1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,080 We have been, if you've been here for any a while, you will 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,200 know we were in the Cool series and we've been looking at 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,680 together what is the call upon us as a people, what is the call 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,240 of God? What does that look like? 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,160 And we've been looking at the story when Jesus called his 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,640 first disciples in Luke chapter 5, and we've been unpacking that 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,320 story. I don't know how many weeks this 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,560 is. Week four maybe, and maybe five. 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,090 I think it's week 5 and we looked first of all that the 10 00:00:29,090 --> 00:00:32,130 first call of God is to be with Jesus. 11 00:00:32,770 --> 00:00:35,370 And I said I'm going to say every week before we called to 12 00:00:35,370 --> 00:00:38,290 something we called to someone well done. 13 00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:42,730 Before we called to do something we called to be someone we 14 00:00:42,730 --> 00:00:46,010 called to be with Jesus. And often times in our modern 15 00:00:46,010 --> 00:00:49,410 world we get that mixed up. And the first question is what 16 00:00:49,450 --> 00:00:52,730 have you called me to do. And and we're so busy Jesus 17 00:00:52,730 --> 00:00:54,290 saying, well, I just want you to be with me first. 18 00:00:54,290 --> 00:00:58,660 But then we looked at in this story, which we're going to look 19 00:00:58,660 --> 00:01:02,980 at in the moment, which is in Luke chapter 51 to 11, We looked 20 00:01:02,980 --> 00:01:07,540 at the call of holiness, which is as we see in the story, when 21 00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:11,220 Jesus and Simon are in the boat. And then what happens? 22 00:01:11,220 --> 00:01:14,700 There is a separation that happens between the multitude 23 00:01:14,980 --> 00:01:19,420 and they depart from the land. And that is a typography of 24 00:01:19,420 --> 00:01:23,540 holiness to be set apart and consecrated to Jesus. 25 00:01:24,090 --> 00:01:27,570 And over 2 weeks we looked at what it means to walk in 26 00:01:27,570 --> 00:01:30,410 holiness. And then we looked at the second 27 00:01:30,410 --> 00:01:35,090 part of that was the fear of the Lord, a healthy holy fear of 28 00:01:35,090 --> 00:01:38,250 God. And we looked at what that means 29 00:01:38,250 --> 00:01:40,170 for us. And then we are on this segment, 30 00:01:40,170 --> 00:01:43,170 which is the 10 hallmarks of the call of God. 31 00:01:44,210 --> 00:01:49,690 Those hallmarks, those stamps of authenticity that the the God is 32 00:01:49,690 --> 00:01:53,600 calling you to the doing part i.e. to fulfill the Great 33 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,080 Commission, The Great Commission that we read to make disciples 34 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,000 every nation. And baptizing them is not a call 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,600 just for the quote professionals, the the holy men 36 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,560 and women of God. That is the Great Commission for 37 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,840 every single one of us, every single one of us. 38 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,480 We've been signed up to fulfill the Great Commission. 39 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,120 And so we've been looking at the, the 10 hallmarks, as I said 40 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,760 to you on week one of this, I thought I'd get through them in 41 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,000 a few weeks, but we were only to the third one this week. 42 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:24,680 So we're just going to keep going quite frankly. 43 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,040 And as I said to you last week, at least I know what we're 44 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,320 speaking on in November now. Wonderful. 