WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.200 I wonder if you can relate to this scenario, whether it's in your own experience or you can put your feet as it were in my shoes. 00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:20.440 ! You've left the children in the living room and you've just popped out for maybe 20 seconds, 30 seconds. 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:29.120 And then suddenly they're screaming, they're shouting, or worse, there's total silence. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.759 And you think, flip, let's get in there. And you don't know what kind of bedlam has unfolded. 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:43.600 But the phrase that often comes out of my lips is, what on earth has happened here? 00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:52.260 And as you do the parental investigating, you know, so-and-so's done this, so-and-so's done that, he says, she says, all the rest of it. 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:59.280 You realise that there's probably more layers because actually their discontent started off maybe because of a bad school day. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:01.899 Because they've fallen out with this person and they're feeling unsettled. 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:07.820 There's always something beyond the initial surface issue. 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:13.740 Now, I'm not exactly saying that being a church leader is like that all the time. 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:23.619 But what I do, what I am sure is that often the presenting issues are never the thing that's really the most important. 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:25.179 There's always something going on behind. 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:28.359 In fact, pastoral leadership is in many ways about that. 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:31.879 It's going beyond the presenting issue, maybe the urgent issue. 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:40.000 And seeing, being mindful that there is probably something, an issue that goes on beyond what you can initially see. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.739 Everyone experience that in some way? 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:47.560 Maybe in a workplace, maybe as we look, as we go around in our world. 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:52.299 The presenting issue is not always the main issue. 00:01:52.299 --> 00:02:04.739 And it is said quite often that in our world, and we've already mentioned it this morning in our prayers, we live, they call it, this is the acronym they use, a VUCA world. 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:07.099 This is what all the leadership folk will tell you. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.699 I think we've got a slide which illustrates this. 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:20.060 We are in a VUCA world which is full of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. 00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:23.159 All these factors are actually increasing. 00:02:23.839 --> 00:02:27.639 Whereas perhaps when we grew up, we used to think, yeah, things were a bit more stable. 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:30.280 You had a better idea of the outcomes. 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:33.979 We, you know, things were a bit more straightforward. 00:02:34.339 --> 00:02:37.519 This is a reality, folks, and I don't think I need to tell you that. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.780 The world is a VUCA place, as they call it. 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:46.200 Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.460 And I probably don't need to spell it out, do I? 00:02:48.540 --> 00:02:50.680 I mean, I just mentioned the initials AI. 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:53.320 I think of cost of living. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.280 I think about the anxiety that's being caused, particularly as our younger generations and mental health crises. 00:03:01.260 --> 00:03:02.080 It's all there. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:07.340 And I'm sure each of us in different ways are kind of living that, as we, perhaps for ourselves, 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:11.960 or we're walking alongside those who are impacted by all of that. 00:03:13.100 --> 00:03:20.820 And even the reality of our own personal finances or our illnesses that we are carrying 00:03:20.820 --> 00:03:26.080 are all testament to the fact that what is going on here, as it were, is difficult. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:34.180 And sometimes we don't know why, and sometimes it leaves us utterly confused. 00:03:37.200 --> 00:03:45.580 And so we enter a series looking at the book of Revelation, the final book in the canon of the Bible. 00:03:46.720 --> 00:03:49.140 And I was just mentioning it to someone this morning. 00:03:49.220 --> 00:03:50.420 I was like, ooh, interesting. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:54.060 Yeah, lots of conspiracy theories have been written about this one, hasn't they? 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:54.539 Et cetera. 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:58.280 And for many, it's a book where we tread very carefully. 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:07.159 But I think we'll find, I hope, by the end of this talk and the series of talks that we'll be having 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:12.539 through the rest of this month and November, that actually there's a real wonder here 00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:15.640 about God revealing himself to us. