Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Crema Chaj podcast.
[00:00:09] Lovely.
[00:00:11] Thank you.
[00:00:12] Take a seat, Take a seat.
[00:00:22] I think I said last week we would give you a little update on where we are with the building and.
[00:00:29] Oh, excuse me.
[00:00:31] And I think Juliet wrote the email out to everyone this week.
[00:00:37] I think when, if ever, any of you have bought or sold houses, you know what it's like you're trying to get everything through, and it's a little frustrating sometimes. And we. There's two things that we need to get through that you could pray about.
[00:00:54] So the first one is that funds that are pledged can get into our account, and we've got some great people helping us do that. And the second one is vat, and there are some. We've got to get the VAT structure right, which is why everything's being held up. And you might go, dah, who cares about VAT when you're buying a building for 5 million? VAT is 1 million.
[00:01:20] Oh, oh. So it's really important we get that right. So why are things, you know, and both of these issues are really important things. So when I say pray, we really need your prayers. Okay. That we can find a way through so that all this can go through. So. And then as soon as we. As soon as we've got those worked out, I can give you a little bit more. So is that all right? So it's only a little update. I wish I was giving you more.
[00:01:49] I'm one of the most impatient people on the planet. I just want it all to go through. And so part of what we've been doing over the last few weeks is the teachings of Jesus. And this morning, I want to talk about waiting. All right? Because that's where I'm living at the moment. We're having to wait for the Lord.
[00:02:09] So what do you do when you feel like nothing's working, when you're kind of boxed in at every side? You know, we've talked about storms and being yoked to Jesus, but what about those times when it feels that no matter what you do, it's not working?
[00:02:28] Because when everything is working, Jesus must be close. Right?
[00:02:33] That's what we think.
[00:02:35] But when it's hard, day after day, week after week, month after month, and we still haven't seen the breakthrough we're praying for?
[00:02:47] Where is he? Where is Jesus?
[00:02:51] You know, we've been trying to get a church building, a new building now for over two years. We feel frustrated sometimes at every turn, you know, trying to sell your house, but the market's dead.
[00:03:05] Where is Jesus, you're a long period of sickness.
[00:03:10] Surely this is not God's will, and I don't believe it is. That's why we pray for the sick every week. But we're waiting and waiting. And why did he not heal, you know, a leg last Sunday? He waited to the locker room. I don't know. But we're in. Sometimes we're in that waiting stage. Jesus, when are you going to do what you said you would do? Maybe we're going through family difficulties and, Lord, come on, we need to see the breakthrough or you find yourself in debt. And it's the problem process of working your way out of debt. We don't talk about this a lot, but we have a whole group of people that help people get out of debt.
[00:03:51] And it's called Christians Against Poverty. And we work with an organization of just helping people through the journey. And, you know, sometimes God writes a check, but sometimes we have to work our way out.
[00:04:04] You know, I always like the one, you know, where he just says, here, here's some money.
[00:04:08] But sometimes he says, no, I'm going to teach you about money and I'm going to work you through.
[00:04:14] But in the process of that, it feels like we're waiting. Where are you, Lord? Some of you, why am I not married yet?
[00:04:24] I can't get pregnant. Jesus, where are you in this? I need to change my job. Lord, why won't you hear my prayer? Where are you, Jesus? And the worry is, have you forgotten about me?
[00:04:37] Okay, that's the base of that. Lord, have you somehow forgotten anybody ever felt anything like this?
[00:04:44] All of you have, because you're just like me.
[00:04:49] So we assume that every. That when everything is good, Jesus must be close.
[00:04:54] But when it's hard, where is he?
[00:04:59] This is why I love the Psalms, because they're so honest, they're real life, and they're the heartbeat of God. So in Psalm 13, David says this. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?
[00:05:14] How long will you hide your face from me?
[00:05:18] In fact, in this psalm, he says, how long?
[00:05:22] Four times. It's only a little short psalm. How long?
[00:05:26] How long?
[00:05:28] How long?
[00:05:30] How long some of you prayed like this?
[00:05:34] I do.
[00:05:35] That's what it feels like. You know, I've often prayed the prayer, lord, teach me patience, but please hurry. You know, it's that, come on, Lord. Come on, Lord. I know I need patience in my life, but would you just get on and do it quickly? You see, the commentators are not sure of the context of this psalm, but what they know is There's a prolonged period.
[00:05:58] He wrote. David wrote this in a prolonged period of difficulty in his life.
