Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Chroma Charge podcast.
[00:00:07] Good morning.
[00:00:09] I trust you're enjoying the warm weather and I hope there's no one complaining it's too hot, okay? Because if you're complaining it's too hot, really get a life. This is just perfect. Okay? This is that I was meant to be born in a hot country.
[00:00:31] I don't know quite what went wrong, but somewhere along the line that I was dropped off in England.
[00:00:42] So last week we started talking and teaching a little bit from Haggai.
[00:00:49] And the reason I've just jumped into the minor prophets is we come to a place in our journey and it looks like we're going to need to move from this building.
[00:01:03] There are number of reasons, reasons why, but we've been trying to buy it. We've been spinning our wheels for two years now. We've not really got anywhere.
[00:01:14] And, you know, one of the reasons, one of the reasons I just really didn't want to go from here is we've worshipped here 11 years.
[00:01:23] And you know when you're not here and I just come in this room, the Lord is here and I know he inhabits us, but his presence is just around. And I'm, I think, always the first person here on a Sunday. He's always the first person here, always.
[00:01:42] And so it pains me, but it feels like he's pushing us to move. And an opportunity for a new place has come up, up just a mile up the road. It's a beautiful site. I think I mentioned it last week. There's parking, which won't interest any of you.
[00:02:00] It has amazing facilities.
[00:02:02] One of the difficulties, it doesn't have an auditorium. So we've got to build an auditorium. We'd need some planning to do that, but our architects are working on that. But we would also need to raise about 8 million pounds, which is an enormous sum of money.
[00:02:18] You know, we're a young, young church. Even with all the students and that away, we're a very young church. We don't have lots of money and we don't have much time to raise it. But we are rich because we have a rich God.
[00:02:35] And I love the calendar of Haggai.
[00:02:39] Okay? Often we read through and, you know, it says, you know, on the sixth month or the seventh month or the ninth month, and we just read through it. And as I read Haggai, I, you know, he starts chapter one. Last week he was on the sixth month. Now, okay, I know the Hebrew calendar is different from our calendar, but it was encouraging to me as I was reading in the sixth month and that we're now in the seventh month and we'll probably need the money in the ninth month, okay? So sometimes the Lord just throws us.
[00:03:16] Well, sometimes I just say, lord, would you just throw me a bone? You know, when we're going to need a miracle, throw me. Just help me grow my faith to a place. Because when I know the Lord has spoken, when I know it's the Lord's word, it's hardly faith anymore, okay? Because if he has said it, it's done.
[00:03:37] So last week I talked to you and I said, you know, all we really need is one of you to give £6 million.
[00:03:45] That's what happened last week, all right? And, you know, so. Or six of you could give a million pounds.
[00:03:55] You'd be getting a bit more nervous now, aren't you? Or 100 to give £60,000. Or 1,000 to give £6,000. Or. Or 2,000 to give £3,000. And then I said, right at the end, you know, there's 3,300 on our database. We keep it reasonably, reasonably accurate. And I said, if you give £1,818 or over 12 months, £150amonth, that would be.
[00:04:27] If all of those people, that would be £6 million. And we're, you know, welcome if you're listening online. But somebody who's listening online heard that, and they said, I can do that. So they sent a little note into church and just said, I'll do £150amonth for a year. So suddenly these things become manageable. And then if we get the 6 million and we can claim gift aid that, that's 1.5 million, which starts to build the auditorium.
[00:04:55] And then someone said, I don't know if you're here and I don't know who you are, but. But somebody mentioned me. They said, £6 million. I don't have £6 for my name.
[00:05:07] All right? I love you dearly, and I understand the sentiment, but I also want to kindly say that's poverty speaking.
[00:05:18] That's poverty speaking. And this is why Haggai is prophesying, because the people are coming out of exile, they're coming out of captivity, into freedom.
[00:05:36] And he speaks first he speaks to the governor, Zerubbabel, then he speaks to Joshua the priest, and then he prophesies to the people because he knows they need to change their thinking from captives to. To the redeemed, okay? They need to stop thinking of themselves as in exile and captive, but rather redeemed by God and In freedom.