45 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,640 But you know, as I've been looking at these hallmarks and I 46 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,520 said last week that they really do form a beautiful tapestry, 47 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,560 that they are all interrelated. It's like these threads that 48 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,920 come together to paint a beautiful picture of who God is. 49 00:02:44,510 --> 00:02:47,110 So you could quite easily not call this the 10 hallmarks of 50 00:02:47,110 --> 00:02:50,150 the call. You could call this the 10 51 00:02:50,150 --> 00:02:52,070 hallmarks of how God interacts with us. 52 00:02:52,070 --> 00:02:55,550 Or more specifically, the character of God. 53 00:02:56,350 --> 00:02:59,110 Because everything we're learning here, and I'm learning 54 00:02:59,110 --> 00:03:02,990 with you, you know, God gave me these 10 hallmarks when it comes 55 00:03:02,990 --> 00:03:06,070 from this story. And each week I've been diving 56 00:03:06,070 --> 00:03:09,390 into the word and studying and finding out more. 57 00:03:09,390 --> 00:03:11,430 And the more I've gone into it, the more I've gone. 58 00:03:11,430 --> 00:03:17,340 Wow, you're really showing me and us who you are, Lord your 59 00:03:17,340 --> 00:03:20,100 heart for us and your character and your nature. 60 00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:24,020 And I've absolutely loved personally where we've been 61 00:03:24,020 --> 00:03:25,460 going with this. So thank you, Lord. 62 00:03:25,460 --> 00:03:28,780 All credit and glory to him. And so last two weeks ago, we 63 00:03:28,780 --> 00:03:31,300 looked at the first hallmark, which is God calls us at the 64 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:33,220 point where we often feel weak and tired. 65 00:03:33,980 --> 00:03:36,460 Do I get an Amen in the house? Yeah, that's true. 66 00:03:36,460 --> 00:03:39,540 Right, #2. It will require us to go deeper 67 00:03:39,540 --> 00:03:41,820 than we did before. And that the truth. 68 00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:44,140 And we looked at why that is the case. 69 00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:46,620 And we looked at six things last week. 70 00:03:46,620 --> 00:03:48,620 And if you've missed this, you can catch up of course. 71 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:56,420 And this week we are at #3. Pause for dramatic effect. 72 00:03:57,340 --> 00:04:00,660 Plus, I am thirsty too. And you're ready. 73 00:04:01,660 --> 00:04:04,900 It doesn't always seem to make sense to us. 74 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:07,900 You saw this one coming at some point, right? 75 00:04:08,750 --> 00:04:10,830 What do we read in the story Luke fired? 76 00:04:10,830 --> 00:04:12,630 Let's look at this together. Verse 4. 77 00:04:13,950 --> 00:04:16,269 And when he that Jesus had finished speaking, he said to 78 00:04:16,269 --> 00:04:20,149 Simon, put out into the deep and let down your Nets for a catch. 79 00:04:22,230 --> 00:04:32,110 What does Simon say, Master, We toiled all night and took 80 00:04:32,110 --> 00:04:35,190 nothing. But at your word I will let down 81 00:04:35,190 --> 00:04:37,710 the Nets. Now we need to understand this. 82 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:41,830 You see in Galilee in that time they would fish at night. 83 00:04:41,990 --> 00:04:43,350 I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago. 84 00:04:44,250 --> 00:04:46,970 Why did they fish at night? I'm glad you asked me that 85 00:04:46,970 --> 00:04:49,530 question. It's important because in those 86 00:04:49,530 --> 00:04:54,010 days, those days they made their Nets and I did a bit of research 87 00:04:54,810 --> 00:04:58,930 of flax or linen, they made them out of flax or linen. 88 00:04:58,930 --> 00:05:01,970 And so the problem was, is that during the day the fish would 89 00:05:01,970 --> 00:05:04,250 see the Nets and they would swim around it. 90 00:05:05,290 --> 00:05:09,370 That's why they didn't have nylon back then. 91 00:05:09,370 --> 00:05:12,530 Just to clarify, which is what our modern fishermen use now, 92 00:05:12,570 --> 00:05:15,470 and you can't, the fish can't see the nylon, but they could 93 00:05:15,470 --> 00:05:18,670 see the Nets and that's why they would go out at night and they 94 00:05:18,670 --> 00:05:22,470 would fish then. And so Jesus, saying to Simon to 95 00:05:22,470 --> 00:05:26,710 put out his Nets as akin to saying, right, this is where 96 00:05:26,710 --> 00:05:28,750 you're going to catch the fish and they're not going to see the 97 00:05:28,750 --> 00:05:31,870 net. And Simon's like, Lord, we told 98 00:05:31,870 --> 00:05:33,630 all night we didn't catch anything, but now you want me to 99 00:05:33,630 --> 00:05:35,110 do it during the day? Are you nuts? 100 00:05:35,750 --> 00:05:38,190 I mean, I'm