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Father Gods, we just thank you 
so much for your presence, for 

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what you've already said. 
Lord, I pray that you would use 

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my words to speak into our 
hearts again, Lord, that you 

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would continue with what you've 
already started to say, Lord, 

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that you would complete a good 
work in us. 

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Thank you, God. 
So we're continuing our series 

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in Malachi this morning. 
Malachi means my messenger, 

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which is quite appropriate. 
He's one of the minor prophets. 

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All of this been covered. 
Malachi was actually written 

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about 100 years after the Jewish
exiles returned from Babylon and

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approximately 400 years before 
Christ came. 

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Before Jesus came and before 
John the Baptist. 

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The Israelites had rebuilt the 
temple, they'd restored their 

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sacrificial worship and they'd 
re established community life. 

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However, their expectations 
weren't being realised. 

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The promises and prosperity that
had been made by earlier 

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prophets like Haggai and 
Zechariah, they hadn't yet 

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materialised. 
There was a growing sense of 

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abandonment by God that he 
basically was separate to the 

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Israelite nation, where of 
course he'd promised to be a 

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part of it. 
Religious practises have become 

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hollow and just a routine. 
And Ben talked to us about how 

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the priests had neglected their 
duties and how they'd started 

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doing substandard sacrifices and
they were forcing people to come

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into the temple and to buy the 
animals from the temple stalls. 

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Skip spoke to us last week about
marriage and more. 

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That divorce was prevalent 
amongst the Israelite nation at 

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that time. 
That foreign women. 

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Sorry. 
I'll just need to set my timer 

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going, otherwise I will have no 
idea how long I've talked for. 

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So sorry. 
Skip spoke last week about 

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marriage and about how divorce 
was absolutely prevalent amongst

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the Israelite nation at that 
time. 

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This week we're going to speak 
about justice. 

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I'm not quite sure whether Ben 
planned it sort of that way, but

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I have a very strong streak in 
me that sort of, if something 

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isn't right, I get really hit up
about it. 

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And so it's probably in some 
ways one of those that's good 

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for me to speak and work out 
about. 

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We're reading from the last 
verse in chapter 2 of Malachi to

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the fifth verse in chapter 3. 
If you've got your Bibles, feel 

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free to turn there. 
I'm going to put the message up 

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on the screen, but I'm also 
going to reference back to 

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verses, and those verses aren't 
in my slides. 

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So if you've got them in your 
Bible in front of you, it will 

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just help you. 
Check that I'm not speaking 

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rubbish. 
OK, Malachi 2 verse 17. 

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As I say, it's the last verse of
Malachi 2 and then we'll go 

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straight into Malachi 3. 
You have wearied the Lord with 

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your words. 
How have we wearied the Lord, 

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you ask? 
By saying, all who do evil are 

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good in the eyes of the Lord, 
and He is pleased with them. 

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Or you say, where is the God of 
justice? 

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I will send my messenger who 
will prepare the way before me. 

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Then suddenly the Lord you are 
seeking will come to the temple.

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The messenger of the covenant 
whom you desire will come, says 

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the Lord Almighty. 
But who can enjoy endure the day

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of his coming? 
Who can stand when he appears? 

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For he will be like a refiner's 
fire or a launderer's soap. 

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He will sit as a refiner and 
purifier of silver. 

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He will purify the Levites and 
refine them like gold and 

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silver. 
Then the Lord will have men who 

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will bring offerings in 
righteousness, and the offerings

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of Judah and Jerusalem will be 
acceptable to the Lord. 

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As in the days gone by, as in 
former years. 

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So I will come to put you on 
trial. 

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I will be quick to testify 
against sorcerers, adulterers, 

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and perjurers, against those who
defraud labourers of their 

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wages, those who oppress the 
widows and the fatherless, and 

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deprive the foreigners among you
of justice. 

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But do not fear me, says the 
Lord Almighty. 

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So that was then. 
But is God still indifferent to 

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the power plays going on? 
It's funny, this week there was 

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a report released by the Joseph 
Rowntree Foundation and it was 

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sent to the government and in it
it reported that 6.8 million 

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people in the UK are living in 
very deep poverty. 6.8 million. 

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That's roughly 10% of the UK 
population. 

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It's one in 10. 
Look around at how many people 

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are here. 
That means I reckon probably 

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four or five people at least. 
We'll get into that in a moment 

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because I reckon it's more than 
that here. 

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Very deep poverty. 
That's a phrase, isn't it? 

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It's that their income is 60% of
the poverty line income, and the

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poverty line is defined as 60% 
of the median household income 

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after housing costs. 
Now I did a rough ballpark. 

