1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,320 Well, when I was a kid, there was absolutely nothing I love 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:08,039 more to do on a Saturday than to go with my dad to the model 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,320 shop. That was a super exciting 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:12,040 journey. It was a little bit of a, a 5 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:15,080 drive, but my dad would drive me and my brother. 6 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,760 It was, I was like the Samwise Gangi and my dad was like the, 7 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,440 you know, Baggins of the family. And off we'd go on our adventure 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,600 to the model shop when we got there, like every single wall 9 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,119 surrounded by models of planes and trains and cars and stuff 10 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:33,440 like that. Put your hand up if you would 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,240 have been excited by that when you were a kid. 12 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:37,560 Put your hand up if you definitely wouldn't have been 13 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,000 excited by that as a kid anyway. OK, it's all right. 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,280 I don't judge. I don't judge. 15 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,000 But it was amazing. The the one slightly 16 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,120 uncomfortable thing now is as you looked across, you could 17 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,840 only, you couldn't really see from one side of the model shop 18 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,960 to the other because of the cigar smoke of the guy who was 19 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,680 basically older than Moses who was running the place. 20 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,520 And but it was an amazing thing. And I remember going there once 21 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,200 with my dad and as we were looking around, my eyes settled 22 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:09,600 upon Airfix Spitfire. That was like the object of all 23 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,760 of my affections aged 9 years old. 24 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:13,920 And you'll be pleased to know that isn't still the object of 25 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,440 my affections aged not nine years old. 26 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,600 But I was like, oh, wow, that's amazing. 27 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,320 And I remember saying to my dad, dad, that is the one I've got to 28 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:22,720 have that. And he said, well, how much 29 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,080 pocket money have you got? And I'm like 17 pence. 30 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,440 And he was like, well I don't think 17 pence is going to cover 31 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,000 the cost of that thing. I was like, but I must have it. 32 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,640 I must have it, he said. I tell you what, if you get 10 33 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,280 out of 10 in your spelling test at school every Friday for the 34 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,960 next 5 weeks or for any five weeks in a row, then I will buy 35 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:50,320 you that Airfix Spitfire. Well, every week I tried and 36 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,600 some weeks I got 10, but never two weeks in a row. 37 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,040 You know, sometimes it's like 7A. 38 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:57,520 And so eventually I was just absolutely desperate. 39 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,760 Will I ever get this Airfix model kit? 40 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,800 And then Christmas comes around, we're unwrapping all of our 41 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,440 presents and the very last present that I opened and lo and 42 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,039 behold, an Airfix model Spitfire. 43 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:15,320 And I remember aged 9 years old saying to my dad, but dad, I 44 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,680 haven't earned it yet. And like half heartedly trying 45 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,880 to give it back to him, you know, no, no, no, no, no, I 46 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:23,640 shouldn't be having this yet. I haven't earned it. 47 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:25,840 I haven't done 10 out of 10 for five weeks in a row. 48 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,600 He said, no, son, it's a gift. It's a gift. 49 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:31,880 You haven't earned it. It's a gift. 50 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,760 And my point is that when it comes to the Holy Spirit, what 51 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,800 we're learning as we go on this journey, we're in this impact 52 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,960 series, working our way through the book of Acts, pausing 53 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:44,960 whenever we come to a moment where the Holy Spirit's 54 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,600 mentioned. What we're discovering is that 55 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,840 the Holy Spirit comes to us as a gift. 56 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,160 Everything that he is, the personal presence of God himself 57 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,600 coming into our lives, being resident amongst us, everything 58 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,520 that He is and everything that He does for us and to us. 59 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,760 It comes to us not because we've earned it, but because it's his 60 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,840 generosity, it's His grace. And what we're going to do this 61 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,080 morning is we're going to take a step further and we're going to 62 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,360 say that the Holy Spirit really is the gift that keeps on giving 63 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:19,160 because when He comes to us, he then gives us even more gifts. 64 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,720 His generosity is expressed in distributing all kinds of 65 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,960 different gifts to all of us. And the question that I want us 66 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:32,960 to think about is what is an appropriate response to the 67 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,400 kindness of God, to the generosity of God? 68 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,880 Like how should we respond knowing how generous God is to 69 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,320 us, especially when it comes to the things of the Spirit? 70 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:44,200 And so we're going to start, what we're going to do is we're 71 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,400 going to kind of take a roundabout route to the book of 72 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:47,560 Acts. We're going to start in One 73 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,680 Corinthians chapter 12, and we're going to learn a whole 74 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,360 bunch of things in One Corinthians chapter 12. 