clearly adding stuff here, but I just want to give 101 00:05:38,190 --> 00:05:41,510 you a sense of the of the surprise that Simon would have 102 00:05:41,510 --> 00:05:43,790 felt. He's like, Lord, you're not a 103 00:05:43,790 --> 00:05:47,630 professional fisherman, you're a great speaker, great teacher, 104 00:05:48,510 --> 00:05:50,910 but I'm the professional. How many times we said that to 105 00:05:50,910 --> 00:05:57,150 God, Thank you, Lord, but I'm the professional here. 106 00:05:58,510 --> 00:06:01,310 I need that. And So what happens in this 107 00:06:01,310 --> 00:06:05,950 story is that Jesus is asking Simon to do something that 108 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:08,910 doesn't make any sense. That goes against the the 109 00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:13,650 conventional wisdom of the day. And isn't that the same with us? 110 00:06:14,610 --> 00:06:18,090 You see, when God calls us to do something, oftentimes we're like 111 00:06:18,370 --> 00:06:22,050 Lord, That does not make any sense. 112 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:28,330 So why? Why doesn't what God always asks 113 00:06:28,330 --> 00:06:31,810 us to do makes sense? I've got three reasons I've 114 00:06:31,810 --> 00:06:33,890 decided to revert to the three-point sermon model. 115 00:06:33,890 --> 00:06:36,090 You'll be pleased to know it's only three points. 116 00:06:37,010 --> 00:06:42,550 Here's the first point. God's ways are not our ways. 117 00:06:45,990 --> 00:06:48,510 I'm sure you all know I saw 55-8 to 9. 118 00:06:48,510 --> 00:06:51,990 It says this for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 119 00:06:51,990 --> 00:06:54,310 your ways. My ways, declares the Lord. 120 00:06:54,310 --> 00:06:58,270 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways 121 00:06:58,270 --> 00:07:00,830 higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 122 00:07:01,390 --> 00:07:04,190 That's a fairly comprehensive explanation, I think. 123 00:07:05,510 --> 00:07:07,950 See, to us, God just does not make sense. 124 00:07:08,790 --> 00:07:11,840 His way of doing things doesn't make sense to us. 125 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,920 I mean, let's imagine the Israelites, they've just come 126 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,760 out of of Egypt, a type of world. 127 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,200 We looked at that in terms of holiness a few weeks ago. 128 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,960 And they get to the Red Sea. And so far so good. 129 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:26,440 I mean, they've come out with spoils. 130 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,400 This is amazing. And all of a sudden Pharaoh's 131 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,200 changed his mind and that he's coming with the army. 132 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,040 And they get to the Red Sea. They're like, what? 133 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,000 OK, Moses, have you got a plan, Moses? 134 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,880 Like, I've got a plan. They're like, fantastic. 135 00:07:40,290 --> 00:07:41,370 Are we going to build some bridges? 136 00:07:42,890 --> 00:07:44,530 Are we going to build a tanker ship? 137 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:46,610 And Moses is like, I've got a plan. 138 00:07:46,610 --> 00:07:52,050 I'm going to put my staff up. Excuse me. 139 00:07:52,330 --> 00:07:53,770 So you're going to put your staff up? 140 00:07:55,050 --> 00:07:59,010 He's really gone bonkers now. No. 141 00:07:59,010 --> 00:08:01,330 God has told me to raise my staff. 142 00:08:02,170 --> 00:08:04,010 What? That does not make sense. 143 00:08:04,770 --> 00:08:07,140 I mean, what about Gideon? We looked at Gideon, didn't we? 144 00:08:07,140 --> 00:08:09,700 When we looked at the fact that God often calls us when we're 145 00:08:09,700 --> 00:08:12,340 feeling we're weak and tired. And he speaks to Gideon and says 146 00:08:12,340 --> 00:08:16,100 this one And Gideon's the the smallest and the smallest clan, 147 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:19,380 etcetera, etcetera. And Gideon eventually must as an 148 00:08:19,380 --> 00:08:21,460 army of 32,000 men. Right. 149 00:08:21,460 --> 00:08:23,740 We might have some hope. And and God says right. 