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I reckon that means that a 
single person to be in very deep

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poverty is basically bringing in
less than 100 lbs a week. 

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That's £400 a month ballpark. 
And it's not that these people 

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are on benefits, these people 
are quite often people who are 

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working full time hard and talk 
about defrauding the labourer. 

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It's crazy. 
A majority, sorry. 

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A major parliamentary report was
released this month. 

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It revealed that the social 
housing conditions have barely 

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improved since COVID, since the 
pandemic. 

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Do you remember those reports on
TV about people whose houses, 

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they were in social housing and 
they were just covered in black 

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mould and they were suffering 
with sort of chest infections 

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and so forth in January 2026? 
So last month about faith 

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leaders from about 20 countries 
got together at the World 

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Economic Forum to highlight a 
moral crisis. 

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They were saying that many 
developing countries are 

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spending more on debt repayments
to wealthy countries, not to 

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banks and so forth to wealthy 
countries than they're able to 

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spend on healthcare or 
protecting their citizens from 

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climate disasters. 
The Humans Rights Watch 

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published their 2026 World 
Report and they warn in there 

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that 72% of the world now lives 
and their autocracy with 

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indiscriminate bombings and 
ethnic cleansing. 

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They note that this is being met
with uneven global action. 

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Bringing it closer, let's talk 
about Blackpool. 

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Blackpool has one of the highest
low paid, seasonal insecure jobs

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market in the country. 
Blackpool still has the lowest 

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average earnings in Lancashire 
recently. 

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Recent data in 2025 and 2026 
shows that in some 

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neighbourhoods in Blackpool, 
like Bloomfield, nearly 60%, 

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well nearly 63% of children live
in income deprived households. 

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In some micro neighbourhoods 
that's almost 100%. 

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Men in Blackpool have the lowest
life expectancy in England. 

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A boy born today in Blackpool is
expected to live 10 years less 

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than someone born in the South. 
In a wealthy part. 

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Blackpool is currently dealing 
with a homeless rate that is 

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more than twice the national 
average. 

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Where is the God of justice? 
God answers in Malachi. 

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He says. 
My messenger is coming. 

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It's probably not what they were
expecting, right? 

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Certainly not what I would have 
expected God to respond with. 

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They wanted God to show up and 
to fix things. 

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They wanted him to fight for 
them, to come and judge their 

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enemies, to restore their 
fortunes. 

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In the ancient days, if a king 
was to come and visit Blackpool,

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he didn't just turn up 
unannounced. 

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He sent a forerunner, someone to
clear the roads, fill in the 

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potholes. 
That's a big job. 

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Tell the people to get their 
houses in order. 

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The messenger is sent as an act 
of mercy. 

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God's messenger is going to 
come, is going to prepare the 

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people for his personal return. 
If God showed up without that 

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messenger pre sort of, then his 
perfect justice, his unfiltered,

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absolute blinding holiness, no 
one would be left standing. 

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He'd judge us just as He would 
judge our enemies. 

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The messenger is the one who 
gives us a chance to change 

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before the king arrives in verse
2, Malachi reports. 

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But who can endure the day of 
his coming? 

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The Israelites desired the Lord 
to come, but were they seeking 

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Him? 
See, they wanted the Lord to 

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come on their terms. 
I'm challenged by that. 

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Am I just looking for God to 
show up and sort out my issues? 

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Am I expecting him to turn up 
but have pre set expectations 

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about how and what he can and 
can't do? 

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Or am I seeking his presence? 
Am I sold out for God's presence

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or nothing? 
Am I saying God? 

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If you don't go with us then 
don't send us. 

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We want God to bring justice to 
the world, to deal with those 

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big sins, the corporate greed, 
the political lies, the 

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corruption. 
But we aren't ready for him to 

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judge us for our gossip, our 
greed, the way we ignore those 

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who are sleeping in the doorway 
or struggling to eat and heat 

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their home. 
It's easy to say how dark the 

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world is, how Blackpool has so 
many problems, but to fail to 

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recognise that we walk past the 
homeless outside Tesco's or 

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outside the station, or that we 
don't actually like the kids in 

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church because they're too 
noisy, or, heaven forbid, if we 

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had gay people come amongst us, 
I they're just too far gone. 

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God save us. 
God says that he will come 

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suddenly, like a thief in the 
night. 

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Justice often feels like it got 
stuck in traffic, right? 

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It's like the proverbial bus for
the You're waiting for a bus and

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then three pitch up. 
It feels like the bad guys are 

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winning, but there are no 
consequences to doing wrong. 

