we 

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go along. 
All believers have not the same 

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deep experience, or dark or 
difficult experience, but for 

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wise ends, that they may do 
business for him. 

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The Lord allows some of His 
Saints the sea of soul trouble. 

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Are you in the sea of soul 
trouble? 

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And there they see as others do 
not. 

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The wonders of divine grace are 
gone, sailing over the deeps of 

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inward depravity, the 
wastewaters of poverty, the 

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billows of persecution and the 
rough seas of temptation. 

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They need God above all others, 
and they find him, and they find

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him. 
See, Tim says God doesn't waste 

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what you're going through. 
Problem is, we do because we are

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all stocking in the corner. 
Why didn't I get the rage? 

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Why was I overlooked? 
You know why it seems like a 

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family is just circling the 
drain. 

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You know, the Bible says that 
God is close to those who are 

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grieving. 
He draws near in those times, 

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but is He finding a cold 
shoulder? 

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Because we don't recognize that 
this is part of His nature and 

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character in dealing with the 
Saints. 

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And it's not. 
It's not unique to three CR or 

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to you and I not even unique to 
John Chapter 9. 

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Actually, this theme is woven 
into the entirety of Scripture. 

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It's, it's almost like pick a 
page, you know, So in Bible 

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college, we learned this rule. 
It's called the law of first 

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mention. 
And basically it's, it's a 

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Jewish approach to scripture. 
What they what they say is when 

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you're reading something that's 
a little complicated and tricky 

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or confronting like this, it's 
really helpful to go to the very

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first time that it's mentioned 
in Scripture and use that almost

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as the framework, the lens to 
look at marriage or look at 

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finances or look at these dark 
and difficult spaces. 

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And with that in mind, there's a
law of first mention. 

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I don't know if you know what 
the first book of the Bible to 

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be written was not the first one
in the Bible in Genesis in 

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either Benini, but do you know 
what the first book of the Bible

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to be written was? 
The very first time pen was put 

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to paper to express the 
interaction between God and man 

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was the book of Job. 
How crazy is that? 

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It's like the first thing I want
you to know is that I am so 

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desiring to meet you in your 
pain. 

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Got desires to meet us in real 
moments. 

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Not religious moments, in real 
moments. 

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Do you know what the very first 
book to be considered to be part

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of the New Testament was? 
The book of James. 

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Don't know if you've read James 
recently? 

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Don't read it on a Monday. 
James one verse 1 he says has 

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it. 
James one verse 2 says count it 

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all joy when you face trials of 
many kinds. 

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Don't read it on a Monday. 
You've been warned. 

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But from Job to James and 
everything in between. 

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When you look, you will see 
argon from page of the page of 

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the page of the I mean, pick 
one. 

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Let's go to Genesis. 
There you got Joseph. 

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Hey, I don't know if if your 
brothers wanted to kill you. 

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I don't know if you've been sold
into slavery and then falsely 

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accused of committing rape and 
thrown into prison and then 

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overlooked. 
Why Argon? 

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What you meant for evil, God 
meant for Argon for good. 

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So that Genesis 5020 so that 
many would be saved through me. 

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Amen. 
Beautiful. 

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It's Daniel and the lion's den, 
David and Goliath, Esther, 

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Abraham, Isaac. 
You've got Moses and the 

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bulrushes. 
You've got Jesus on the cross. 

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This happens so that the works 
of God might be displayed. 

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The visible expression of God's 
invisible nature, an intentional

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display of his compassion, 
mercy, purpose, power, you name 

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it, it happens down there. 
One of my favorites, it was in 

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my Bible reading plan recently, 
was Shadrach, Meshach, and 

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Abednego. 
You might know the story if you 

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went in Sunday school. 
Essentially what happens is in 

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Daniel chapter 3, we find King 
Nebuchadnezzar. 

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He decides, you know, he's 
actually a cut above the race. 

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So they build him this idol and 
they get a whole bunch of 

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musicians. 
And whenever the musicians play,

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they've got to bow down and pray
to this idol. 

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And everyone does that except 
these three Jew boys. 

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And they stand there. 
Sorry, I only bow to the one 

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true king. 
And he says if you don't bow, 

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we'll throw you in the furnace. 
And so they don't bow and they 

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get thrown in the furnace. 
And then Daniel chapter 3, it 

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says that King Nebuchadnezzar 
rose from his throne looking 

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into the furnace. 
He said, didn't we put three men

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in the furnace? 
There's a fourth and he looks 

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like he's ablaze, like the Son 
of God, because often God 

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doesn't stop the fire. 
He steps into the fire. 