75 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,120 And then we're going to apply those to our passage, which is 76 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,640 in Acts chapter 2. So 1 Corinthians chapter 12 77 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,760 going to read from verse one. It says this now about the gifts 78 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,800 of the Spirit. Brothers and sisters, I don't 79 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,200 want you to be uninformed. That's quite a British way of 80 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:09,680 saying something, isn't it? I don't want you to be 81 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:11,320 uninformed. I want you to know some things. 82 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,800 There'd be another way of saying that you know that when you were 83 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,079 Pagan, somehow or other you were influenced and LED astrate and 84 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:19,880 mute idols. Therefore, I want you to know 85 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,080 that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus be 86 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,120 cursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy 87 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,960 Spirit. There are different kinds of 88 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,160 gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 89 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,960 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 90 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,120 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and 91 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,040 in everyone, it's the same God at work. 92 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,600 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is 93 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,560 given for the common good. To one there is given through 94 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,000 the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of 95 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,320 knowledge by means of the same spirit, to another faith by the 96 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,520 same spirit, to another gifts of healing, by that one spirit, to 97 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,920 another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another 98 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,400 distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different 99 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,440 kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of 100 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,200 tongues. All these are the work of 1 and 101 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,720 the same Spirit. And he distributes them to each 102 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:22,440 one just as he determines. So here is the Apostle Paul. 103 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,800 He's writing to a really young church. 104 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,760 So it's like 5 or 6 years old, the church by this point. 105 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,400 And so really people are only just kind of one step beyond new 106 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,440 believers. And, and as he's writing to 107 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,440 them, what he's writing to is a situation where as they're new 108 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,960 believers that they're kind of like that. 109 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,120 What they've discovered is that as they submit their lives to 110 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,400 God and as they become Christians, there becomes a 111 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,040 power available to them that is like really amazing, right? 112 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,600 A super, an undeniable supernatural power has come into 113 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,640 their lives and is is manifesting itself in all kinds 114 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,280 of different ways. And it's a bit of a mess, right. 115 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,720 So I don't know whether you've ever seen a puppy get hold of a 116 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:12,320 pressure washer, you know, it's like, it's like it's a mess or, 117 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:17,720 or one of those Internet films of a baby giraffe. 118 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,000 You know, it's just suddenly figuring out what what's it 119 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,560 going to do with its legs and all of that. 120 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,480 These people, they've discovered this power and it's wild. 121 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,200 And he's trying to write into it and bring some wisdom and some 122 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,000 experience and some knowledge and some understanding into all 123 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,840 of those things. And in our passage today, what, 124 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,440 what he's, he's going to speak about is when the power is 125 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,000 available to us, there are all kinds of ways that that could be 126 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,200 manifest in terms of spiritual gifts. 127 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,080 So, so gifts are distributed amongst the people in the church 128 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,360 in a really remarkable way. And so someone might find 129 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,800 themselves, he says in verse 8, they're suddenly they have a 130 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,400 particular set of wisdom or knowledge that they just didn't 131 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,600 have before. But suddenly the power of God is 132 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,320 coming to them and they're, they're experiencing a wisdom or 133 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,400 knowledge. Someone else has got a super 134 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,320 large level of faith. And it's like, wow, I don't know 135 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,120 why, but I just know. I just believe. 136 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,480 I just, I have an expectation that wasn't there before. 137 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,920 And he goes on to say, you know, someone else has got a gift of 138 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,760 healing or miraculous powers, or they're speaking prophetically, 139 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,720 or they're seeing things in the spiritual realm and they're able 140 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,320 to distinguish between the spirits or they're speaking in 141 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,080 tongues. And, and so it goes on. 142 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,800 And what he's saying is, listen, that's all God. 143 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,400 All of these things are the working of the same spirit. 144 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,320 All of these things are what God is doing. 