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But the delay isn't because God 
is lazy or indifferent. 

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The delay is there to allow us 
time to act to the messenger. 

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Historically, of course, when 
you look at Malachi, the 

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messenger that is first spoken 
about is John the Baptist, and 

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that's 400 years before, sorry, 
400 years after Malachi spoke, 

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first spoke that message, yeah, 
that's a huge amount of time. 

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But the Lord is not slow, as 
some understand slowness. 

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Instead, He is patient with you.
That's two Peter 3. 

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See, John came and he was the 
messenger that pointed to Jesus.

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And that's the second messenger 
that's mentioned in Malachi 3. 

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The messenger of the covenant 
gives you some idea about why 

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Jesus came. 
But today, who's that messenger 

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to us? 
It's the prophetic voice of the 

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Holy Spirit. 
Yeah. 

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And it should be the voice of 
the church, too. 

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Get ready. 
God does care about the poor. 

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He does care about the 
injustice. 

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Injustice. 
He does care about when things 

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are sort of not done right. 
He's calling to his people and 

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saying wake up. 
Oh, Sleeper, rise from the dead.

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Nice to see you're awake now. 
That's Ephesians 5, but that's 

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the call. 
I wonder what you think of when 

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we mention the word word 
justice. 

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Maybe it's the judge and the 
gavel. 

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Certainly that's what comes 
straight to my mind. 

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And about punishment. 
Yeah, but God uses 2 very 

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different images, the fire and 
the soap. 

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They have the same goal though. 
See the fire and the soap come 

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not to destroy the object, they 
come to destroy the dirt on the 

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object. 
See the refiners fire. 

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If you're not familiar with that
imagery, basically a refiner has

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a Crucible of metal that he 
heats up and gets it really hot,

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and when it heats up, it all 
melts and to the surface rises 

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the dirt, the impurities, the 
dross, and he then very 

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carefully skims those 
impurities, the dross, off of 

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the top and throws it away. 
He would know that that metal 

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was pure when he could see his 
own reflection in the metal. 

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See, God is looking to see His 
reflection in His people, in His

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church. 
When the church is out there in 

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the community in Blackpool, the 
community should see the 

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character of Jesus in the 
church. 

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The second image is of 
launderers soap. 

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00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:35,960
Now this isn't any ordinary 
household soap. 

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00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:42,280
It's not a nice bar of Dove that
is soft and gentle on your skin.

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I don't know if any of you are 
like me, whether you came across

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something called Swarfinger. 
As a kid. 

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I'd be sent out to clean my bike
and of course it was really 

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mucky 'cause, you know, I went 
everywhere on it and that chain 

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would invariably be really dirty
and really oily. 

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And I get sort of in from having
cleaned it and my hands would be

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covered. 
Not to say that everywhere else 

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wouldn't be covered in dirt and 
oil as well, but and ordinary 

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soap just wouldn't cut it. 
I couldn't get rid of all the 

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oily grime. 
And so I got the special 

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swarfiger, which was kind of 
magic. 

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00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:42,320
It just removed oil stains. 
But we're not even talking about

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Swarfinger here. 
We're talking about Londra's 

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soap. 
This is something that is harsh.

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It's abrasive. 
It's alkali. 

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If you're a chemist, that to me 
speaks immediately about acids 

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and alkalis and sort of really 
rough stuff. 

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You know, it's the kind of stuff
that's going to really sort of 

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harden your skin. 
It was used to scrub raw wool to

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get the grease and the filth 
out. 

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See, true justice is clean, but 
it's rarely comfortable. 

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Sometimes for justice to happen 
in the community, things have to

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be scrubbed, Systems have to be 
challenged. 

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If we want a clean town, a town 
free of prostitution, a town 

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free of child poverty, a town 
free of corruption, then we need

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to be go to be willing to go 
through the scrubbing of God's 

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word. 
We frequently think about 

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justice being a universal held 
concept. 

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Yeah, but it isn't. 
It comes from God. 

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It starts at God's altar and it 
comes to us. 

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So it's no surprise that the 
first people to be touched by 

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God's justice are his people, 
the Levites. 

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That's what we hear in verse 3 
and 4. 

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I had Andrew and I went to go 
and see Pete and Jane on Friday 

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and we had a lovely meal there. 
But one of the things as we 

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talked, one of the phrases that 
came out was the world is 

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broken. 
We want God to come and purify 

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the politicians, the CEOs, but 
God comes saying I'm starting 

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with the people who carry my 
name. 

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True justice won't start in a 
government grant. 