[00:06:06] So haggai is prophesying that the people must renew their faith in God's covenant. When God says something, it's money in the bank. He's done it. Okay.
[00:06:17] They will experience the glory as they start to gather in his presence. And that's something we're learning.
[00:06:25] But they must get a new vision for the future.
[00:06:28] They can't stay where they are. So if you've got your bibles, find haggai. And we're going to go to chapter two.
[00:06:35] So why don't you stand as we read the word of the lord?
[00:06:40] So we were in the sixth month last week. This week we're in the seventh month. On the 21st of the month, the word of the lord came by haggai the prophet, saying, speak now to zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying, who is left among you? Who saw this temple in its former glory?
[00:07:06] And how do you see it now in comparison with it?
[00:07:10] Is this not in your eyes as nothing yet? Now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the lord, and be strong, Joshua, and be strong all you people of the land, says the lord, and work for I am with you, says the lord of hosts, according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of egypt, so my spirit remains among you. Do not fear.
[00:07:38] For thus says the lord of hosts, once more it is a little while. I will shake the heaven and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations.
[00:07:54] And I will fill this temple with glory, says the lord of hosts. The silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the lord of hosts. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the lord of hosts. Amen. Take a seat.
[00:08:20] Don't you love the way he repeats himself, says the lord, says the lord, says the lord. What he's trying to do is get the people to understand I am going to do this.
[00:08:34] Let your faith rise up. So seven years ago, and Tom just mentioned it in the offering, the lord spoke to us. He said, gather around my presence. Get your thinking about money right and go after salvation. And for us, that was really laying the foundation of all that God wanted to do. So that's what over the last seven years, that's exactly what we've been doing.
[00:08:57] And as we read haggai, the people are coming out of exile. And whether they've forgotten or they need to be reminded what sent them there. The reason they were in exile was because they continually disobeyed the Lord. But we read last week, and it's such a rare thing to read. They obeyed the voice of the Lord, their God, and feared the presence of the Lord.
[00:09:22] This was a new season for them. Why? Because the spirit of God is with them. So the people are coming out of exile, but they're coming into a new season. And so in chapter two, and Haggai is saying, be strong, you leaders talking to Zerubbabel. Get strong, okay? Be strong, you priests speaking to Joshua, the high priest. You know, get your vision of heaven, right? And then he says to all the people, be strong and work.
[00:09:55] And the context here is that they'd started building the foundation of the temple, but then everyone had kind of got a bit distracted. And so for 16 years, nothing had happened. And so what he's saying is, he's saying, work on the building of my house. Keep going. Don't get distracted. Don't stop.
[00:10:15] I'm a God of covenant. My glory is coming to this place, and I'm leading you out of exile into this glory, just as I led you out of Egypt.
[00:10:27] So this is the message of Haggai to the people. So he's saying, don't get distracted. And, you know, well, I was in exile. It was really rough. And, you know, we were. We were in slavery, and we were just trying to make the best of it. And now we've come out and life's doing a bit better. Now's a chance to build my own thing. He's saying, no, don't do that. Or, you know, today I was in a pit.
[00:10:53] You know, my life had fallen to bits, but I met Jesus and Jesus picked me up. He's forgiven my sin. He's changed my life around. He's healing my family, and so much has changed now. Now I can really get my life together. And he's going, no wrong order. Complete the Lord's house and your house will prosper.
[00:11:17] So build the Lord's house and your house and your family will start to prosper. You know, when I was about 20 years old and I was living in London at the time, and there was a. A gang of. I don't know what you call.
[00:11:34] Is it a school of prophets or it probably should be a gaggle of prophets. But anyway, there was some prophets hanging around at that time. And we were. We were in the crypt, if I remember, of Holy Trinity, Brompton, which is a Beautiful part of London. And I was driving some of these prophetic people around and all these church leaders were coming and they were getting prophetic words and none of the prophets, they mostly from America, they had no idea who these people were. But I knew who they were and many of the words were very accurate. But what surprised me was all these leaders were coming, they had no idea where they were going. And really they'd got a bit lost and they were going, can you just prophesy of me just so I know what to do?