[00:06:04] So what does Jesus have to say about waiting? So if you've got your Bibles and it does count on your phone, although it's better if it's. If they're in real life. Okay, find Luke's Gospel.
[00:06:17] And we're going to go to Luke, chapter 12, verse 35. Go on. All stand. We'll stand for the word of God.
[00:06:30] Luke 12:35.
[00:06:33] Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning, and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.
[00:06:50] Blessed are those servants whom the Master, when he comes, will find watching.
[00:06:56] Assuredly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
[00:07:04] And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
[00:07:22] Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
[00:07:30] Then Peter said to him, lord, do you speak this parable only to us or to all people? And the Lord said, who then is a faithful and wise steward whom his Master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season?
[00:07:49] Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
[00:07:55] Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all he has.
[00:08:00] But if that servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and apport to him his portion with the unbelievers.
[00:08:22] And that servant who knew his Master's will and did not prepare himself to do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
[00:08:31] But he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.
[00:08:38] For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.
[00:08:43] And to whom much has been committed of him, they will ask the more. Okay? Amen. Take a seat.
[00:08:53] Don't you love Jesus?
[00:08:57] Sometimes I read and I'm like scratching my head. Lord, what are you saying?
[00:09:03] Just before Jesus tells this story he's been talking about, don't worry about your life.
[00:09:08] You see, when we're going through a challenge, often the challenge becomes the center of our thinking.
[00:09:17] So when Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives, what he's saying is, you're part of a much bigger story.
[00:09:27] And it's not our story, it's his story.
[00:09:33] And so when we just see our story, it's instead of his story. We can lose perspective, and our story becomes the center of everything we're doing, instead of his story becoming the center of everything we're doing. So we get centered and our thinking is all on the wrong story.
[00:09:53] But when you come to Jesus, when you give your life to Jesus, his story of the kingdom becomes your story.
[00:10:01] You see, you're finding your way into his story. That's why he can say, don't worry about your lives. Why? Because your life is now in his story.
[00:10:12] Before it wasn't in his story, but now it is in his story. So he can say, don't worry about your life because you're now part of my story. Does that make sense?
[00:10:21] That's what he's saying now. I don't think this story that Jesus is telling us about is just about the second coming of Jesus. And I don't really think he's talking about timing at all.
[00:10:33] I think it's about being ready.
[00:10:36] You see, the story is about being in anticipation of the Master's presence.
[00:10:45] It's a story of everything we are about. We say we are people of the presence.
[00:10:51] Yes. We want to be where he is. We want to gather around the presence of God. We want to experience his manifest presence in. In our midst.
[00:11:03] And so in order to do that, he's saying, you're to have your waist skirted and our lamps burning. And by that, you know, the idea they would wear these tunics. And the idea is to tuck it in so you're ready to go.
[00:11:18] So it's not being in your kind of jim jams. And, well, you know, Jesus comes or something happens. You know, I'll go and get a shower and get ready. It's being ready. It's been ready to go at any point so that the tunic was tucked in and our lamps burning, our hearts on fire like men who wait for their master.
[00:11:42] We have a dog called Milo. He's an English springer spaniel.
[00:11:47] And when I go out, he gets his ball and he comes and sits at the window, and he just stares out of the window, waiting for me to come back because I'm the Master. Now, he's actually Juliet's dog, which actually really irritates her because she's there.
[00:12:10] But he's just sitting at the window waiting for me because he loves me.
[00:12:18] Who knew? Someone does.
[00:12:23] If you sometimes come home and you think, I don't think anyone really loves me. Here, get a dog, okay? Because Milo is always there waiting for me.
[00:12:35] And sometimes, sometimes, like on a Tuesday night when we do revival prayer, Juliet gets in before me. And so he's been left all on his own. And he's all excited that she's back and he's welcoming her. And I get back and he's not by the window. So I, like, sneak into the house and try and get up behind him and go.
[00:12:55] And he's like this. It's not dog abuse, okay? We're just playing. I don't need emails from the RSPCA or anything like that. We're just playing, okay? But he's ready for my coming.
[00:13:11] He misses me when I'm not there. This is the picture that Jesus is trying to paint of what his people should be like.
[00:13:23] And the interesting thing about this, this story is the Master is at a wedding.
[00:13:31] So the Master is actually doing something really fun. Because weddings are good, right?
[00:13:36] A number of you got married.
[00:13:38] I'm losing track of how many weddings we've had this summer. But they're a really good thing. They're a celebration.
[00:13:45] The story isn't about war.