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.160 But let's start with what is happening here, if we can have the next slide up here. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:28.260 Because similarly to me walking into my front room, we need to know what the presenting issues are. 00:04:30.020 --> 00:04:38.360 And we are told a few things in very short form that will help us know what is going on here. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:45.200 So first of all, we heard, as Ros read, that this book, this Revelation, written in a sort of letter style, 00:04:45.620 --> 00:04:46.700 is from John. 00:04:46.699 --> 00:04:49.899 That's what it tells us in verse 4, doesn't give us much away there. 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:55.439 And he's writing to seven churches in the province of Asia. 00:04:55.539 --> 00:05:01.319 So that's the sort of Turkey, Greece area of what we'd know in our modern world. 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:05.680 Verse 9 of chapter 1 tells us this. 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:20.960 So this is John. 00:05:21.280 --> 00:05:29.100 This is the Saint John, probably the writer of the Gospel, the writer of the letters in the New Testament. 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:39.000 This is your kind of leading light of the early church in those early decades after Jesus had risen and ascended to the Father. 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:41.680 And here he is on Patmos. 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:44.740 And I can assure you, he was not there for a holiday. 00:05:45.780 --> 00:05:47.500 He had been banished there. 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:57.080 The Roman Empire, putting their fists, their iron fist on this uprising group that called themselves The Way. 00:05:57.079 --> 00:06:01.759 They wanted to, well, they killed many of the early church leaders. 00:06:01.939 --> 00:06:04.359 And John, they banished to Patmos. 00:06:04.419 --> 00:06:09.259 That's why he says, on Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.060 He was witnessing to Jesus. 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.560 That got him into a lot of trouble. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:23.959 And he's writing to a bunch of churches, seven churches locally, who were also under similar pressure. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.459 The iron fist of the Roman Empire was coming. 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:33.600 There were lots of heretics, people spreading kind of falsehoods about Jesus, coming into their midst, confusing people. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.560 It was a very difficult time. 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:40.760 And they were a tiny, you know, little house churches in these towns and cities that he's writing to. 00:06:41.780 --> 00:06:43.200 Amidst a bigger empire. 00:06:43.340 --> 00:06:45.980 And they must have felt utterly powerless. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.820 What on earth is going on here? 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:53.740 You know, Jesus has come. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:57.060 Surely the way was made straight. 00:06:57.060 --> 00:07:03.420 Surely your leading light, your leading leaders will be up there, able to preach, able to spread the gospel. 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:04.720 But no, quite the opposite. 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:06.199 We've got John stuck on an island. 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:12.939 And we've got churches that are struggling and being afflicted with all sorts of problems. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.959 What on earth is happening here? 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:23.620 So John finds himself in this situation. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.699 And as we heard, he has a vision. 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:32.599 And the contents of that vision are what he writes down in the book of Revelation. 00:07:33.179 --> 00:07:42.060 Now, the word revelation comes from the Greek, which would also be sometimes translated as the apocalypse. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:43.819 The apocalypse. 00:07:43.819 --> 00:07:46.099 Now, I don't know what you think of when I say the word apocalypse. 00:07:46.659 --> 00:07:55.939 Immediately, I'm like bombs, helicopters in the Vietnam War, you know, all the kind of cultural kind of, whoa, this is last thing sort of stuff. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:02.399 But actually, that word, the apocalypse, translated revelation, literally means an unveiling. 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:04.819 It just means an unveiling. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:07.699 That's what the word apocalypse means. 00:08:08.659 --> 00:08:11.219 As it were, drawing back the curtains. 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:12.060 We have the next slide. 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:22.920 And what is happening, and what happens to John, is that God draws back the curtains to reveal what is happening in the heavenlies. 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:29.720 And it helps him see, and therefore us, what is really going on. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:31.220 What's at stake? 00:08:31.540 --> 00:08:39.360 What's the real power dynamic that is happening as he faces all these hardships and as the churches face all these hardships? 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.320 And so he has this vision. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:48.779 It says, on the Lord's day, I was in the Spirit, and he heard behind him a voice like a trumpet. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.419 I haven't bought my bugle again this week, which for you here last week caused all sorts of calamity. 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:55.500 But he hears a voice. 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:59.459 And what follows is an incredibly multi-sensory experience. 00:08:59.459 --> 00:09:10.579 And as I read through it again, I just invite you to sort of feel into it, listen into it, sort of imagine in your eye what it must have been like for John to be caught up in this vision. 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:20.840 And the vision, as we see it today, I mean, it is strange, let's face it, and it's a sort of incredibly powerful vision of Jesus. 00:09:22.020 --> 00:09:26.300 But it contains what you might call sort of hyperlinks for the rest of Scripture. 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:32.220 So we've got to the last book in the Bible, and all of the images, you know what I mean by hyperlink, don't you? 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:37.300 When you look through and you click on something that leads you back to some other website or some other thought. 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:41.059 Well, it's like this picture, every word is hyperlinked. 00:09:41.459 --> 00:09:49.479 If you know your Scriptures, you'll find that a lot of the images that are used, the terms that are used, are all taken from other parts of the Bible. 00:09:50.339 --> 00:10:01.099 And it's like, whoa, this culminates in this person of Jesus, who revealed in his heavenly splendour is something that we have not experienced ever on earth. 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:06.699 So let me just sort of take us through that, see if we can pick up on some of those hyperlinks which might bring to life. 00:10:07.299 --> 00:10:10.000 Some of the strangeness of this vision. 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:16.079 So he turns round to see the voice that sounded like a trumpet, to see who was speaking to me. 00:10:16.139 --> 00:10:19.299 And I turned and saw seven golden lampstands. 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:22.399 Now there's a lot of number sevens in this vision and throughout the book. 00:10:22.979 --> 00:10:25.579 And seven would be the number of perfection. 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:36.940 So there's this sense of which he's encountering perfection by seeing this seven repeatedly. 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.900 And he sees lampstands, seven lampstands. 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:47.020 And we heard, there's a little explanation about that, that represents the seven churches that he is writing to. 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:50.179 And he goes on. 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:55.720 I turned around to see, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:09.519 Now again, that's a big hyperlink back to Daniel 7, where again, Daniel in exile sees a vision of, again, he calls it the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man coming from the Ancient of Days. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:13.159 So there's this biblical figure who's like the Son of Man. 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:16.379 Whoa, this could be the one who stands before him. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.460 The Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet, with a golden sash around his chest. 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:27.759 So you immediately get a picture of someone with immense dignity and power. 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:31.439 And most probably what a priest would have worn. 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:37.879 So here we have a high priest looking like this figure of the Son of Man. 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:42.819 And we heard, the hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:44.279 His eyes were blazing like fire. 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:53.620 And in fact, if you go back to Daniel 7, you'll see that the Ancient of Days, God himself is described in this bright, pure, holy state. 00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:56.319 And that's how he is appearing to John. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:00.560 And what follows is quite frankly terrifying. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:05.280 His feet were bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 00:12:05.920 --> 00:12:08.160 And in his right hand, he held seven stars. 00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:12.020 And coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. 00:12:12.220 --> 00:12:16.500 His face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.520 Terrifying. 00:12:18.680 --> 00:12:21.400 And terrifying if you were to face someone like that. 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:29.860 And given the sort of enemies and the foes John, the churches, were facing, that's a pretty amazing image to have. 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:35.579 And you have things like, you know, the sword coming out of his mouth. 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:40.240 Now, obviously, the sword, again, hyperlink, is something that's known as the Word of God. 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:41.659 The Word of God is known as a sword. 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:45.639 So coming out, a Roman sword, looks kind of tongue-shaped. 