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It starts with the hearts of 
God's people when they're 

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refined, when we bring offerings
in righteousness, when our lives

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out there match the songs and 
the fellowship that we sing in 

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here. 
I'd be remiss if I didn't talk 

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about Jubilee Plus. 
When I'm talking about justice, 

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we partner with a charity called
Jubilee Plus. 

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You'll probably have heard us 
mention it. 

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You can find out more on their 
website. 

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But they're there not as a 
poverty charity. 

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They're not solving poverty, 
right? 

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Jesus said you will always have 
the poor amongst you, but 

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they're there as a refining 
ministry. 

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They're there to help us look at
the dross. 

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They're there to ask us, is your
heart broken for the things that

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break God's heart? 
They provide us with the soap, 

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the resources and the training 
to help us scrub and look at the

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justice for the poor going on. 
Verse 5 of chapter 3 starts out 

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and says so I will come to put 
you on trial. 

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I'll be quick to testify. 
See, in Blackpool the labourers 

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are defrauded and I'm not just 
talking about stealing a 

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person's wage cheque. 
Yeah, or not paying someone 

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appropriately 0 hours contracts.
How is that a thing? 

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There's no job security. 
How does seasonal work work? 

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And I get it for a business 
point of view in the natural you

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go, well, that's just the way it
is, that's the way it's got to 

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be. 
But God's calling us to a higher

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thing. 
See, God says, I see the 

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struggle of the person working 
three jobs just to stay afloat. 

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See, the challenge is if God's 
going to come and judge us, are 

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we, are the businesses we're 
part of? 

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Are the businesses we've 
started? 

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Are they putting people first? 
It's quite a challenge to do 

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that, to have a business that 
puts people above a service or a

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product. 
The vulnerable amongst us in 

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Blackpool. 
When child poverty in central 

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Blackpool hits 60%, that's a cry
that reaches God's heart, 

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reaches his ears. 
When the elderly are afraid to 

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turn on the central heating and 
instead they go and ride the 

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buses or the trams, or they go 
and try and find somewhere that 

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is heated, like the amusement 
arcades or the casino. 

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Surely we can do better than 
that. 

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Are we looking at how we can 
support the vulnerable in our 

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society? 
Part of what we want with the 

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building is the opportunity to 
be able to address some of these

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things. 
Those who rob the foreigners of 

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justice, see how do we treat the
outsiders, those with social 

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standing? 
Are we open to different 

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cultures and societies being 
amongst us? 

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Verse 5 finishes with but you do
not fear me. 

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The people who are doing all 
these things, they don't fear 

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00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,800
God. 
And this is the root cause. 

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This is what causes people to 
lose their awe of God, to lose 

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that reverent fear of who God 
is. 

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And when we do that, we put 
ourselves in God's place in the 

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centre. 
And when we put ourselves in the

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centre of the universe, suddenly
we turn around and say your 

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needs, Yeah, your poverty. 
Yeah, it, it doesn't matter to 

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me as much as my comfort. 
And that's the danger. 

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That's the root of the problem. 
When we put ourselves first, I 

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couldn't resist nicking verse 
six. 

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00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:34,000
It wasn't in the set of verses 
that I have, but Shagan can 

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00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,560
repeat it next week. 
So you get 2 for the price of 

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00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:42,160
one. 
But verse 6 says I, the Lord, do

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not change. 
So you, the descendants of 

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Jacob, are not destroyed. 
This is why we can have a hope. 

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Yeah, because God is consistent.
His justice is predictable. 

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His mercy is available. 
See, it's easy to hear these 

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00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:12,280
preachers and think, Malachi. 
Yeah, doesn't really apply to us

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00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,960
as a church. 
I We're OK, Jack. 

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00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,520
Right. 
We've got many nations 

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represented here. 
I want more. 

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00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,320
But we've got many nations. 
Yeah. 

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We are supporting Jubilee Plus 
who challenge us to help the 

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poor. 
We're all right, Jack. 

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00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,960
I know Skip struggled last week 
because he was down to talk 

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00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:47,360
about marriage and what I loved 
about his preach was that as 

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00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:52,480
well as being challenged again 
about marriage, he brought in 

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00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:58,360
about the faithfulness of God 
and how that relates to 

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00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,200
marriage. 
You see, there are things that 

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00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,920
we can take away from Malachi 
that speak to us. 

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00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:12,480
Let me share something, another 
story from this week, hopefully 

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00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,640
to challenge you. 
It certainly challenged me and 

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00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,000
this week I've been under quite 
a bit pressure. 

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00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,920
I've got quite a lot going on. 
I had to prepare this word. 