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Beautiful. 
I love the God who stops the 

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fire, but there is something 
about our Heavenly Father who 

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sometimes doesn't stop it. 
He steps into the fire. 

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There's a category of plants 
called pyrophytes. 

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That's the Latin name for this 
category of plants. 

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You might recognize pyro. 
It means fire. 

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Pyrophytes don't just survive 
fire, they need fire. 

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So pyrophyte, when it, when it 
produces seeds, the seeds can 

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sit there. 
The seeds can sit there for a 

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generation, do nothing, go 
nowhere. 

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This lying dormant for years for
an entire generation. 

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And there's no way you can 
awaken the seed. 

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You can't put it in sunshine, 
you can't add fertilizer, you 

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can't water it to get it away. 
It needs fire to activate the 

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seed. 
That to me is a picture of 

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argon. 
There are seeds in you that 

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require facing fire to awaken. 
There's a calling on your life 

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that you might need to be 
awakened through fire. 

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There is an understanding and 
elements of your relationship 

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with God. 
There's there's something of God

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that He wants you to understand 
and experience for yourself that

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you cannot. 
But through fire. 

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And in that moment, what 
happens? 

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One of two things, either we're 
on this side, sulking and 

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moaning and navel gazing, or 
we're opening ourselves to what 

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Jesus said. 
This happened so that the works 

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of God might be displayed. 
They are seeds in you that can 

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only be awakened through fire. 
And I don't know what you're 

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going through. 
I don't know what it's like, 

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Piero, to face unanswered prayer
and now facing the end of your 

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life. 
But what I do know is if God has

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not chosen to stop the fire, it 
can be guaranteed he's chosen to

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step into it. 
And this happened so that the 

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works of God might be displayed.
And the disciples needed to see 

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that 2000 years ago and the 
disciples needed to see that 

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today. 
What about the Pharisees? 

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Oh, these are these are just 
delightful in verse 13. 

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So this man born blind is 
miraculously given sight. 

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And verse 13 says they brought 
to the Pharisees the man who had

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been blind. 
I mean, come on, how often do 

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you see that in a sentence the 
man who had been blind. 

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Now the day on which Jesus had 
made the mud and can circle that

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phrase and open the man's eyes 
was a Sabbath. 

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Therefore the Pharisees also 
asked him how he had received 

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his sights. 
He put mud on my eyes, the man 

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replied. 
And I watched, and now I see 

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some of the Pharisees said, This
man is not from God, for he does

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not keep the Sabbath. 
But others asked, How can a 

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Sinner perform such silence? 
So they were divided. 

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Then they turned again to the 
blind man. 

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What have you to say about him? 
It was your eyes he apparently 

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opened, Man replied. 
He's a prophet. 

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They still didn't believe that 
he had been blind and had 

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received his sight until they 
sent for the man's parents. 

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Is this your son? 
They asked. 

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Is this the one you say was born
blind? 

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How is it that now he can see? 
We know he's our son, the 

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parents answered, and we know he
was born blind. 

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But how he can see now, or who 
opened his eyes, I don't know. 

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Ask him. 
He's of age, He'll speak for 

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himself. 
His parents said this because 

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they were afraid of the Jewish 
leaders who already had decided 

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that anyone who acknowledged 
that Jesus was the Messiah, Why 

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would they be doing that? 
Because it was one of the signs 

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of the Messiah that he would 
give sight to the blind. 

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Anyone that acknowledged that 
Jesus was the Messiah would be 

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put out of the synagogue. 
That was why his parents said 

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he's of age asking a second time
they summoned the man who had 

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been blind. 
Give glory to God by telling the

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truth. 
A friend of mine always used to 

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say shame the devil and tell the
truth. 

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Give glory to God by telling the
truth. 

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They said. 
We know this man is a Sinner. 

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He replied whether he's a Sinner
or not, I don't know. 

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00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,360
One thing I do know I was blind 
but now I see. 

227
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,440
So hello, I wrote in my Bible 
right next to that heading, 

228
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:20,040
fasting like a Pharisee. 
Yeah, fair. 