150 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:26,500 Too many people. Excuse me. 151 00:08:26,780 --> 00:08:28,620 Yeah, yeah. Too many people say to if 152 00:08:28,620 --> 00:08:31,100 anybody's scared you can leave 20,000 pop off. 153 00:08:31,540 --> 00:08:36,510 I'm left with 10,000. Oh wow, 10,000 might be able to 154 00:08:36,510 --> 00:08:38,789 get away with it because no, no, no, too much. 155 00:08:39,789 --> 00:08:42,710 I think there's some number of tests you can read about it. 156 00:08:43,030 --> 00:08:44,790 And guess how many men Gideon ends up with? 157 00:08:45,550 --> 00:08:50,230 300 Well done, 300 from 32,000 odd to 300 men. 158 00:08:50,750 --> 00:08:54,150 That, to me and to Gideon, probably did not make sense. 159 00:08:55,750 --> 00:08:58,310 Are there times in your life when God has asked you to do 160 00:08:58,310 --> 00:09:02,030 something that doesn't seem to make any sense? 161 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,280 I know they persecuted you. I know they spoke badly about 162 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:12,480 you. But I want you to pray for them. 163 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,640 What? That's not worldly sense. 164 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:17,640 No, my ways are higher than your ways. 165 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:24,480 I remember many years ago, I would say this was about 2000 166 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,800 and nine, 2010 At the time. Stephan, I live in Australia and 167 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,680 I was on a bus going to work. I just started. 168 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,670 I just left the company I was working with and I was starting 169 00:09:36,670 --> 00:09:38,990 a new company. And I was reading a book by 170 00:09:38,990 --> 00:09:43,230 Andrew Murray, a 19th century theologian and pastor, South 171 00:09:43,230 --> 00:09:46,190 African pastor, and it was called A Biden in the Vine, a 172 00:09:46,310 --> 00:09:47,870 true classic if you want to read that. 173 00:09:47,870 --> 00:09:51,150 It's a fantastic book. And I remember praying a very 174 00:09:51,150 --> 00:09:53,390 dangerous prayer on the back of this bus. 175 00:09:54,470 --> 00:09:57,070 And I don't advise you to pray this unless this is what your 176 00:09:57,070 --> 00:09:58,430 heart, the Lord's, leading you to. 177 00:09:58,430 --> 00:10:01,270 It was this. Oh Lord, would you break me, you 178 00:10:03,790 --> 00:10:09,050 dangerous, right, Lord. I'm convicted of my pride. 179 00:10:10,250 --> 00:10:13,290 I'm convicted of the fact that I don't put you first. 180 00:10:13,570 --> 00:10:16,530 I'm convicted of the fat Lord God that I don't abide in you. 181 00:10:17,170 --> 00:10:25,210 So would you break me for you? And then as I said at that time, 182 00:10:25,210 --> 00:10:27,770 I I prayed it. And as I said, I had went to 183 00:10:27,770 --> 00:10:29,890 start a company that the Lord lead us to. 184 00:10:29,890 --> 00:10:34,290 And my purpose was to build a company and sell it. 185 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:41,360 His purpose was to answer my prayer during the next how many 186 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:47,040 years, 1213 years or whatever it was. 187 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,120 My way was to try and stay with my company and do it on the 188 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,560 side, this new thing. And when I proved it out, then 189 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:56,160 leave that company. Jesus's way was no, you're going 190 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:57,520 to leave it and you're going to trust in me. 191 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:00,280 But God, that doesn't make sense. 192 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:02,840 My ways are higher than your ways. 193 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,080 His way was for me to leave a secure job when our eldest was 194 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,960 only one, to put all of our savings into this business and 195 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,960 to trust him. And it didn't make any sense. 196 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,520 But Steph and I had a piece. This was from the Lord. 197 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,880 Sometimes when God calls you to do something, it will go against 198 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,520 conventional wisdom. It will not make sense to you, 199 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,200 and it will be akin to saying go fish during the day when the 200 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,560 fish can see the Nets and you're like, it doesn't make sense. 