145 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,720 As you're gathering together. This is what a church on fire 146 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,040 looks like. It's OK. 147 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,520 You don't need to be alarmed. And actually that list of 148 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,920 spiritual gifts in verses 8 to 11 is only one of a whole bunch 149 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,160 of lists of gifts of the Spirit that appear in the New 150 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,360 Testament. So that's at the beginning of 1 151 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,440 Corinthians chapter 12. We just read. 152 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,880 There's another one at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 153 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,600 There's another one in Romans 12. 154 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:06,080 There's another one in Ephesians 4. 155 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:07,960 There's another one in one Peter 4. 156 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,920 And so it goes on. And if you were to look at all 157 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,280 the different lists of gifts of the Spirit you and try and 158 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,960 figure out like which ones are duplicated and which ones are 159 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,920 new ones, you might come up to something like 20 or more gifts 160 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,520 of the Spirit that that might be distributed amongst God's 161 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,040 people. And Paul's teaching this 162 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,240 fledgling church like this is how to operate in these things 163 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,240 in a wise way and in a healthy way. 164 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,559 And he does that in the same way that I like to eat pancakes, 165 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,840 which is never one at a time, basically like, so, so, you 166 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,920 know, I'm, I'm a layers guy with, with the pancakes. 167 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:52,240 You know, I've got like pancake, maybe bacon, Maple syrup, 168 00:08:52,560 --> 00:09:00,320 pancake, bit of fruit, pancake, some nuts, pancake cream or ice 169 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,000 cream. I just layer it all up and then 170 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,200 eat it like a sandwich. Do I have an Amen to that? 171 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,120 Anyone know? But anyway, So what the apostle 172 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,600 Paul's doing is he's layering these different sentences 173 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,080 together. The, the theologians call it 174 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,160 parallelism, right? So, so he, there's, there's a 175 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,320 whole bunch of similar sentences that say slightly different 176 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,240 things. And he's kind of layering on 177 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,840 the, the, the taste, the flavour, the, the, the texture. 178 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:29,560 He's and as he does that, we start to wonder, understand what 179 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,880 spiritual gifts actually are. And so for example, in verse 180 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,000 four, he says there are different kinds of gifts, but 181 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,720 the same spirit that distributes them. 182 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,280 Verse 5, there are different kinds of service, but the same 183 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:42,800 Lord. Verse 6, there are different 184 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:44,880 kinds of working, but the same God. 185 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,720 And if we had time, we could look at how the second part of 186 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,480 that is super trinitarian, but we don't have time for that. 187 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,840 The first part, you know, he's, he's explaining what these gifts 188 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,560 of the Spirit are. And in fact, in our passage that 189 00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:02,760 we read, he uses 5 different Greek words to speak about 190 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:06,440 exactly the same thing, which is these gifts that the Spirit is 191 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,440 distributing as he goes through. And we're going to look at those 192 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,000 briefly this morning. So the first one is pneumatica. 193 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:17,680 The word numa means spirit. And so pneumatica is kind of 194 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,680 like things of the Spirit or Spirit things. 195 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,840 And we'll see that you see that in verse one now about the gifts 196 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,840 of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, that that word that's 197 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,880 translated gifts to the Spirit is the word pneumatica. 198 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,880 And what it really means is that these spiritual gifts are they 199 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:39,360 belong to the category of things that the Holy Spirit does in the 200 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,680 church community. My grandmother was an amazing 201 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:46,160 cook. She could cook literally 202 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,200 anything. And then occasionally me and my 203 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,240 brother and sister, we would go to a house and she would kind of 204 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,640 like bring us into the cooking process and she would involve us 205 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,360 and she would hand out the tools of her trade to us. 206 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,880 And you know, someone to have a spoon, another person would have 207 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,600 a mixing bowl, another person would have a peeler or something 208 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:07,160 like that. And we'd all got get our 209 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,280 different jobs to do. And together we would create 210 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,880 maybe steak and kidney pudding was like one of her 211 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,960 specialities, but she could literally cook anything. 212 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,360 And, and my point is, the Holy Spirit is like a really good 213 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,400 cook. You know, the Holy Spirit does 214 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:23,040 all kinds of things all over the world. 215 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,520 Do you know that you're only breathing today because the Holy 216 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,560 Spirit is giving you breath? Do you know that the whole of 217 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:31,680 creation was only created because the Spirit of God was 218 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:34,360 hovering over the surface of the deep, right? 