229
00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,640
Freeing is like a legit word. 
I thought it was like something 

230
00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,200
my mom always used to blame me 
for doing. 

231
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,040
You're fasting around, which is 
true, which means to be consumed

232
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:33,360
by unimportant, trivial and 
distracting superficial things 

233
00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,520
like mud. 
But verse 14 now, the day on 

234
00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:42,760
which Jesus had made mud. 
So here's a miracle. 

235
00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,360
And all they can see is the mud 
here instead of. 

236
00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:52,200
I think we found the Messiah 
mud. 

237
00:13:53,760 --> 00:14:00,120
Rick, can I? 
And on a Sunday, no hall faffing

238
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,080
like a Pharisee. 
I'm so glad none of us do that. 

239
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,440
Yeah. 
None of us sits in our corner 

240
00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:12,280
office sulking because we were 
overlooked again. 

241
00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:13,000
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

242
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,880
Typical because I didn't go 
ahead. 

243
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:20,520
The piercing. 
What's the chances faffing like 

244
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,280
a Pharisee? 
Well, you know, the time when 

245
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,480
you were sick and no one 
contacted you for like 2 weeks 

246
00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,080
and then you got back to life 
group and you heard that Yanni's

247
00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,360
got the flu and so everyone's 
going to, you know, make a meal 

248
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,720
for Yanni because he's got the 
and you're like, you know, not 

249
00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:39,600
coming back. 
Launch. 

250
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:41,680
Where do you guys meet them 
coming to your life group? 

251
00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:46,760
These are a bunch of faffing 
like a Pharisee or Rory didn't 

252
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,240
greet you. 
No, actually it would be Stephen

253
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:52,360
didn't greet you. 
Introvert, introvert. 

254
00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,000
You know, it could at least 
remember my name. 

255
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:59,360
Faffing like a Pharisee. 
God, why, why, why do I have 

256
00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,360
this diagnosis? 
Why is my business faffing like 

257
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,080
a Pharisee? 
You see, because what happens is

258
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,840
when we start faffing, when all 
we see is mud and not the 

259
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:12,680
miracle, it becomes envious and 
jealous and critical and 

260
00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,720
comparing. 
I was tempted to bring 1000 

261
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,680
bucks this morning because the 
last time Rory brought 1000 

262
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,280
bucks, he called someone up and 
they had John 316 on their bicep

263
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,920
and he got 1000 bucks because he
had John tattooed on him. 

264
00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:27,800
I was going to bring 1000. 
Actually. 

265
00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,120
I even thought of maybe 10,000 
because you might have John 316 

266
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,480
here, but do you have James 316 
here? 

267
00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,080
You know, you want to know what 
James 316 says? 

268
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,840
It says for where jealousy and 
selfish ambition exist. 

269
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,680
There you'll find disorder and 
every evil practice. 

270
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,640
Anyone, anyone. 
We don't see people running for 

271
00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:59,320
that because we like to theft 
like a Pharisee, where jealousy 

272
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,240
and selfish ambition exist. 
Criticism, comparison, envy. 

273
00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,560
There, there you'll find 
disorder and every evil 

274
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,920
practice. 
We're fafing out Pharisees while

275
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,080
the city is at our door, while 
we are going through what I can 

276
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,240
only call revival. 
You might not be able to see 

277
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,560
from where you're sitting, but 
we have people sitting behind 

278
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,520
the back rows and we've got guys
sitting behind the back rows and

279
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,520
people sitting on the stairs. 
What else do you call that? 

280
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,040
Another 5 baptisms. 
I did a quick calculation 

281
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,480
recently. 
I think we've had about 3000 

282
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,800
baptisms. 
We have APM Sunday night meeting

283
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,320
that is almost as full as the 
morning meeting. 

284
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:46,960
And when the city comes to our 
door, will they find the blood 

285
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,800
of Jesus or people that just see
the mud of the people. 

286
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,680
You know what the Bible says in 
verse 34 says to this the 

287
00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:57,600
Pharisees replied you were 
steeped infinite birth. 

288
00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,720
How dare you lecture us and they
threw him out. 

289
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,200
I was reading this morning the 
message translation says you're 

290
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,520
not worth the mud he put on your
eyes. 