201 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:40,360 And God says do what I say. By the way, subsequently by the 202 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,640 blessing of the Lord, we did sell the company, but that 203 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,480 wasn't the point. That was a blessing. 204 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,920 But what he was focused on was breaking me and conforming me to 205 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,240 the lightness of his son. And I'm grateful to God for 206 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,440 that. Number two, His ways are not our 207 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:55,360 ways. What else? 208 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,160 You're going to like this one. His wisdom is not our wisdom. 209 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:04,940 No surprises there. One Corinthians won. 210 00:12:05,380 --> 00:12:08,260 So the Apostle Paul is right into the church in Corinth, and 211 00:12:08,820 --> 00:12:11,980 he says the word of the cross is folly to those who are 212 00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:13,500 perishing. In other words, it's bonkers. 213 00:12:13,740 --> 00:12:16,340 What? That's that doesn't make sense. 214 00:12:17,780 --> 00:12:19,420 Jesus the man dying on the cross? 215 00:12:19,420 --> 00:12:22,220 No, that's ridiculous. But to us who are being saved, 216 00:12:22,220 --> 00:12:24,940 it is a power of God, for it is written. 217 00:12:24,940 --> 00:12:28,100 I would destroy the wisdom of the wise quotes, wisdom of the 218 00:12:28,100 --> 00:12:30,220 Wis and the discernment of the discerning. 219 00:12:30,220 --> 00:12:32,940 I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? 220 00:12:32,940 --> 00:12:36,980 Go, show me. Where is the scribe? 221 00:12:37,740 --> 00:12:40,340 Where are the teachers? Where is the debater of this 222 00:12:40,340 --> 00:12:44,140 age? Has not God made foolish the 223 00:12:44,140 --> 00:12:49,100 wisdom of the world? You see, godly wisdom looks very 224 00:12:49,100 --> 00:12:55,160 different from worldly wisdom. And God's wisdom often will 225 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,400 require us to do something opposite to our natural 226 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,240 inclinations. What do I mean by that? 227 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,240 Let's look at the difference between worldly wisdom and God's 228 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,000 wisdom. Worldly wisdom is a wisdom by 229 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,240 learning, OK? It's by interacting with the 230 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,560 world around us as we explore it. 231 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,560 And this is how we gain wisdom. We become, quote wise. 232 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,440 Ah, I discovered this. I therefore know what to do in 233 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,890 that situation, right? I was. 234 00:13:23,490 --> 00:13:26,170 I know I'm getting older because I really like BBC Radio 4. 235 00:13:28,170 --> 00:13:29,130 Anyone. Anyone. 236 00:13:29,170 --> 00:13:30,970 Yeah, I hope I haven't offended anyone. 237 00:13:30,970 --> 00:13:34,330 By the way, I love BBC Radio Four and I love having this. 238 00:13:34,330 --> 00:13:36,730 The BBC sounds out. I listen to podcast and I've 239 00:13:36,730 --> 00:13:39,010 been recently listening to In Our Time. 240 00:13:39,370 --> 00:13:43,090 Everyone spoke with Melvin Bragg and 1000 episodes and you will 241 00:13:43,090 --> 00:13:45,850 get experts in a particular field and they will spend an 242 00:13:45,850 --> 00:13:47,930 hour discussing that particular topic. 243 00:13:47,930 --> 00:13:49,050 I love it. It's fascinating. 244 00:13:49,490 --> 00:13:56,450 And I was listening to one on Thursday about electrons, as one 245 00:13:56,450 --> 00:14:01,090 does, and it was fascinating. But what struck me, and they had 246 00:14:01,090 --> 00:14:05,450 these eminent scientists and professors, what struck me was 247 00:14:05,450 --> 00:14:07,690 not how much they knew. It was how much they didn't 248 00:14:07,690 --> 00:14:13,330 know, by their own admission. So Melvin Bragg would say, so if 249 00:14:13,330 --> 00:14:17,410 an electron has a current, what is the electron made of? 250 00:14:18,690 --> 00:14:20,610 Yeah, we're not exactly sure at this point. 