219 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,480 The Holy Spirit is the one who brings us to faith, gives us 220 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,120 the, the conviction of our sin. The Holy Spirit is the one who 221 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:42,640 gives us the insurance of our sin. 222 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:45,560 The Holy Spirit is the one who helps us to understand that God 223 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:47,280 is our Father. I could go on and on and on. 224 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,120 The Holy Spirit's a really good cook, but sometimes times the 225 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:55,120 Holy Spirit likes to involve us in what he's doing, and he does 226 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,200 that by giving us the tools of his trade. 227 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,680 And you might say what? What actually is the masterpiece 228 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,520 that the Holy Spirit is cooking up on the face of the earth? 229 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:08,320 Well, it's hinted at in verse 3. Paul says no one can say Jesus 230 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,000 is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 231 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,200 And so that's what the Holy Spirit is doing across the 232 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,640 nations, right, Sweeping us up under the Lordship of Christ, 233 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:19,880 right? You know, bringing us into line 234 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,880 like, OK, your, your, your lives are becoming more submitted to 235 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,720 the Lordship of Christ. That's his project that he's 236 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,160 doing across the face of the earth. 237 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,400 The, the, the New Testament calls that the Kingdom of God, 238 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,480 right? The rule and reign of God, the, 239 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:37,080 the, the majesty and the pre eminence of Jesus Christ across 240 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,240 the nations is being established by the Holy Spirit. 241 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:45,120 And that's that's his project, it says in Ephesians one, verse 242 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,240 9. And he made known to us the 243 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:51,160 mystery of his will to bring all things in heaven and on earth 244 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,040 together under one head, even Christ. 245 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,880 So the Holy Spirit is cooking up this masterpiece, establishing 246 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,440 the lordship of Christ across the nations and in our lives. 247 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,720 And as he does that, he hands out the gifts of the Spirit to 248 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,600 accomplish his purposes. So the gifts of the Spirit are 249 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,000 firstly, Paul says they're things of the Spirit. 250 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,160 They're engaged with the activity of the Holy Spirit in 251 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,400 the world. The second word that he uses is 252 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,240 the word charismata. You get that in verse four. 253 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,520 He says there are different kinds of gifts and that that 254 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,480 word charismata, the charist bit means grace. 255 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,080 And so it's like these are the the product of God's grace. 256 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,280 The spiritual gifts are God's generosity towards us. 257 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,200 And as Paul's writing to the Corinthians, he's like raging 258 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:43,960 with them. That's a Scottish way of saying 259 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,000 he's cross because they're making everything about them. 260 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,160 They're they're an incredibly selfish group of people. 261 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,440 Even in communion, he's writing to that. 262 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,120 He's like, this is ridiculous, guys. 263 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,120 Some people, you're stuffing your faces with the communion to 264 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,360 the degree that other people are not getting any at all. 265 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,360 You're so selfish. And so when Paul's speaking 266 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,760 about spiritual gifts, he wants them to know this is definitely 267 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,720 not about you, right? This is God's grace. 268 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,880 This is an act of absolute generosity. 269 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,520 You don't deserve it. You haven't earned it, but this 270 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,480 is God's kindness towards you. And so he's using that word 271 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,720 charismata. This, the third word, is the 272 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:28,880 word deaconia. It's in verse 5. 273 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:32,480 He says there are different kinds of service, but the same 274 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,320 Lord. Have you ever thought about the 275 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,920 difference between a restaurant and a family? 276 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,520 You know, if you go into a restaurant, everything is done 277 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,080 for you, right? So it's like, oh, would you like 278 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,320 to take a seat? They'll even push your chair in 279 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,720 for you. And, and then they bring the 280 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,680 menu across and you can have whatever you want from the menu. 281 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,800 And, and then as you start to eat, you know, they, they do 282 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:56,600 that thing where they come across and they say, is 283 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,520 everything OK with your meal? And I always think, oh, I wish 284 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,000 you hadn't asked that because, well, there's a member of my 285 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,440 extended family and you might be watching online, you know who 286 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,440 you are, who's always going to take every opportunity to say 287 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,520 that everything isn't OK with the meal, right? 288 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,120 And so, well, no, actually, because you've asked, it's very 289 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,480 important. You know, the plate's cold and 290 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,240 the potatoes are dry and the gravy's lumpy and I don't like 291 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,000 your shirt. And so it goes on. 292 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,080 And it's like so embarrassing. It's like, why did you ask that? 293 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,560 Have you ever tried treating, you know, going to like Sunday 294 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,240 lunch with your family and trying to behave as if you're in 295 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:34,960 a restaurant, right? You know, I'd like some dessert. 