291
00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:15,400
When we faff like Pharisees, we 
have the city coming to revival 

292
00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:20,720
and instead of being having the 
privilege of being introduced to

293
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,920
the blood of Jesus, we're 
pointing out the mud on their 

294
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,000
eyes. 
Instead of encountering Jesus, 

295
00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,800
we encounter Pharisees who tend 
to throw them out. 

296
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,240
Know the the scariest thing 
about faffing like a Pharisee? 

297
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,320
When the disciples encountered 
Jesus, they changed and we're 

298
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,680
going to see in a few seconds. 
When the man born blind 

299
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,320
encountered Jesus, he changed. 
When the Pharisees encountered 

300
00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,440
Jesus, their hard hearts 
remained unchanged. 

301
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,760
Such is the power of the hearts 
that does not ongoingly 

302
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,240
encounter Jesus. 
We can remain in our 

303
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,960
Phariseeism. 
You know Jesus tells the 

304
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,160
prodigal, the parable of the 
prodigal son. 

305
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,560
You know who he tells it to? 
He tells it to the Pharisees and

306
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:21,000
he leaves the clanger for the 
very end where the lighting that

307
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,240
got himself into trouble, 
sleeping with prostitutes, 

308
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,520
squandering money, gambling, 
drinking, you name it. 

309
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,560
He goes back into the house, but
the squeaky clean pharisaical 

310
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,760
older brother gets left outside.
This is the danger. 3 CR. 

311
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:40,840
If we're in the midst of who 
knows why, but a radical revival

312
00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,000
in the east of Pretoria. 
If we remain as Pharisees, if we

313
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,680
don't allow God access to that 
heart, it's highly likely that 

314
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,240
he will leave us outside and 
he'll move along. 

315
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,480
He'll take his presence and 
he'll take his blood and he'll 

316
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,520
take the work of the cross to 
another place so that they can 

317
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,680
hear the gospel for themselves 
and not encounter people who 

318
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,040
more than likely will throw you 
out because if you're mad and 

319
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,120
because you don't dress like we 
dress and drive like we drive 

320
00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:12,120
and quote Scripture the way we 
do and raise our hands in the 

321
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,920
most holy way, faffing like 
Pharisees. 

322
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:23,080
Well, God is wanting to 
encounter hearts Life group's 

323
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:29,280
going to be fun this week. 
I'm just glad I get to share 

324
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,200
this because it saves me so much
on therapy because I find in my 

325
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:40,200
heart a faffing Pharisee. 
The only thing that sets me free

326
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,560
is an encounter, ongoing 
encounter with Jesus Christ. 

327
00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,240
So the disciples, the Pharisees,
and in my favorite, the man born

328
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:50,800
blind. 
This is what the chapter is all 

329
00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:56,080
about. 
Verse 35 says Jesus heard that 

330
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,680
they'd thrown him out, and when 
he found him, I loved it. 

331
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,640
When he found the man born 
blind, he said, do you believe 

332
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,520
in the Son of Man? 
Who is he, Sir? 

333
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:11,600
I underlined that in my Bible, 
Sir told me so that I might 

334
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:13,800
believe in him. 
Jesus said you have now seen 

335
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,200
him, in fact he is the one 
speaking with you. 

336
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,760
Then the man said, Lord, first 
of all, Sir, now it's Lord I 

337
00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:28,600
believe, and he worshipped him. 
The most incredible encounter, 

338
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:34,280
just one encounter and he goes 
from calling him Sir to Lord. 

339
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:40,560
It's that encounter that changes
our hearts orientation from Sir 

340
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,360
to Savior. 
But it takes this encounter. 

341
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,800
I've mentioned many times that 
that God is up to something 

342
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,240
globally, news out of the UK, 
they're now referring to it as a

343
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,600
silent revival because there are
so many people coming to church 

344
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,880
without advertising, without 
your typical, you know, big tent

345
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,640
revival moments and big 
preachers coming in. 

346
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,960
It's just somehow God is drawing
people in droves. 

347
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,680
I was listening last week to a 
sermon in the UK, one of my 

348
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,440
favorite churches there that a 
mate of mine goes to, and they 

349
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:18,480
announced their fifth service. 
They had one and might have 

350
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,560
needed a second at the beginning
of last year. 

351
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,200
Now, a year later, they have to 
have five services to handle the

352
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,080
influx of people as God is 
drawing people to himself. 

353
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,440
And as crazy as that is, do you 
know what the fastest growing 

354
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,400
church is? 
It's the church in Iran. 