[00:13:48] The Master's not fighting a battle and detained because of something bad. He's detained because of something good.
[00:13:56] He's at a wedding.
[00:13:58] And what Jesus is making a point is, just because you're waiting on God doesn't mean something bad has happened and the poor old God is stuck.
[00:14:09] Actually, God is doing good stuff.
[00:14:12] And Jesus is going to explain that in a minute. It's just that we're waiting for him. So something hasn't gone wrong because he's taking a long time.
[00:14:22] And the interesting thing is, when he returns, there is more celebration.
[00:14:27] You see, wherever Jesus is, there's joy, okay? In his presence is fullness of joy. How do you know Jesus is near? You have joy. How do you know? You know Jesus, There is joy in your heart. It's the really interesting thing. No matter what the circumstances are going on around us, he has placed his joy inside of us because he has come and made his home inside of us.
[00:14:55] But to the servants, it can feel like a long time.
[00:14:59] You know, we're watching. You know, Milo's sitting at the window, and it's like 10 o' clock and he's still not back. He's holding his ball in his mouth. I don't know how he can hold his ball that long in his mouth. He's dribbling, all the drooling. And then 11 o', clock, I'm still not back. Midnight, I'm still not back. One o', clock, he's still not back. That's what Jesus is saying. The first watch, the second watch, the third watch, he's still not. He's still not back. Oh, well, by the time we get to like three in the morning, surely we can give up on God's promises. And Jesus is saying, no, be ready, you know.
[00:15:40] But then he says this.
[00:15:43] But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
[00:15:58] I think this is an interesting twist. You see, when we're waiting, okay, often we think we're going to miss out on something.
[00:16:09] You know, the devil is stealing my life away. No, no, he's not.
[00:16:15] You know, in the waiting, others are doing better than me. No, no, they're not.
[00:16:21] Or this is going to cost me because I'm just waiting for God.
[00:16:26] No, it won't.
[00:16:28] You see, the lie is waiting impoverishes us.
[00:16:33] But look what Jesus says. Assuredly, I say to you, when assuredly, or sometimes it's truly, truly what Jesus is saying. He's taking a highlighter pen. I want you to highlight this. I want you to understand this.
[00:16:48] Assuredly, I say to you, he will gird himself and, and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them.
[00:16:56] So we told a story a few weeks ago where he said, you know, servants don't expect the Master to serve them. This one, he's saying, I'm going to come and serve you.
[00:17:05] In fact, I'm preparing something for you. I'm going to come and we're going to sit together.
[00:17:14] You see, it isn't if he comes, it's when he comes. And the Master plans to sit and eat with us.
[00:17:21] So their heads are going, oh, wow.
[00:17:26] You see, in the being ready, in the waiting for the Lord, the celebration comes to us.
[00:17:35] You see, Jesus comes and eats with us. In fact, he's serving us a meal. Psalm 23. He prepares a table in the presence of my enemies.
[00:17:47] Jesus is so in the waiting.
[00:17:50] Jesus is preparing. He isn't held up. It isn't A problem. He's not at war.
[00:17:55] He's at a wedding.
[00:17:58] So the celebration is coming to us. So when David says, how long, how long, how long? He goes on in verse five. But I have trusted in your mercy.
[00:18:10] My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
[00:18:13] I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. What he's saying is, I know who you are, God.
[00:18:21] I know you're good God. I know you haven't forgotten me. It feels. It feels like you've forgotten me. But I can wait and be assured of your goodness, because I know who you are. I know what you're like.
[00:18:38] We've said a number of times, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That's what God is like. He doesn't withhold anything. What more can he give? He's given Jesus.
[00:18:51] What more is there?
[00:18:53] He has given everything of himself. And so the servants who waited don't discover that waiting has impoverished them.
[00:19:03] They discover that the Master has been preparing something for them.
[00:19:08] You see, we often struggle to wait because we're afraid of what we might lose.
[00:19:16] Jesus teaches us to wait because we know the character of the one we're waiting for.
[00:19:22] So we wait in the presence of the Lord.
[00:19:26] And then there's a twist.
[00:19:30] Jesus tells the disciples in the waiting for him, there are two types of servants.
[00:19:36] So what we need to decide is what kind of, you know, okay, Lord, what are the good ones and what are the bad ones? Because that's often what he does. He says, the faithful servant is the ready servant. His waist is girded, his heart is burning, and he's taking care of the house.
[00:19:53] Okay? That's the faithful servant. He's doing what God has told him to do. The unfaithful servant in the waiting starts to beat the other servants and gets drunk.