296 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,920 It's like you're going to get a clip round the ear if you do 297 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,400 that. You know, if you just sit down 298 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,000 and just wait for someone to push your chair in, people are 299 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,240 going to look at you and say if you're, you know, like you've 300 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,560 got something wrong with you. It's like this is, this is not 301 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,080 OK. If you, you know, if you, if you 302 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,560 go to lunch at a family, what's with your family? 303 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,200 What's going to happen is you're going to help, right? 304 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,240 You're, you're going to bring some things to the table. 305 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:00,600 Is there anything I can do to help? 306 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,280 You're going to maybe peel the potatoes or something like that. 307 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,960 And then you're not going to sit down until we're all sitting 308 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,600 down. And then once you're sat down, 309 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,440 you're going to pass things to one another and oh, we forgot 310 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:11,880 the salt. Don't worry, I'll get it. 311 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,280 I'll go up and get the salt. And so it goes on. 312 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,760 And, and, and so in, in a restaurant, everybody serves you 313 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:26,000 in a family, what happens? We all serve each other as we 314 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,640 use spiritual gifts. Paul sang we, we, we, we use 315 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,080 those spiritual gifts to serve one another. 316 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,720 In one Peter 4, it says each one of you should use whatever gift 317 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,360 you've received to serve others, faithfully administering God's 318 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:47,200 grace in its various forms. And so any gift that you receive 319 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,800 is for somebody else's benefit. It's to serve the community, 320 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,360 it's to serve one another. The only exception, as we learnt 321 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,880 a few weeks ago, is the gift of tongues, the gift of praying in 322 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,360 tongues for personal devotion. Paul says that does you good, 323 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,520 but all the others, they're to do somebody else good. 324 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,480 Next one number four, enigmata, that's in verse 6. 325 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,839 There are different kinds of gifts, different kinds of 326 00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:16,520 service, different kinds of working. 327 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,480 And you can see, can't you, from that word that there's got 328 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,520 something to do with power. It's like this is the working of 329 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,640 power. This isn't the kind of working. 330 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,120 You know, you might go to the pub with your friends, Larry and 331 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:32,480 Barry. And you know, it's like, what 332 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,720 did you, you know, how was your work, Larry? 333 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,120 And Larry's like, well, it's fine just processing insurance 334 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,360 claims, you know, and then how's Barry's work? 335 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:44,600 Well, I've just been selling widgets to district councils or 336 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,240 something like that. It's like, and what, how, how 337 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,040 was your work? You, you know, it's not that 338 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,760 kind of work basically is my point. 339 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:55,000 This is a work of power. You can only use this word 340 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,600 enigmata in the context of something amazing happening, 341 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,080 something extraordinary like lightning or the moment of 342 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:09,360 conception or the, the, the, the energy on the surface of the sun 343 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,720 or something like that. That's the kind of working like 344 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,960 something's at work, something's happening, something 345 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:22,320 extraordinary. In Ephesians 4, the the sorry 346 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:27,960 Ephesians one, this word enigmata comes up twice in in 347 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,200 it's in that sentence where it says that power is like the 348 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,880 working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when 349 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,960 he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand of 350 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,800 the in the heavenly realms. And so that is like that power 351 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:46,000 is like the working of his mighty strength which he worked 352 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,640 in Christ when he raised him from the dead. 353 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:53,520 So this working is like like dead raising power. 354 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,920 So it doesn't matter whether you're gathered together in a 355 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,840 church like this or whether you're at your Verso group or 356 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:04,880 whether you're in your workplace. 357 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:08,840 If God decides to activate a spiritual gift in your life, in 358 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,560 that moment, the world is going to know about it. 359 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,600 Something's going to change. People are going to change, 360 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,360 lives are going to change, or something's going to be 361 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:18,960 transformed because it's that kind of power available to us. 362 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:23,160 And then the last word is fanorosis, Fanorosis, which 363 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,080 sounds a little bit like something to do with athlete's 364 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,160 foot, but I don't think it is. It's just a little joke. 365 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,360 Come on, I know I'm not funny, but if you laugh it all goes 366 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:35,640 better. So it's the word manifestation. 