355
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,120
Hey, that's just got showing 
off. 

356
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,520
Yeah, you do you. 
I'm going after my people. 

357
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,080
And I read the Pew Research 
coming out recently talking 

358
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,280
about the US That's the irony of
the way God works. 

359
00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:58,160
The UK, Iran, the US and I said 
this. 

360
00:21:58,160 --> 00:21:59,360
This is according to Pew 
Research. 

361
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:05,800
They say in the US for the first
time in two generations, there's

362
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,120
a rise in people saying I 
believe in God. 

363
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,120
Now the last time I came across 
an article from Pew Research 

364
00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:15,960
Group, it was headed the 
collapse of Christianity. 

365
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:18,920
Now they're talking about the 
first time in two generations. 

366
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,760
There's there's an increase of 
growth churches that I think 

367
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,040
they had something like 3000 
churches closing a year in the 

368
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,120
US. 
Now it's changing. 

369
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,600
Now these churches being 
planted, tendency is up. 

370
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,280
People are flocking to church. 
But if you drill down on that, 

371
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,320
it's a very interesting part of 
that study. 

372
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:48,040
They found that only 27% we're 
encountering Jesus relationally 

373
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,880
and that's concerning. 
That should be concerning for 

374
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,320
us. 
It should be concerning for you 

375
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,640
because you might be here as 
part of the silent revival. 

376
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,120
You know, you come, you've heard
things are happening and, and 

377
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:02,800
this is a happening place and 
the coffee is not so bad and so,

378
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:06,000
and the preachers try to keep to
30 minutes. 

379
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,160
But have you encountered Jesus? 
Only 27%. 

380
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,520
So they are engaging in a 
relationship with God. 

381
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,240
So there's there's openness, 
there's interest. 

382
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,400
But unless they've encountered 
Jesus, it's not revival, it's 

383
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,840
attendance. 
Revival is when your heart is 

384
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,400
awoken by the presence of a 
loving God wading into your life

385
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:37,400
and you go from Sir to Savior 
had a crazy story. 

386
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:39,920
A guy who's like so anti 
seatbelts. 

387
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,360
I don't know if there's any anti
seatbelts people here. 

388
00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,440
I'll I'll trade lightly. 
But it was so bad. 

389
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,600
He grew up on a farm and you 
know, you just, you do what you 

390
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:47,920
want to do. 
And then he comes to the big 

391
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,240
city and he gets himself a new 
Bucky and the Bucky beeps every 

392
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,120
time a seat belt is not plugged 
in. 

393
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,720
See some wives looking at 
husbands, which is concerning. 

394
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,080
So what what he did was he went 
and he bought a buckle and he 

395
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,480
just clicked the buckle in and 
the seat belt stays where it is.

396
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,440
And the guy was saying that the 
kind of time when he got picked 

397
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,440
up by his mate and all of a 
sudden there he is buckling 

398
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:10,680
himself in. 
You know, he's like, what 

399
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:11,840
happened? 
You know, sort of thinking, 

400
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,000
well, you know, did someone come
to the office and give like some

401
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,560
statistics or a seat belt 
seminar? 

402
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,120
You know what, what information 
has has changed? 

403
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:27,120
And he said, he said, I had such
a minor silly bumper basher, but

404
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,200
the car had enough momentum that
I put my torso through the 

405
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,800
window, the front window, and 
they needed more than 120 

406
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:35,480
stitches to put me back 
together. 

407
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:42,760
See, the seat belt was Sir. 
Now the seat belt is savior 

408
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,200
because of an encounter. 
You see, you can come to church,

409
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,520
and it's abstract, you know, you
need a savior. 

410
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:57,720
Yeah, but I mean, I mean, my 
life is not so bad. 

411
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:04,200
But when you encounter the holy 
risen Christ and he's no longer 

412
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,200
Sir, then he has your all, Lord 
and Savior. 

413
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:11,400
I wonder if you've had that 
encounter. 

414
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,880
That does not happen 
encountering church. 

415
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,080
That only happens by 
encountering Christ. 

416
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,760
I heard old. 
What's his name? 

417
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,280
Oh, let me not get there. 
I don't want to jump ahead. 