[00:12:18] And as a young person, that's a shame.
[00:12:23] It's a shame when the leaders don't know what the Lord has called them to do. Anyway, there was three of us and we were sorting it all out and hoping we'd get a prophetic word, a prophecy. And they were all packing up to go, hey, what about us? We've been doing all the work all day, come on.
[00:12:40] So they didn't have much time, so they did us all together.
[00:12:43] So we stood in front of them, in front of them. And if the prophets was a man called Bob Jones, Jesus, James Ryle and Brent Roux, and I don't think any of them are alive now. And we stood up and they went, ah, ah, ah. And you know that knowing look, and you go, you know what? And they said, all three of you have natural gifting and you could go and make lots of money. Thank you, Lord.
[00:13:10] But there's always a but God, isn't there? And they said, you can either go and make money in the world or you can go and invest in the kingdom and build the kingdom of God.
[00:13:21] And they went through and they said, you know, you've got Revelation, you've got there. And one of the things they said about me is you're going to preach the gospel and many will get saved if you hold on to the truth of the gospel. And it's funny, you know, the two of us went on and did kingdom staff. The other guy went into business and made lots of money and made millions. So it was. They were pretty accurate.
[00:13:47] And, you know, so we've, I and Juliet and us, we've spent, you know, 40 years building, building the kingdom. And for that we're incredibly grateful and not building lots of money. But some of you have a call to build money. And sometimes we think that's wrong. It's not wrong, it's a different call. Paul in Romans 12 talks about different giftings, and he says there's a gift of giving and making money to invest in the kingdom.
[00:14:19] So What I'm saying right now is we need both. You know, we're going as far.
[00:14:25] Juliet doesn't have fat legs, but I do as fast as my fat little legs will carry me. But we also need some of the people that are gifted in making money to invest. This is what Paul says to the Romans. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.
[00:14:43] So it's okay to have a gift of making money, but what the Lord is saying, build the house.
[00:14:51] Build my house first. So that's the first thing, the second thing they'd forgotten and some of them had never known. What happens when you gather in God's presence. And this is what the Lord says once more. I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land, and I will shake all the nations, and they shall come to the desire of all the nations. Talking about Jesus.
[00:15:14] This is another name for the Messiah. And I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. What's he saying? He's saying I'm going to shake heaven and earth and the nations. And as I shake, they will be drawn to the desire of the nations, the Messiah, that as God shakes the world, there are times in history when he shakes. And as he shakes, there is an opening in people's hearts. And that's what we're seeing all around the world at the moment. And we're starting to see it in the United Kingdom. It's been a long while coming. But we're seeing as our nation is shaken, that people's hearts are opening to the gospel and they are drawn to the desire of the nations. Jesus, he's the one who calls the nations to himself. And you look round and just in this room, I don't know how many nations are represented. But the only one that can unite the nations is Jesus.
[00:16:11] And it's always been the plan right from before the creation of the world that God would call the nations to himself. He started with Israel, but then from Israel the Redeemer comes, the Messiah comes and he calls all, all of the nations to himself. And then there will be that moment when Israel. There is a change in the spiritual temperature of Israel, when the kingdom is fully consummated here on earth and, and God will be proved right.
[00:16:43] Okay, so what if they're all coming? If all these people are coming? It's so important to build his house.
[00:16:54] You see, the one who gathers the nations is coming.
[00:16:57] And they will have been told about Solomon's temple. They would have been told stories because it Wasn't that far in their history of the splendor, that no expense was spared on the temple, that when the glory of God came, the priests couldn't.
[00:17:19] Couldn't do their jobs because they would fall to the ground. Because such was the presence of God as they dedicate the temple. Kings and nobles would come from far lands to hear Solomon's wisdom and to see his splendor. Such was the splendor of the temple that was built.
[00:17:41] And what God says is, you might look, I'd see this as nothing right now, but this temple I'm going to build is going to be greater than Solomon's temple. It's going to be greater in splendor.