367 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,080 Now to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is 368 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:44,680 given for the common good. We, we lived in Scotland for 21 369 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:49,400 years and in the North East of Scotland and, and my in laws, 370 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:54,720 Terence parents came to visit in December a few years ago and, 371 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,440 and there is nowhere colder or darker in the world, I think, 372 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,720 than the North East of Scotland in December. 373 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,240 And so like we made the best of it, right. 374 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,080 So, so we're watching black and white movies and we're eating, 375 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,160 you know, hot soup and we're kind of like gathered around and 376 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,160 just enjoying one another's company. 377 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:16,680 And then suddenly a storm rolls on through and there was a power 378 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,680 cut. And, you know, for the first 379 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,280 half an hour, you're sort of sat there like, oh, don't worry, the 380 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:23,720 power will come back on in a minute. 381 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,400 And then the house starts to get gradually colder. 382 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,520 And, and then the dark really starts to set in. 383 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:30,600 And we're like, oh, it should be OK. 384 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,360 And we start looking for torches and batteries and candles and 385 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,920 stuff like that. And we're just cold and dark. 386 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,120 We can't watch any films. You know, we can't heat up any 387 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:44,000 soup. And that power cut went on for 4 388 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:52,440 1/2 days. Now 4 1/2 days in the dark with 389 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,640 your mother-in-law. I mean, I'm just going to say it 390 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,840 felt like a long time, OK? And, and, and my point is when, 391 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,440 when suddenly the microwave went beep and the lights came on and 392 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,240 the radio came on and the TV came on and everything started 393 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,400 kind of burst into life. One minute you knew you had no 394 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,040 power, right? And the next minute power is 395 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,360 entered the room. You know that something is 396 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,400 happening and we can't see electricity. 397 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,440 We can't see the little electrons bursting out of the 398 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:24,880 plug sockets or anything like that. 399 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,440 But you know when you've got power and you know when you 400 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,520 haven't. And my point is when the Spirit 401 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,320 comes upon the church community, we know about it because the 402 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,320 gifts of the Spirit are activated. 403 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,800 And when that happens, an invisible God becomes visible, 404 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:42,520 right? He steps into the room. 405 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,520 And Paul actually said, didn't he, the other week when we were 406 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,320 looking at the gift of tongues and talking about prophecy and 407 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,960 so on, that suddenly people who are visiting and who know 408 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,120 nothing about God, when the Spirit comes and the gifts are 409 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,480 distributed, suddenly everyone knows. 410 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,800 And, and these inquiries are like, Oh my goodness, God's 411 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,320 here. So do you see the vision that 412 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,440 that Paul is casting for us as a church community? 413 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,200 That's my point that that this we're not just like a group of 414 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,080 people could be a Golf Club, could be a knitting circle, 415 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,400 something like that. Just so happens we've got Jesus 416 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:18,760 in common. And so we do that. 417 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,520 No, no, no, we're a community that is endowed with the power 418 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,400 of the Spirit. And when God's spirit comes, we 419 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,080 experience it. We know that he's here because 420 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,520 all kinds of different things are kicking off. 421 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,960 And so this is a remarkable and remarkable community in his 422 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:42,440 extreme generosity given to each one of us gifts, supernatural 423 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,160 gifts that we don't use for our own good, but we use to share 424 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,960 and serve one another. And, and as we do that, the 425 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,240 power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in this 426 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,440 community, changing lives and transforming situations and 427 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,120 bodies and so on, or bringing bringing us all under the 428 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:04,600 lordship of Jesus. And so just to revisit the 429 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,480 question I asked at the start, like, how do we respond to that 430 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,160 kind of generosity? You know, if God really is that 431 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,000 kind and he would do all those kinds of things, what is an 432 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,800 appropriate response? And and Paul tells us 2 chapters 433 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,520 later in one Corinthians 14 verse 1, he says follow the way 434 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,960 of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts. 435 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,200 In other words, the appropriate response to the grace of God 436 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,080 being poured out in my life and on this community is desire. 