[00:20:06] So he's telling a story of a bad servant. Now, we would never do that, right?
[00:20:15] Ever, you know, we would never beat anyone with a bat, but we might with a book, You see?
[00:20:34] Why hasn't revival come?
[00:20:37] Well, it's because of you lot.
[00:20:40] You're not holy enough.
[00:20:42] If you were more holy, God would move and save this nation.
[00:20:50] I love this. I want to keep this, you know? Why hasn't God moved? Well, those Christians are compromised. You know, Tim, sitting there in the front, I bet there's sin in your life. I know it's your fault.
[00:21:04] You know, God would have moved if it wasn't for the sin in his life.
[00:21:08] Or Daniel.
[00:21:10] There's another sinner sitting in the front.
[00:21:13] It's got to be your fault, you know, Jesus can't return because the church isn't ready.
[00:21:24] Well, it's funny. I thought it was him that was making us ready and he was going to present us pure and spotless.
[00:21:33] It's because that denomination has got it wrong.
[00:21:37] You see, what happens is long before long, instead of waiting for the master, the servants are beating one another up.
[00:21:45] They got a bat. It must be your fault. It must be your fault he's not coming. Because it couldn't possibly be mine.
[00:21:51] You see, nowhere in this story do the servants play in any part the return of their master, except in the waiting.
[00:22:02] They keep their waist girded, their hearts burning, their hearts longing for the master to come, taking care of his house.
[00:22:13] That's why the Holy Spirit has come.
[00:22:17] Paul says he is the deposit, that when you give your life to Jesus, he comes in as the deposit of what is to come. You lay a deposit. You know, one of. I'm just going to keep hold of this for a bit longer. See, one of the frustrations I've got on our church building at the moment, I can't get the deposit down because the moment the deposit is down, everything's signed and sealed. Jesus says he, the Spirit has come into your life as the deposit guaranteeing everything, your inheritance. He has come in, it's sealed, it's done, it's finished.
[00:22:58] So you're in the waiting, but because you have the deposit, you see, I wouldn't be panicking that somebody else couldn't get our building or the money might not be right. Or this might be right if the deposit was in the bank and we'd exchange contracts. The Holy Spirit. So when you come and you give your life to Jesus, the Spirit of God comes into your life. And he is the seal.
[00:23:22] He's how you know it's done.
[00:23:24] You're in.
[00:23:30] The first three rows. The next rows are going like this. Yeah.
[00:23:37] You see, the Spirit is the one who causes us to long for the coming of Jesus.
[00:23:44] It's the he who is burning in our hearts.
[00:23:47] It's he who's looking. You see, it's the Spirit of God in Milo, my dog, who causes him to stand in the window. That's just a little illustration, but I'm sure he is filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm not making a theological statement here, okay? I don't know whether pets go to heaven. All right, don't. Don't start writing to me.
[00:24:05] But all I know it is the Holy Spirit in us, okay? That causes us to long for the more because we've got the deposits, we've got the.
[00:24:19] He has sealed what Jesus has done.
[00:24:22] And we're just waiting for the fullness of it all to work out.
[00:24:31] And as far as I know, in the Bible, there is only one thing that might hasten the return of Jesus.
[00:24:39] Preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and then the end will come. So Jesus said the only thing that I think could possibly cause Jesus to come sooner.
[00:24:52] You know, think about it.
[00:24:56] Throne room in heaven. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father.
[00:25:01] And the Father says, jesus, Tuesday is the day. Because only the Father knows. He says, Tuesday's the day. All the angels are ready. Everything's set for the return of Jesus. And Tim, he goes and blows it. He goes and sins on Tuesday morning, he messes it all up. And the Father goes, no. Halt.
[00:25:24] Stop.
[00:25:27] We're going to put it all on hold because of Tim.
[00:25:31] I mean, we laugh because it's crazy, right? But we sometimes think that.
[00:25:35] That somehow because someone's messed up or someone's done this and, you know, I can beat him all you like, but, you know, we still. We still he that has no sin, you know, that's why Jesus came.
[00:25:54] You see, revival hasn't come because the church is compromised.
[00:25:59] Where every revival I read about, actually, the Spirit comes and the church repents because they're compromised.
[00:26:10] It's him.
[00:26:12] He comes and he changes our hearts. And when the Holy Spirit comes, the Holy God touches our heart. And we're in the presence of a holy God. And Isaiah says, woe to me because the Lord is there.