[00:17:56] And you see, when you're in exile, it's really hard to see that. But as you come out of exile and you become the redeemed, we're learning to see what could be. You see, faith arises in us because we are in the presence. We're starting to see the glory of God. And then he says something interesting. He says, the silver is mine and the gold is mine.
[00:18:22] So. And this I really want you to see because it's important. What's he saying?
[00:18:28] Well, you wicked people, you're living in luxury and you've got all the silver and gold. Give it to me. That's not what he's saying.
[00:18:37] That's often how that passage is taught.
[00:18:41] All your silver and gold, it's mine, says God. And I'm a bit broke and I need some at the moment, so could you give it to me? That's not what the prophet is saying, you see, And I don't think what it means, you see.
[00:18:55] Do I believe that we should sow and reap? Yes.
[00:19:00] Do I believe that we should be hilariously generous with our finances? Yes. Should you run to the front with your offerings on a Sunday or whenever we meet? Absolutely, yes.
[00:19:13] But he, the Lord is not saying, your silver and your gold is mine. He's saying, the silver and the gold is mine, all of it. Everything belongs to him. You see, the enemy has plundered them. The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar has stripped the temple bare. The they burnt it to the ground. It's in ruins.
[00:19:37] And the Lord is saying, it's all mine. And they may well look at it and go, well, I haven't got six quid to my name, let alone six million.
[00:19:48] How can you say that?
[00:19:50] And the Lord says, it is all mine, all of the gold, all of the silver.
[00:19:57] And whether you're a new Christian or You're a stretched wineskin. That's someone who's older.
[00:20:04] When the glory of the Lord comes, Haggai says this. He says, I leave you with my peace.
[00:20:13] Shalom.
[00:20:14] Shalom means peace or prosperity.
[00:20:21] It means. It can be translated, peace or prosperity. When the last temple was built in the reign of Solomon, the shalom of the kingdom came. And we read in Kings 4. 25, and Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree from Dan as far as Bathsheba, all of the days of Solomon. The shalom of the kingdom. It was the high watermark of the Old Testament where the kingdom of God had been established. It had been brought in by David. But Solomon ruled over it and built the temple. And everyone had a house, had a back garden and a fig tree. And it was the shalom, the prosperity of the kingdom of God. You see, when the prince of Peace, the desire of the nations comes, this is what he says. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
[00:21:24] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty all those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, jubilee, the year when all debts are cancelled, all mortgages are cancelled. It's yours now. All the loans are cancelled.
[00:21:45] You know, it never actually happens.
[00:21:47] You know, it's in the law that in the 50th year there'll be jubilee. It never actually happens. And Jesus comes and says, now I'm here. The year of jubilee has come. You see, when the glory comes and when the people gather in his presence, the shalom, or the prosperity, the abundance of God comes in amongst the people and it starts to overflow from his house into the people, into the community, into the nation.
[00:22:19] And there is a prosperity. And this nation has experienced some of that prosperity in the past. And the reason we're in difficulties at the moment is because at this point in time, we've turned away from the Lord, but the Lord is calling us back to his ways. And this is what Moses prays over the people. See, this is the shalom.
[00:22:43] He cries, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. The Lord be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you shalom, give you peace and abundance. You see, he can turn your £6 into a home, into a fig tree, into a garden, or into 6 million. He can do it because all of the silver and all of the gold belongs to him. And so when God says, start to get your thinking about money and finance, right? He's saying, stop being in exile and start coming and being part of the redeemed.
[00:23:26] Okay. So that the shalom of the kingdom can come upon a people.
[00:23:33] Okay, really quick.
[00:23:35] So we need a vision for the future.
[00:23:38] His presence is here.
[00:23:41] Hundreds are getting saved, but we are hemmed in, just like the remnant coming from exile.
[00:23:50] There are mosques, there are temples all around us. The other religions seem to be thriving in this city. And so the question is, well, maybe we should just leave.
[00:24:01] Let's just get out of town. Why don't we just go somewhere that's a little bit more Christian, you know, somewhere by the sea. It's just too hard here to do church.
[00:24:13] I remember when God gave us the name and the young chose the name for this church.
[00:24:19] Chroma.