437 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,720 It's to say, God, I'm not going to be ambivalent towards what 438 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,200 you're offering. If you really are offering me 439 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,640 that in your kindness, I'm going to respond with I really want 440 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,560 that. I want everything that's 441 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,240 available to me. Lord, I'm desperate for you to 442 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,040 give me everything that I might get. 443 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:01,360 I'm eagerly desiring it. In fact, he goes on further to 444 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,080 what he actually says. 1 Corinthians 14 verse one eagerly 445 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,240 desired the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 446 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,080 And as I've been thinking about these spiritual gifts and just 447 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,840 studying what the Scriptures say, I think it's impossible to 448 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:22,160 avoid the reality that Paul is saying, hey, listen, like you 449 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,720 should be desiring all of the gifts of the Spirit, but there 450 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,000 is actually one gift. But if you like, as you approach 451 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,280 the Lord and you're saying, Lord, I would love to have the 452 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,160 gift of tongues or the gift of faith or the gift of miraculous 453 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:35,840 powers. I'd love to be a pastor. 454 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,840 I'd love to be a teacher. Whatever it is, I'm coming to 455 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,840 God, I want all of these things. But there's one thing our desire 456 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,520 is being shaped by the Scriptures. 457 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,000 The one thing, the pre eminent thing is, Lord, please, would 458 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,000 you give me your voice? Would you help me to understand 459 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,320 what you're saying and actually, I think that's the whole of the 460 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,920 New Testament is urging us to listen for the voice of God. 461 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,200 You know, I've just been well, in fact, let me say first of 462 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,240 all, it appears several times in in one Corinthians 14. 463 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,040 You know, eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially 464 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,000 prophecy verse one verse five. I would like everyone of you to 465 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,040 speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophecy verse 466 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:21,880 39. Therefore, my brothers and 467 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:28,200 sisters, be eager to prophecy. It's all over the place though. 468 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,800 I was reading through Hebrews the other day and over and over 469 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,160 again in the book of Hebrews, it says today, if you hear his 470 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,720 voice, do not harden your heart. If you hear his voice, if you 471 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,360 hear his voice, if you hear his voice. 472 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,400 Think about the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 473 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,120 right. There are 7 different churches, 474 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,400 sorry letters to seven different churches in Revelation 2 and 475 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:55,600 three, and every single one of them finishes with whoever has 476 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,920 ears to hear. Let them hear what the Spirit 477 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,120 says to the churches. Whoever has ears to hear. 478 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,880 It's in the teachings of Jesus. In John 10, Jesus said this. 479 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,760 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 480 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,560 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to 481 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,960 his voice. He calls his own sheep by name 482 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,200 and leads them out. His sheep follow him because 483 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:27,680 they know his voice. Do you see over and over again, 484 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,680 we're being urged to listen to open our ears. 485 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,280 It's like if, if there's any one of these spiritual gifts that 486 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,280 you could begin with or prioritize, it would be, Lord, 487 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,640 I'm listening. I'm listening for your voice. 488 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,120 And you may have thought I'd forgotten about Acts Chapter 2, 489 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:47,040 but let's come to that. This just to finish with our 490 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,560 time this morning in Acts chapter 2, it happens again. 491 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:58,560 So the Holy Spirit's been poured out on the day of Pentecost, you 492 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,520 know, tongues of fire and and so on. 120 people in the upper 493 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,600 room. They're kind of thrust out onto 494 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,480 the street and they start speaking the wonders of God all 495 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,520 out on the street. And then Peter stands up in 496 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,760 verse 14 and it says this. Then Peter stood up with the 11, 497 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:15,880 raised his voice and addressed the crowd. 498 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:20,920 Fellow Jews and all you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain 499 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,000 this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. 500 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,720 These people are not drunk as you suppose, which is a very 501 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,720 funny way to start a sermon. It's only 9 in the morning. 502 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,800 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel in the last 503 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,280 days. God said, I will pour out my 504 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,560 spirit on all people. If you're the kind of person who 505 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,120 likes circling or underlining things, which I hope you are, 506 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:47,040 and all people would be a good thing, I'll pour out my spirit 507 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,320 on all people. Your sons and daughters will 508 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:54,400 prophecy. Your young men will see visions. 509 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:59,640 Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men 510 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,360 and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they 511 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:10,360 will prophecy. Peter speaking to a group of 512 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:16,200 people who've only ever known God, speaking through one or two 513 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,600 people on the face of the earth, right? 