418
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,440
I want to show you a photo. 
It's actually a picture of a 

419
00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,680
picture. 
You know, Michelangelo, the 

420
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,600
Sistine Chapel. 
Yeah, I know there's some black 

421
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,160
folks here. 
You've got don't have a cultural

422
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:38,440
bone in your body. 
So. 

423
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,880
So this is this is the tiny 
little piece in this entirety 

424
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,400
where it's God. 
It's called the creation of 

425
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:46,800
Adam. 
So you've got God on the right 

426
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,760
and you've got Adam on the left.
And I heard recently that 

427
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,960
apparently after this, I mean, I
haven't been there, but I was, 

428
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:55,440
you know, me and my rabbit 
holes. 

429
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,200
I've been digging deeply into 
the Sistine Chapel. 

430
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:04,680
It is unbelievable what he 
created and what happened was 

431
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,920
after it, as one does, you've 
got a whole bunch of applause 

432
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,280
and a whole buttons of 
criticism. 

433
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,960
And the one criticism that came 
up is like, seriously, if you're

434
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,720
going to be talking about the 
journey of mankind towards God, 

435
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,160
surely those fingers should have
been touching, You know, I mean,

436
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,640
take a look at at, at the chasm.
We've got a second photo of, of 

437
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,720
the fingers. 
You know, it's like so close. 

438
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,200
Surely you could have painted 
them together. 

439
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,120
And apparently this became, 
according to legend, it became 

440
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,440
quite a thing in the villages 
and people were learning about 

441
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,560
it and spent so much money and 
we waited so long. 

442
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,680
And, you know, it feels like 
it's uncompleted. 

443
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,880
And there was like this task 
force that was put together to 

444
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,560
get to the bottom of this, Like,
why did you do this? 

445
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,080
And what they did was one of the
guys went up, he climbed up on 

446
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:48,320
the scaffold and he took some 
measurements and he found in 

447
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,320
possibly intentionally, maybe 
not so, but he found that that 

448
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,720
hand, that finger that he 
measured the dimensions and he 

449
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,040
looked at the distance and said 
all that Adam has to do. 

450
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,120
It's just that. 
I love that. 

451
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,920
Did you see it? 
All he had to do? 

452
00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:09,720
It's just that. 
And he would touch the hand of 

453
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,520
God. 
And I love that because I think 

454
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:14,560
a lot of the time when you come 
to church and you think of 

455
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,400
encountering Jesus, you think 
you've got to climb some 

456
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,960
mountaintop, you've got to 
memorize the first five books of

457
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:24,240
the Bible, at least wear 
sackcloth and ash and fast for 

458
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,120
40 days. 
And then maybe, just maybe, if 

459
00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:29,040
you can get your act together, 
maybe you've done enough to 

460
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,000
cross the massive divide and God
say no, no. 

461
00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:34,240
I mean, if you look at the 
picture, God's already, he's 

462
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:35,920
like, he's reaching out like 
this. 

463
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:38,960
All he's waiting for you is just
respond. 

464
00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:42,520
Just respond. 
Brilliant. 

465
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,800
Just respond. 
He's here and you know, when you

466
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,280
respond and those fingers touch,
you know what could happen. 

467
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,640
Let me tell you what has 
happened. 

468
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,560
There's a guy by the name of 
John Wesley. 

469
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,640
You might not know him. 
It's kind of a big deal to us 

470
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,480
pastors and preachers because he
was one of the greats back in 

471
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,520
the 1700s. 
I found out that John Wesley, I 

472
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,560
mean, he's like they've paint 
pictures and their statues and 

473
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,000
their stories. 
But John Wesley, he was an 

474
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,040
ordained priest. 
He went on numerous mission 

475
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,120
trips. 
He was part of what they called 

476
00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,600
the Holy Club. 
I mean, you've arrived here. 

477
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,280
But he only knew Jesus as Sir. 
He didn't actually know him as 

478
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,160
Savior. 
He had this head knowledge like 

479
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,200
the guy with the seatbelts, but 
he hadn't encountered Christ and

480
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,400
had that life change. 
But then came the moment when it

481
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,280
was this like that. 
And I want to read to you what 

482
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,080
happened when Jesus went from 
being served to Savior. 

483
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:49,560
John Wesley went on to preach 
over 40,000 sermons. 

484
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,440
I think I've preached 4040 
thousand sermons. 

485
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,720
He would preach 2 to three times
a day. 