251 00:14:21,650 --> 00:14:24,010 And someone else said we think there's some quantum wave 252 00:14:24,010 --> 00:14:26,010 fields. Really. 253 00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:29,170 Yes. We think that maybe there's 254 00:14:29,170 --> 00:14:35,530 something within that that's linking everything together, but 255 00:14:35,530 --> 00:14:38,690 we don't really know. Now I'm not trying to take the 256 00:14:38,690 --> 00:14:41,970 Mickey. I think science is a great way 257 00:14:41,970 --> 00:14:45,410 to prove God's word as it is doing. 258 00:14:50,870 --> 00:14:52,470 But this is a good example of worldly wisdom. 259 00:14:54,230 --> 00:14:56,430 But this is very different to God's wisdom. 260 00:14:57,750 --> 00:15:00,710 You see, God does not need to acquire wisdom. 261 00:15:01,790 --> 00:15:05,550 Let me say that again. God does not need to acquire 262 00:15:05,790 --> 00:15:08,150 wisdom. He is wisdom. 263 00:15:08,910 --> 00:15:13,910 Are we hearing this? You see, the wisdom of God is 264 00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:18,230 the definition of who he is. It's not like he becomes more 265 00:15:18,230 --> 00:15:21,240 wise over time. He's wise. 266 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,760 He is an immutable God and otherwise he doesn't change. 267 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:25,280 If he does, he couldn't be perfect. 268 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,040 Think about that one. God knows all things. 269 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,400 He does not need to calculate outcomes or deduce things by 270 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,480 observing. Steph and I have been watching 271 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,640 the game Sherlock Holmes, you know, the BBC Sherlock with 272 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,360 Benedict Cumberbatch. We thought we'll watch him 273 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,360 again, you know. Fascinating. 274 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,110 I, I, you know, Sherlock, Benedict would would look, say, 275 00:15:50,150 --> 00:15:52,870 and just your hair's like that because of this and your shoes. 276 00:15:52,870 --> 00:15:55,510 That means you must have walked in a particular way and you know 277 00:15:55,510 --> 00:15:57,390 you've got a scratch on your ring there, which means you must 278 00:15:57,390 --> 00:15:59,830 be right-handed. And he deduces things by 279 00:15:59,830 --> 00:16:02,110 observing. God doesn't need to do that. 280 00:16:02,830 --> 00:16:05,590 He knows. He knows. 281 00:16:05,790 --> 00:16:10,670 And here's the crux of it. It's not like when we compare 282 00:16:10,670 --> 00:16:14,630 God's wisdom, we think, well, God probably knows a little bit 283 00:16:14,630 --> 00:16:17,910 more than me, so it's probably true what he thinks. 284 00:16:19,750 --> 00:16:21,270 I mean, I know quite a lot. Law. 285 00:16:21,270 --> 00:16:23,910 I know 80%. You may know 95%. 286 00:16:25,790 --> 00:16:29,670 There's a sobering verse in Hebrews chapter 413. 287 00:16:29,870 --> 00:16:32,550 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's side. 288 00:16:33,630 --> 00:16:38,550 There are no secret places. FYI, everything is uncovered and 289 00:16:38,550 --> 00:16:41,910 laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give a count. 290 00:16:42,830 --> 00:16:45,230 I mean, God sees all things, knows all things. 291 00:16:50,330 --> 00:16:55,290 That is the wisdom of God. And we can walk in the wisdom of 292 00:16:55,290 --> 00:16:59,370 God by the way we can. There's nothing wrong with 293 00:16:59,370 --> 00:17:03,770 acquiring knowledge. I'm not saying that we should 294 00:17:03,770 --> 00:17:07,609 not deduce and be smart and clever and think things through. 295 00:17:07,609 --> 00:17:09,930 I'm not saying that. But we need to understand 296 00:17:09,930 --> 00:17:12,490 there's a whole other wisdom here that God promises that we 297 00:17:12,490 --> 00:17:15,950 can walk in. Ephesians 117 to 18 says this 298 00:17:15,950 --> 00:17:18,670 that the Lord God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 299 00:17:18,670 --> 00:17:21,990 glory, may give you what? The spirit of wisdom and 300 00:17:21,990 --> 00:17:26,190 revelation? How many of you pray and ask for 301 00:17:26,190 --> 00:17:28,990 God's wisdom in your life? Bless you. 302 00:17:29,590 --> 00:17:31,390 Can I suggest that you do that daily? 303 00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:33,190 I mean, it says in the scriptures, there's a promise. 