[00:24:20] Purity of color or its freedom from white or gray, to be a light on a hill, to show the God colors to the world.
[00:24:31] That's the name the Lord gave us. Do you think it's a mistake that the presence of God is manifest in this place? That we are surrounded by our enemies? That the delight of the nations is here? You see, the Lord is saying, don't be scared.
[00:24:47] Don't be intimidated. Build my house.
[00:24:51] And that's what we're going to do.
[00:24:53] We're going to build a house of worship where the presence of God dwells. We're going to train the next generation to be preachers, church planters, evangelists.
[00:25:03] We will be a well for whoever needs a drink to come and find the shalom, the peace of the kingdom. And God will give us a place to gather that will bring him glory.
[00:25:17] See, the last seven years have just been the warm up, getting the foundation built. Now we build the house.
[00:25:24] What am I asking of you?
[00:25:27] Last week I said, go up and get wood, bring it down and build.
[00:25:33] What does that look like?
[00:25:35] Well, it's starting to sow.
[00:25:39] I said give what you can.
[00:25:42] I don't mean that. I mean give more than you can. Because that's faith. If you just give what you can. If I just give what I can, that's not faith.
[00:25:50] That's just giving what I have.
[00:25:52] It's starting to step beyond that and giving beyond our means so that God can do a miracle.
[00:26:00] We sow into the kingdom and God is going to multiply it.
[00:26:06] So I'm asking all those who watch online, just like the person yesterday, who enjoy our Music to join us in building and investing, I'm asking Christian business people to invest with us. It's not just your tithe, it's your business.
[00:26:22] Invest in the kingdom of God. Let's invest. Start investing in the local church. Let's start investing and building buildings that the multitudes can come to and experience God's glory.
[00:26:39] And here I know people say, oh, we're in the new covenant now. This is Old Testament. Jesus hasn't come to move away one dot or tittle from the Old Testament.
[00:26:50] He's come to fulfill it all. And so as we gather John 14, it's clear the manifold presence of Jesus is with us.
[00:27:04] That's why we gather together. You see, I believe we can start to transform this city.
[00:27:12] I believe that as we have worshipped here, the light has started to shine. But we just got started. And you need to understand that God is always in it for the long haul. God isn't a quick fix. He sees generations down the line. And he sees that as people come to faith, as people are saved, as our children and our children's children, this city will be totally transformed. And it might look like a bit of a mess at the moment, but there is a light shining right in the middle of this city. And, you know, we don't want to throw the other religions out. We want to get them saved. They need to hear the gospel, and it is much easier to preach the gospel here than it is there.
[00:27:56] And then they'll go and take it to their lands. Why? Because the kingdom is spreading across the earth. We have an incredible opportunity in this city.
[00:28:06] And I refuse to try and manipulate you, to try and give you money, to give your money. But I believe what the Spirit says.
[00:28:16] Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, spoke the Lord's message to the people, saying, I am with you, says the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the governor. He stirred up the spirit of Joshua, and he stirred up the spirit of. Of the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord, their God. And the Lord said, my spirit remains among you. Do not fear.
[00:28:39] You see, I believe the Lord is about to do a financial miracle here.
[00:28:44] He's going to do a financial miracle for you all to see. He loves us. He's stirring our hearts to give. But he's going to take it. He's going to multiply, and he's going to give his shalom to you.
[00:28:58] And if you want to do this. How? How do I sow? Well, Obviously, the buckets come around every week, but there's a QR code. And outside, I don't think they're even on the seats. There are these. We've had them out for a year now. There's a QR code that takes you to the. To the building fund. But if you want to start sowing into that, you can, because the Lord will bless you and keep you. The Lord will make his face shine upon you, and he will be gracious to all of us. The Lord is lifting up his countenance upon us so that he can give his shalom in this place.
[00:29:38] And so here we go on the next adventure of building and whether you've got £1,101,000 million.
[00:29:50] So.
[00:29:51] And let's see the financial miracle that the Lord will release in this place and the blessing that will go from it. Anyone up for it?
[00:30:00] Five of you. Good. Why don't you stand up?
[00:30:05] Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge Podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship, and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