486
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,680
He travelled an estimated 
400,000 kilometers on horseback 

487
00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,600
to share this God that he's 
encountered. 

488
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,240
Yeah, You know, Artemis 2, you 
know, the distance furthest away

489
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,080
from the earth was 406,000 
kilometers. 

490
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:18,520
This guy did that on horseback. 
He continued preaching into his 

491
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:23,320
late 80s when churches rejected 
him because, surprise, surprise,

492
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,280
back in the 1700s, he also had 
Pharisees that were faffing. 

493
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,720
When churches rejected him, he 
went outside. 

494
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,400
He preached in open fields, coal
mines, town squares and even 

495
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,320
graveyards and thousands 
gathered sometimes 10 to 20,000 

496
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:43,160
people gathered to hear what 
this Christ is, that he and who 

497
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,640
he is that he has encountered 
hundreds of thousands came to 

498
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,760
faith across England, entire 
towns. 

499
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:55,160
So crime rates drop, drunkenness
decrease, prisons empty families

500
00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:02,640
get restored because one man had
one encounter just A and this 

501
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,840
went on for decades. 
And this is my favorite 

502
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,280
paragraph in the account. 
It says when you look at John 

503
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,440
Wesley's encounter with Jesus, 
you're looking at a man who went

504
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:18,240
from Sir to savior, my language,
a man who helped ignite one of 

505
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:22,920
the most far reaching spiritual 
awakenings in history. 

506
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:30,440
It's the difference between 
Jesus being Sir and Jesus being 

507
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,040
Savior. 
It's the difference between 

508
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,040
church being your encounter and 
Christ being your encounter. 

509
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,440
Have you encountered him? 
Not have you performed enough to

510
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,400
earn No. 
Have you just while his arm is 

511
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,240
outstretched? 
Have you just responded? 

512
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,000
So I want to pray for us this 
morning. 

513
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,680
I want to close and pray. 
And if maybe you're in that fire

514
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,720
and you need an encounter, you 
need him to step into your fire.

515
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,200
Maybe you're faffing like a 
Pharisee and you're going like 

516
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,640
this heart of mine needs an 
encounter and my hands are for 

517
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,200
that. 
Or maybe he's found you, but you

518
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,720
haven't responded. 
You've ticked all the religious 

519
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,480
boxes, but you haven't 
responded. 

520
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:17,560
I want, I just want to pray for 
you and where you are. 

521
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,200
If you want to just do, would 
you open your hands? 

522
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,880
Heavenly Father, I want to pray 
for each and every one of us. 

523
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:31,840
You know the depths of the fires
that we're facing. 

524
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,240
You know the difficulties of 
this Pharisaical heart. 

525
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,400
And you also know those that 
you've pursued and you've found 

526
00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,800
and are now wooing and drawing 
closer to you. 

527
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:48,920
Lord, each one of us desperately
need an encounter with you, and 

528
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,600
we want to ask just that. 
We want to respond as best as we

529
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:55,960
know how. 
We want to just respond. 

530
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,320
We ask that you step into that 
fire. 

531
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:06,000
We ask Lord Jesus that we might 
encounter you and your word that

532
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,920
is spoken of as separating 
between spirit and soul. 

533
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,120
And Lord, we want an encounter 
with you. 

534
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,040
Pray for those who've never 
encountered you, they might have

535
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,280
encountered your word, they 
might have encountered your 

536
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,400
people, they might have 
encountered your church. 

537
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:29,640
But those who have never truly 
encountered you maybe come face 

538
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,600
to face with a risen life 
changing Savior. 

539
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,560
This morning. 
I pray, Lord God, that we would 

540
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,800
walk out and we would never be 
the same again, even if we 

541
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,800
walking up back into the fire, 
that we would know that you're 

542
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,480
there with us. 
I pray for the sake of the city 

543
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,440
that you'll circumcise our 
hearts. 

544
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,440
Or that they would not come here
and find Pharisees, but they 

545
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,280
would come here finding beggars 
that have found fresh bread, 

546
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,800
whose lives have been changed by
the power of an encounter with 

547
00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,000
you. 
I pray, Lord Jesus, that you 

548
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,440
would entrust this community to 
many who haven't yet encountered

549
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:09,960
you, that we might lead them to 
your throne, having been having 

550
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:14,720
had that encounter ourselves. 
Ask this in Jesus name. 

551
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:16,000
Thank you.