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00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,080
I had to keep doing work. 
I didn't feel overly well. 

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00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,240
I've got to prepare for another 
meeting that I've got tomorrow 

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00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:38,080
evening. 
I've been busy doing, well, kind

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00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:44,160
of doing me, but I woke on 
Sunday morning early in the 

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00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:50,920
morning about 2:30. 
It's strange how God has to wake

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00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,080
you up early in the morning to 
speak to you. 

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00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,560
Kind of says I'm busy doing the 
wrong things, but OK. 

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00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:05,680
And and what he said to me was 
you've been trying to be the 

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00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:10,080
judge, the jury, and the 
executioner. 

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00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,600
You've been carrying what isn't 
yours to carry. 

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In Matthew 11, I was reminded, 
Jesus says, take my yoke upon 

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00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:28,480
you and learn from me. 
For I am gentle and humble in 

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00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,840
heart. 
And you will find rest for your 

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00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,320
souls. 
For my yoke is easy and my 

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00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,560
burden is light. 
So when we were talking on 

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00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:44,640
Friday and this phrase, the 
world is broken, yes, yes it is.

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00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,800
But doesn't mean that it's our 
responsibility for fixing it, 

355
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,040
right? 
It doesn't lie with us. 

356
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:58,920
In fact, we're the reason that 
it's broken. 

357
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:09,680
But Jesus came to fix it. 
We get to partake in the fix for

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00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,440
sure. 
Like Ben was saying earlier, 

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00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,800
yeah, we get to be a part of the
solution. 

360
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,560
We get to work with Jesus in 
what he's doing. 

361
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,280
But it doesn't mean the 
responsibility is ours. 

362
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:32,480
When I spent time researching, 
I'm outraged, Outraged by the 

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00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:38,040
injustice here in Blackpool. 
I don't want to be someone who 

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00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,000
says, where is the God of 
justice? 

365
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:47,040
I want to be instead a person 
who is seeking Jesus. 

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00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:54,760
I want Jesus's justice in my 
life, that I might be clean and 

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00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:59,680
reflect him. 
I'm challenged again to live my 

368
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,000
life for God's cause, for his 
Kingdom. 

369
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,000
I was reminded of the Hillsong 
United. 

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00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:12,120
Have a song called Hosanna and 
the bridge says heal my heart 

371
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:16,480
and make it clean. 
Open my eyes to the things 

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00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,639
unseen. 
Show me how to love like you 

373
00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:25,120
have loved me. 
Break my heart for what breaks 

374
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,560
yours. 
Everything I am for your 

375
00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:35,600
Kingdom. 
Cause I was reading the Bible in

376
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:42,360
one year with Nicky Gumbel on 
Friday and it happened to come 

377
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,120
up. 
And I've been struck by this. 

378
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,760
I've done it in past years. 
But I was struck again by the 

379
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:55,360
fact of the Hebridean revival. 
And they were praying for 

380
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,160
revival, much as I suspect we 
are now. 

381
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:05,960
And a guy stood up and he said 
he read Psalm 24. 

382
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,400
Who may ascend the mountain of 
the Lord? 

383
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:16,440
Who may stand in his holy place,
the one who has clean hands and 

384
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:21,080
a pure heart. 
And that struck him. 

385
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:28,040
And he said, It seems to me just
so much sentimental humbug to be

386
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:33,480
praying as we are praying, to be
waiting as we are waiting here, 

387
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,480
if we ourselves are not rightly 
related to God. 

388
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:46,160
They sought together for God to 
reveal if they had clean hands 

389
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,440
and a pure heart. 
They came to understand that 

390
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,760
revival is always linked to 
holiness. 

391
00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:02,240
And it occurred to me that 
justice comes as a result of 

392
00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:05,920
revival. 
I'm going to finish there. 

393
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:12,240
I'm going to pray. 
But it's a dangerous prayer. 

394
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:19,640
So I want you to only Amen it if
it's your prayer as well. 

395
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:29,120
Father God, we thank you that 
you never fail to meet us. 

396
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:34,880
Lord, I thank you that you spoke
to us so clearly in our worship.

397
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:40,000
Lord, I thank you that we have 
the opportunity to worship you 

398
00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:46,600
without oppression. 
Lord, I thank you that you care 

399
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,880
for Blackpool, that you bring 
justice to Blackpool. 

400
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:57,840
And Lord, it's clear from what 
your word was to the Israelites 

401
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:04,360
through Malachi that the first 
place to start with justice is 

402
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:09,160
us. 
And Lord, I want to say, will 

403
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:10,680
you start with me?