304 00:17:33,310 --> 00:17:35,070 If you ask for wisdom, he will give liberally. 305 00:17:37,990 --> 00:17:40,830 I will pray daily. And in our meetings as a staff 306 00:17:40,830 --> 00:17:42,190 team, we often pray. Lord, would you just give us 307 00:17:42,190 --> 00:17:43,310 wisdom right now? Would you give? 308 00:17:43,350 --> 00:17:46,190 Would you give us your wisdom? Would you give us the spirit of 309 00:17:46,190 --> 00:17:50,110 discernment? That godly wisdom by His spirit 310 00:17:50,150 --> 00:17:55,070 in us is available to us. It's a free gift. 311 00:17:55,110 --> 00:17:58,150 It's available. And yet we oftentimes don't seek 312 00:17:58,150 --> 00:18:07,240 the wisdom of God in our lives. Let's move on. 313 00:18:08,690 --> 00:18:11,610 His ways are not our ways. His wisdom is not our wisdom, 314 00:18:11,890 --> 00:18:16,290 and this is the last one. His reality is not our reality. 315 00:18:17,690 --> 00:18:23,330 His reality is not our reality. What do I mean by that? 316 00:18:23,650 --> 00:18:27,650 I mean this. We see with our eyes and we 317 00:18:27,650 --> 00:18:33,010 conclude that that is all of reality, that this must be all 318 00:18:33,010 --> 00:18:37,930 there is, that there cannot exist anything else. 319 00:18:38,620 --> 00:18:41,380 We know that the fish will swim around the Nets because we can 320 00:18:41,380 --> 00:18:46,020 see that that would be the case. Turns out in the story they 321 00:18:46,020 --> 00:18:48,980 didn't. They had so many fish that had 322 00:18:48,980 --> 00:18:50,740 to call their friends over to help them. 323 00:18:51,300 --> 00:18:55,420 What was going on there? Another reality you see at its 324 00:18:55,420 --> 00:18:58,860 heart here when God calls you to fulfill the Great Commission, 325 00:18:59,020 --> 00:19:04,700 He's cause calling you to walk in the supernatural, he said. 326 00:19:04,700 --> 00:19:07,660 I want you to see with eyes not of what you see, but eyes of 327 00:19:07,660 --> 00:19:11,290 faith. I want you to see not what you 328 00:19:11,290 --> 00:19:13,850 can see here, but see what I see. 329 00:19:14,690 --> 00:19:16,650 I mean what happens when we pray for healing? 330 00:19:17,450 --> 00:19:20,850 That is seeing with eyes of faith, isn't it? 331 00:19:22,170 --> 00:19:25,050 I had the privilege of praying with someone a few weeks ago who 332 00:19:25,050 --> 00:19:29,010 had his elbow strapped up and I said what would you like prayer 333 00:19:29,010 --> 00:19:31,010 for? He said my elbow. 334 00:19:31,010 --> 00:19:33,370 I said of course I shouldn't have asked, I know that, but no 335 00:19:33,370 --> 00:19:35,010 five step prayer model. You want to be asked what you 336 00:19:35,010 --> 00:19:37,370 want to pray for? And he said, yeah, my elbow, I 337 00:19:37,370 --> 00:19:39,570 damaged it and I say right, OK, I'm going to pray for you. 338 00:19:40,010 --> 00:19:41,370 Is it right if I put my hand on his elbow? 339 00:19:41,370 --> 00:19:43,930 You always ask. I said right in the name of 340 00:19:43,970 --> 00:19:46,330 Jesus, I just speak to this elbow and I say, behold, in 341 00:19:46,410 --> 00:19:49,410 Jesus name I just come against any damage. 342 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:51,610 And I pray Holy Spirit, that you would come and just bring 343 00:19:51,770 --> 00:19:55,650 healing and restoration to all the ligaments and every part of 344 00:19:55,650 --> 00:19:59,130 his elbow. And then what you do, you see 345 00:19:59,130 --> 00:20:00,890 the Holy Spirit on it? I said, how do you feel? 346 00:20:01,370 --> 00:20:04,290 Oh, my arm's tingling a bit. That's always a good sign, isn't 347 00:20:04,290 --> 00:20:06,230 it? And I said, great, let's carry 348 00:20:06,230 --> 00:20:08,990 on praying, I said, right, Holy Spirit, thank you for what 349 00:20:08,990 --> 00:20:11,510 you're doing in this man's life. I pray complete healing right 350 00:20:11,510 --> 00:20:13,030 now. Come Holy Spirit, and bring 351 00:20:13,030 --> 00:20:16,350 restoration to this elbow. Would you come, Lord Jesus, and 352 00:20:16,350 --> 00:20:18,390 do that which only you can do, right? 353 00:20:18,390 --> 00:20:20,350 How are you feeling? And he looks at me with this 354 00:20:20,350 --> 00:20:27,750 really surprised look. And he said, wow, feels like it 355 00:20:27,750 --> 00:20:30,030 might be good. I said, if ten was really 356 00:20:30,030 --> 00:20:34,470 painful and zero is here, where are you at 0? 357 00:20:34,870 --> 00:20:37,950 Amazing, he said. Can I take the strap off now? 358 00:20:38,830 --> 00:20:40,550 And I said, I don't know, can you put it back on again? 