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:50.839 He's got something that is a weapon against the foes. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:13:01.100 And the seven stars, again, the number seven, but these turn out to be the angels or the messengers or even the elders of these churches. 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:11.600 So this Jesus figure, the Son of Man figure, this beyond words kind of image, is holding in his hands the messengers of the churches. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:16.220 And it's all there in its mists, in the sound of the roaring waters. 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:24.540 And John, seeing this vision, falls at his feet as though dead. 00:13:25.779 --> 00:13:26.860 You can just imagine that, can't you? 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:35.300 And what are the first words this awesome, powerful, sort of changeless, eternity of God vision says? 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:37.440 Do not be afraid. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:40.240 I am the first and the last. 00:13:40.420 --> 00:13:41.460 I am the living one. 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:43.420 I was dead, and now look. 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:45.519 I am alive forever and ever. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:49.799 And I hold the keys to death and Hades. 00:13:53.659 --> 00:14:03.319 This vision was and is and shall be the vision that the church needs to see. 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:16.860 And the vision itself and what follows in the book of Revelation addresses the current needs by unveiling what is beneath and behind them. 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:22.259 In the midst of Roman oppression, here is the king of kings. 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:37.820 Here is the sovereign one, the powerful one, the one whose word, not only to hyperlink back to the beginning of Genesis, created all things, but has the power and authority to dismantle empires. 00:14:37.820 --> 00:14:56.600 And we know that over the many decades and years that followed Christianity did play its part in disrupting and bringing about the closure of the Roman Empire, mainly through conversion and the whole of Europe coming to know Jesus. 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:03.420 And just imagine that from the small beginnings of somebody trapped on an island with tiny churches. 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:04.680 It was unimaginable. 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:15.120 And yet, if we draw back the curtains, we see the power of God, the power of Jesus in that situation. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:29.939 And it's like God wants to reveal his heart to John, to reveal the might and the splendour and the power that previously is hidden and might feel far from him. 00:15:29.940 --> 00:15:53.220 And sometimes, when we have those situations which do seem confusing, difficult, in those illnesses we're travelling with, with the political instability of our world, we can feel like, what on earth is going on? 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:58.620 And it's in those moments we need to unveil the heavenlies. 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:28.600 And it's in those moments we're going to reveal the heavenlies. 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:31.340 And I want to say, well, surely that is what we need. 00:16:31.820 --> 00:16:38.940 We need, in whatever situation you're thinking about, whatever you've brought with this morning, how do we then draw back the curtains? 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:49.740 Because I believe that God has a revelation for each of us that will address the particular needs you have. 00:16:49.800 --> 00:16:54.260 We'll go behind the curtains to those things that we haven't got a clue what's going on. 00:16:54.259 --> 00:17:06.099 And that will give us, just as it did John, some hope, some peace, and something to continue to live for and to witness about. 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:09.240 And so how do we draw back the curtains? 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:10.179 We've got a nice picture there. 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:13.599 We've got your curtain mechanisms in the back of your theatre curtain there. 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:15.159 How do we do it? 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:16.839 What lever do we need to pull? 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:17.980 Come on, Vicar, tell us. 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:23.539 What lever do we need to pull to kind of get this curtain to come out so we can go, ah, yes, Jesus. 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:31.659 Well, actually, there's a little hint that will help us find out how we might do that. 00:17:32.099 --> 00:17:34.180 And it's in this sort of introduction that John gives. 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:37.319 And he says in his written intro, 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:46.480 Grace and peace to you from him who is and was and is to come, the faithfulness and eternity of God, and from the seven spirits before his throne. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:49.559 Interesting phrase, seven spirits. 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:55.440 And if you look in your little footnotes of the Bibles when you get home, it's sometimes translated as the sevenfold spirit. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:58.179 Now, this is a bit of a discovery for me today. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.179 It's a phrase I'd heard, but I'd never been curious enough to go, why is the sevenfold spirit? 