514 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,960 So the prophets could hear God, and maybe sometimes the judges 515 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,840 or the kings could hear God, but apart from that, so you want to 516 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,160 hear God's voice, you need to go and find yourself a prophet 517 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,040 because they're the ones who are going to share God's word with 518 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,800 you, right? And then Peter say, no, it's not 519 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,280 how it works anymore. What the way it works now is not 520 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,360 that you get one or two special people. 521 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,760 The way it works now is that the Holy Spirit comes on all people, 522 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:51,440 and your old men and your young men and your men and your women. 523 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,400 And like literally, in other words, everyone on the face of 524 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,400 the earth who knows Jesus, who has the Holy Spirit resident in 525 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,120 them, they can hear His voice. And we need to understand that 526 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,200 the Holy Spirit and the voice of God is being kind of 527 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,520 democratised in this moment. You know, so often in the church 528 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,040 we do the thing where we say, oh, no, I think we can all hear 529 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,400 God. But really, I just want to hear 530 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,280 the prophet's voice. And I'm not saying that there 531 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:14,400 isn't a gift of someone being a prophet. 532 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,440 I'm just saying that we need to just understand that the whole 533 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,840 thrust of the New Testament is we all get to hear his voice. 534 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,640 And so we're going to pray for us all this morning that that we 535 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:34,600 would be a community of people leaning in, eagerly desiring 536 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,320 gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy, that we would be a 537 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,040 group of people who understand and recognise the voice of 538 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,000 Jesus. And, and before we do that, let 539 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,520 me let me just finish by saying this, that that there, there are 540 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:54,840 these two moments in the gospels which are really similar and 541 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,840 what, and they kind of bookend Jesus's time with his disciples. 542 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,320 So right at the very start of their time with Jesus, he, he, 543 00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:07,880 he, they've been out fishing and, and they've caught nothing 544 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,440 all night. They're professional fishermen. 545 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,560 So it's embarrassing to not have caught anything all night, but 546 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,720 they haven't. And then Jesus comes to them and 547 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:16,880 he says, if you just put your Nets on the other side of the 548 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,120 boat, then it'll be like a way better for you. 549 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:22,560 And they do what he tells them to do. 550 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,920 And suddenly they've got this miraculous catch of fish that 551 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,120 happens at the start of their time with Jesus. 552 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,800 And then it happens exactly the same at the end of their time 553 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:34,560 with Jesus. And I think what we're supposed 554 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,240 to understand from that in a way that that's a picture of 555 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,640 discipleship, That's a, that's the paradigm for how we walk 556 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,800 with Jesus, right? The we listen for his 557 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,040 instruction, we listen for his guidance. 558 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,680 And as we do that and we obey what he tells us to do, it works 559 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:55,480 out way better. And so for each one of us, we 560 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,000 are listening for the voice of Jesus in our lives. 561 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,200 But also, I just want to say this as a church family, like as 562 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,480 we go on a journey together, we as a community, we have to hear 563 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:11,080 his voice. And so, like I think I said the 564 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,160 other week, we've set up this e-mail address as words at Verso 565 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,680 dot Church. If, if you sense the Lord saying 566 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:20,520 anything to you, it doesn't matter whether you consider 567 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,080 yourself to be a prophetic person. 568 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:24,200 Although if you do consider yourself to be a prophetic 569 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,520 person, then make sure you write this address down. 570 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,680 But it's for all of us, like, oh, I was just reading the 571 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,840 scriptures this morning and I came across this verse and I 572 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,880 think it might be relevant as I was asleep last night, I had 573 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,000 this dream and in the dream this happened or you know, I was just 574 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,640 thinking this morning in my time with the Lord and I just, this 575 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,640 phrase popped into my mind. I don't know what it means, but 576 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,120 I just thought I'd pass it on. The more that we do that as a 577 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,800 community, the more we'll have our Nets on the right side of 578 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:51,440 the boat. Amen. 579 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,840 OK. We are going to say goodbye to 580 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,560 our friends on the online community who are going off to 581 00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,160 the prayer room, I think with Gabriel. 582 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,160 And so we'll see you later on. For the rest of us, why don't we 583 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:03,120 stand? We're going to say goodbye to 584 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,040 Hemel and Hatfield as well. Let's stand.