359 00:20:40,550 --> 00:20:41,270 He says. I'm not sure. 360 00:20:41,270 --> 00:20:45,070 I said, well, your decision, maybe that was lack of faith on 361 00:20:45,070 --> 00:20:50,550 my part, but what was that? What was that? 362 00:20:50,910 --> 00:20:55,590 His reality is not our reality. You see, the call on us to 363 00:20:55,590 --> 00:20:57,790 fulfill the Great Commission is a call to walk in the 364 00:20:57,790 --> 00:21:00,380 supernatural. By the empowerment of His Holy 365 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:02,300 Spirit. We have been given gifts. 366 00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:04,820 That is our toolbox. Gifts of word, of knowledge, 367 00:21:05,340 --> 00:21:06,980 words of knowledge. So that we can say, you know 368 00:21:06,980 --> 00:21:08,420 what, God is saying this right now. 369 00:21:09,140 --> 00:21:13,460 And God wants to minister to you in that area, Gifts of healing, 370 00:21:13,620 --> 00:21:17,420 gifts of prophecy. This is a call to walk in his 371 00:21:17,420 --> 00:21:19,780 reality, not just the reality that we see. 372 00:21:20,940 --> 00:21:23,460 And I love listening to this science stuff because recently 373 00:21:23,460 --> 00:21:25,340 they they're trying to the science, they're trying to get 374 00:21:25,340 --> 00:21:27,540 their head around what's called quantum physics. 375 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:33,560 And they can't understand how if there is a particle that you 376 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:37,200 observe, it changes its state and another particle that's 377 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,160 linked to it would change its state at the same time. 378 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,640 But there seemingly is no communication between the two. 379 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,600 And they've even tried to see whether or not this 380 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,240 communication is done at the speed of light. 381 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,160 And they've done some tests and it's faster than the speed of 382 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:50,800 light. And the conclusion is there 383 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:55,480 seems to be some kind of, and I use this word advisably, some 384 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,840 kind of matrix that connects all things. 385 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:00,880 And that they're coming to the conclusion now with string 386 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,840 theory that there is at least 10 different dimensions. 387 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,840 Funny that. I mean, you should read the 388 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,360 Bible. I mean, Paul talks about some of 389 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,480 this stuff. I love it when science catches 390 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:19,040 up with the Bible, don't you listen, what we see with our 391 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,600 eyes is not the only reality. And we are cool to be 392 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:27,800 supernatural, naturally supernatural, to walk in that 393 00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:31,730 because what happened with that fish was something supernatural. 394 00:22:32,810 --> 00:22:37,010 Somehow those fish couldn't see the Nets and they wound up in 395 00:22:37,010 --> 00:22:40,770 the Nets. And so when God calls you to do 396 00:22:40,770 --> 00:22:44,050 something for him, maybe pray for your neighbor, maybe to go 397 00:22:44,050 --> 00:22:47,050 and speak about Jesus to somebody, maybe to show a gift 398 00:22:47,050 --> 00:22:50,450 of hospitality, maybe to drop everything and go to another 399 00:22:50,450 --> 00:22:54,170 country and be a missionary. And you say that doesn't make 400 00:22:54,170 --> 00:22:55,690 sense. I haven't got the finances. 401 00:22:55,690 --> 00:22:58,260 I don't know the people. And you say, well, you know 402 00:22:58,260 --> 00:22:59,980 what, Lord, your ways are not my ways. 403 00:23:00,220 --> 00:23:04,460 Your wisdom is not my wisdom, and your reality is not my 404 00:23:04,460 --> 00:23:06,140 reality. Anybody want to live that kind 405 00:23:06,140 --> 00:23:08,580 of life? I'm glad you said yes. 406 00:23:08,580 --> 00:23:10,660 Why don't we stand as I invite the band up and let's pray. 407 00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:11,500 Thank you, Jesus.