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:02.500 That's all. 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:03.740 It's just another one of these sevens. 00:18:04.179 --> 00:18:10.460 And it's actually taken from the book of Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 2. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.779 And the promise to Isaiah is that God will pour out his spirit. 00:18:15.399 --> 00:18:18.119 And this spirit is described in seven ways. 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:23.599 It is, I'll get my notes, the spirit of the Lord. 00:18:23.959 --> 00:18:27.359 So the Lord, the spirit of presence and authority. 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:28.419 That's number one. 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:30.879 Number two, the spirit of wisdom. 00:18:31.739 --> 00:18:35.779 Knowing how to live and how to judge acts rightly. 00:18:36.419 --> 00:18:39.059 And then the third one is the spirit of understanding. 00:18:39.899 --> 00:18:43.659 So that is grasping spiritual truths and the order. 00:18:43.660 --> 00:18:50.420 And number four is the spirit of counsel, receiving divine guidance and good advice. 00:18:50.860 --> 00:18:55.400 So these are all the ways in which the spirit is described in Isaiah. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:01.040 Number five is the spirit of might, strength, courage from God. 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:03.420 Number six, I've run out of fingers. 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:09.019 The spirit of knowledge, knowing God and his ways deeply. 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:13.380 And number seven, the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:17.360 The spirit of deep awe and reverence towards God. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:26.919 And the reason why this caught my attention, and I think why John has included this, is because these are sort of, there's one spirit just as there is one God. 00:19:27.659 --> 00:19:31.719 But it shows that God can operate in different ways. 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:34.579 It's like multiple facets of a diamond. 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:43.439 And we have here the fact that the spirit can operate, its kind of mode of operation is at least sevenfold. 00:19:44.899 --> 00:19:46.039 Now why do I mention that? 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:54.720 It's because God is big enough to address us at whatever angle, whatever perspective we need. 00:19:55.500 --> 00:19:59.539 And it's not like we create a Jesus or a God of our own making. 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:02.159 I want to say no, that is not what we're about. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:12.600 But we're saying that if we know the God of the Bible, he will be able to reveal us himself to address our needs. 00:20:12.860 --> 00:20:15.440 To address what is happening in front of us. 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:22.800 And so, just as John has this revelation of Jesus in all his power and all his might, 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:31.740 we might also find a portrait of Jesus who is welcoming children into his midst. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:40.540 Or, a vision of Jesus as he stops in the crowd to heal a woman who's been bleeding for 12 years and otherwise ignored. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:47.360 Or, we might have a vision of Jesus who is turning the tables in the temple, seeking justice, zealousy for his father. 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:54.720 Or, Jesus the parable teller, who is inviting people to consider the kingdom. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.339 Or, someone who is talking to the religious powers and authorities and disrupting those. 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:08.299 Or, in fact, he's lying, dying on a cross for our sins and to defeat the powers of evil. 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:11.700 You see, there's loads of ways of looking at Jesus, all of which are true. 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:16.900 But, they might speak to us in different ways. 00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:21.819 Ready to meet us in every situation. 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:25.460 And I guess that still doesn't go, well, how? 00:21:25.620 --> 00:21:26.080 How, Vicar? 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:27.400 How do we draw back the curtains? 00:21:27.460 --> 00:21:28.900 How do we get that vision? 00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:33.500 Is there always going to be a loud trumpet call and we look back and go, ah, there it is. 00:21:33.500 --> 00:21:40.039 What I want to say is there is what we might call an ordinary way and an extraordinary way. 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:43.160 And even the ordinary way is not ordinary. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.680 So, if we want to have a vision of Jesus that will come and meet us where we're at, 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:56.059 then the ordinary way, the normative way, is the reading of Scripture. 00:21:56.059 --> 00:22:03.119 And as we read through the Scripture, from page 1 to, whatever it is, 1,500, 00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:12.220 we create a true knowledge of what God is like, his character, the ways he works. 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:16.659 And we build, and the more we read Scriptures, that's why Christians through the ages, 00:22:16.879 --> 00:22:18.599 and I would encourage every single one of us, 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:23.879 we daily read in Scripture to refresh daily our vision of who God is. 