[00:26:33] You see, when we say God hasn't moved because those Christians are the problem, we're just hitting each other with a bat.
[00:26:41] I'm going to put it down before I do someone an injury or me.
[00:26:46] See, Jesus turns back the question onto me where Peter says, are you talking to them or us?
[00:26:56] You see, am I faithfully doing what the Master has called me to do while I wait for him?
[00:27:07] You see, in the waiting, we've always said old orders are good orders until you get new orders.
[00:27:18] And you see, we can forget that sometimes. So we're waiting for the Lord to do something. We're trying to invent new orders, but old orders are good orders until you get new orders.
[00:27:28] What has he called you to do? What are your old orders? Well, be a worshiper, write worship songs, lead people into worship. If that's what he's called you to do, just. Just keep going. Keep Going, but I'm waiting for, for this or I'm waiting for this, that. No, just keep being. Just keep worshiping. Keep worshiping. Do what he's told you to do. He's preparing something for you.
[00:27:49] Help get people free, you know. You know, Jesus has told us to cast out demons to heal the sick.
[00:27:59] You know, have strong marriages, you know, the way we love one another demonstrates our love for Christ.
[00:28:05] The way you love each other in a marriage, it shows whether the flame is burning.
[00:28:12] Raise our young in the ways of the Lord.
[00:28:16] You know, get alongside the young and tell them the stories. Tell them the Holy Ghost stories of things that have. That have happened in your life.
[00:28:25] Oh, we're running out of time, but I want to.
[00:28:28] We had a couple in this church. They've both died now.
[00:28:31] Do you know, as the spirit of God started moving and the worship and all the dancing and all the noise started to happen, there was a couple and they were in their.
[00:28:42] They were kind of late 80s.
[00:28:45] And he had a zimmer frame, okay. And he would do the worship. He never heard me preach because he needed to use the bathroom and. And it took him while I was talking to get to the bathroom and get back, okay, on his zimmer frame. And we'd often go to. Some of the youngsters, just go and help him. They go, he doesn't want any help. I don't think he wants to listen to you.
[00:29:06] True story. Anyway, anyway, he got very sick and I remember going to Lauros and first thing I said is, do you want me to. Can I pray for healing?
[00:29:22] He says, why would I want you to do that?
[00:29:25] I said, well, God really wants to heal. He says, I've been waiting for this moment all my life.
[00:29:31] And then I said, well, what about your wife, Ruth? He said, ah, she'll be okay. She was raised in the Salvation Army.
[00:29:38] I went, okay. And then he started for two hours telling me the story of his life that I'd never heard.
[00:29:46] How they'd been in the Salvation army all their life, how they'd run camps in Leicester, how they'd taken young people and preached the gospel to them. See, I just saw him as like an old man on a zimmer frame. That's all I'd known. That just took half an hour to get to the bathroom. But actually he was a man and his wife who'd walked all their life with the Lord Jesus Christ in waiting for him to come in.
[00:30:13] That's what we're talking about.
[00:30:20] And you might say, but my house isn't selling. We don't have a big shiny building.
[00:30:26] Where are you, Lord? How long?
[00:30:30] And the Holy Spirit is speaking in your heart.
[00:30:32] Remember, just like I said last week with the still, small voice of Elijah.
[00:30:37] He's saying, remain faithful. Keep watching. Keep telling your friends.
[00:30:42] Heal the sick. Cast out demons. Love one another.
[00:30:46] Stand at the window. The Lord is coming.
[00:30:50] Seek first my kingdom.
[00:30:53] Houses, buildings, Husbands, wives and babies will follow.
[00:30:58] So Jesus says, seek first the kingdom, and all these other things will be added unto you. What am I saying?
[00:31:06] It's in the waiting you are not losing. He is preparing.
[00:31:13] It's not if he comes, it's when he comes.
[00:31:16] We wait because of who he is, and he always brings joy.
[00:31:22] We don't blame others for the wait, but we understand in the wait, old orders are good orders until you get new orders. And then we see the promise of Isaiah 40. It says, those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk, and they shall not faint. Why? Because the Spirit of God's in them. And we are his people. And we know he's coming. We know he's heard our prayer. We know he's for us because we know who he is.
[00:31:56] So we stand at the window next to Milo, just saying, come, Lord Jesus, come.
[00:32:03] We trust you with our lives, your mercy, and your goodness because you are a good God. I'm done. Why don't you stand up?
[00:32:12] Thanks for listening to the Coma Church 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 Chroma Church.