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:29.200 He's so multifaceted, we can never, and so deep, we can never exhaust the character of God. 00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:34.980 We can never become too wise to know what God is like and how he behaves. 00:22:35.320 --> 00:22:41.640 And so we create, as we read the Scriptures, as we see Jesus kind of walking off the pages in the Gospels 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:46.020 and actually who is predicted and prophesied for throughout the Old Testament, 00:22:46.520 --> 00:22:51.060 we get an image, a seven-fold image of Jesus, as it were, 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:56.079 that we can always draw upon in whatever scenario we are. 00:22:56.599 --> 00:22:59.960 So there becomes sort of second instinct to say, okay, so this might be happening, 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:05.539 but I know that my Lord is king, I know that my Lord is kind, I know that he is patient. 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:11.519 And we begin to see through the curtain, even as we go about our daily lives. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:22.680 But I mentioned if that's the ordinary way, then a more extraordinary way might be something that feels a little bit more like the Apostle John in this story. 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:29.400 There might be an element that things are revealed to us in a more extraordinary way, 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:32.740 and a way that has a sort of prophetic connection. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:42.559 And it may well help us connect what we know of God into particular scenarios. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.880 And I want to say that those two, the extraordinary and ordinary are never separated. 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:52.380 We never get a vision of Jesus that isn't backed up by what we know of him through the Scriptures. 00:23:52.380 --> 00:23:56.720 But sometimes, and many of us here would have experienced that, 00:23:57.260 --> 00:24:03.400 there is a moment which God wants to open the curtains to us and say and remind us of who he is, 00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:04.820 that he is present with us. 00:24:05.560 --> 00:24:07.680 And this, in fact, is the way to go. 00:24:07.780 --> 00:24:08.860 This is what you need to trust. 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.220 This is what you need to step forward. 00:24:11.320 --> 00:24:12.900 This is who you need to go to. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:17.700 And those extraordinary ways in which the Spirit of God, the sevenfold Spirit of God, 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:25.420 is able to personally guide us as he personally unveils his heart to our heart. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:26.880 Do you see what I mean? 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:29.140 This is available to us, folks. 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:37.380 Those of us who follow Jesus, we have the opportunity to have our hearts, our minds, our souls unveiled to God's heart. 00:24:37.380 --> 00:24:40.140 And that is a wonderful miracle. 00:24:41.100 --> 00:24:52.520 And it's also what we can be seeking after as individuals, as a church, and as we seek to intercede and live for those around us. 00:24:52.820 --> 00:24:54.260 So it's a wonderful gift. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:06.440 And what I want to do, as I stop talking, is just to get in touch again with what situation has, 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:09.279 well, that rises in your mind or what you've come with today. 00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.500 Or even as I began to talk about this subject. 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:18.740 And it may be a personal scenario, something you are confused or hurt by, 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:22.600 or basically what on earth is going on. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:26.680 It may be something wider, it might be something to do with church, 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:29.519 or it might be a global scenario. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.140 Something incredibly complex. 00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:38.300 So I just invite you just to get in touch with what that is. 00:25:38.360 --> 00:25:45.320 And maybe the Spirit will highlight an area that seems veiled to you. 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:58.519 Thank you, Jesus, that you are the living one. 00:25:59.439 --> 00:26:01.200 You are the first and the last. 00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:03.700 And you hold the keys to all things. 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:07.319 So would you continue to unlock for us 00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:12.799 those knotted, complex, uncertain things. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:15.220 Even if it doesn't give us all the answers, Lord, 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.019 give us a hope and a future 00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:20.460 and a way to move forward 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:22.639 with you in our vision. 00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:24.940 Thank you, Jesus. 00:26:24.940 --> 00:26:24.980 Thank you, Jesus. 00:26:24.980 --> 00:26:31.200 Thank you, Jesus. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:31.200