Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Chroma Church podcast.
[00:00:10] Great. Find your Bibles.
[00:00:12] Let's. We're. We're. Acts, chapter 22. If I remember, if I remember rightly.
[00:00:22] And what. What is. What is happening here is Paul is back in Jerusalem.
[00:00:28] My Bible, you know how there are little headings. It says, he's addressing the Jerusalem mob.
[00:00:35] Okay. And basically what has happened is Paul has gone into the temple, his reputation has gone before him, and a riot has broken out.
[00:00:52] And. And my. We're going to talk a little bit about this. My prayer is that wherever we go, riots will break out because the word of God will get preached. I'm going to explain why, but why don't you stand? We're going to read from chapter 22. This is Paul's defense.
[00:01:07] Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now. And when they heard that he spoke to them in Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.
[00:01:17] Then he said, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamael. And this gentleman, if you remember when we were right back at the beginning of Acts and when the apostles were brought before the authorities, this is the guy who says, hold it a moment. If this is of God, you won't be able to stop it.
[00:01:44] So this is Luke joining the doctor. Okay? And what Paul says is, I studied under this man. He was very well thought of, taught according to the strictness of our Father's law, and was zealous towards God, as all you are today. I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.
[00:02:24] Now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus about noon. Suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
[00:02:38] So I answered, who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. And all those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him who spoke to me. So I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said, arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all the things which are appointed for you to do.
[00:03:02] And since I could not see for the glory of that light, he said, he was blind, being Led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me. And he stood and said to me, brother Saul, receive your sight.
[00:03:26] And at that same hour, I looked at him, looked up at him. Then he said, the God of our fathers has chosen you. That you should know his will and. And see the just one and hear the voice of his mouth. For you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins. Calling on the name of the Lord. We'll stop there. Take a seat.
[00:04:00] What I want you to notice is Paul is constantly telling his story. As we've gone through acts again and again. Wherever Paul goes, he tells his story. Why your story matters.
[00:04:14] Okay? Your story is important. The story of how you encountered Jesus. Paul is setting the scene. This is how I met the Lord Jesus Christ. I was on one route, and he turned me around and showed me I was killing the church.
[00:04:32] But I met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and he turned my life around.
[00:04:38] And now everything is different, you know? And he lists all these people that have influenced him. And you see our story of how Jesus brought us out of a place of darkness, how we met the Lord Jesus. I don't know what your story is. Maybe your marriage was up the wall. Maybe a friend just bought you. Maybe you just didn't know what to do with your life. Maybe you were in a hole. You know, we baptized people a few weeks ago, and I. I heard so many amazing stories of how God had changed people's lives. And as they told their stories, what was happening in. In the. Amongst the people was they'll go. People going, that's my story. That's my story. That's my story. And then when we invited people to come forward and give their lives to Jesus, I. One of the ladies said, you know, she just told my story. I need Jesus to do what he's done in her life. And you see, that's what happens when we tell our story, because faith starts to arise in people's hearts, and if God can do it for you, he can do it for them. And if he can do it for this person, he can do the same in your life.
[00:05:44] And so the Holy Spirit uses our story, and that's exactly what Paul is doing. Wherever he goes, he tells his story to. Your story is important, and so is our story. Our Story as a church, we tell it again and again, how Jesus brought us out of a place of dryness into renewal in his spirit.
[00:06:07] But the interesting thing is when we come into a renewal of his spirit, not everyone understands, not everyone likes it.
[00:06:16] And just as Paul had to flee when he was converted from Jerusalem, and here again, he's back in Jerusalem and. And people are getting cross with him. We had a bit of a fight on our hands. I remember just take. Starting to take the journey. We're going to seek God's presence. We're going to gather around Him. Lots of people didn't like it. But our story, our testimony tells of God's faithfulness. This is where we were and this is where we want to be, and this is where we've got to on our journey.
[00:06:48] I remember the moment we started just gathering around the presence of God, that he was so quick to come. It wasn't like we had to persuade him. It wasn't like we had to wait weeks, you know, oh, God, will you please come? But instantly, as we just made space, his presence was there. You know, it was harder leading people to Jesus. It was harder having some breakthroughs on healing. But the presence of God, he longs to be with his people.
[00:07:14] And I remember he was quick to join us. And as we keep telling this story, this adventure, and others join us and find faith in God. Anyway, last weekend we had the privilege of taking a group of pastors out to Colombia to Viviamiento. If you've been here, you'll have heard lots of stories that I've told. And. And a few weeks ago, many of you will have met Pastor Ricardo and Pastor Patricia, who did a couple of nights here, and we proved how many people you can fit in this room. And there was. I was gonna say carnage. I don't mean carnage. There was blessings all over the room. And each time I've gone, I've taken. I tend to take one of the staff with us. And this time we took Emily, who does new believers, and, and some of the. All the. All the artwork that you see. And one of you who will remain nameless, said to her, okay, when you get there, I want you to tell me if it's as good as Steve says or is he exaggerating?
[00:08:24] Well, she's still there.
[00:08:26] She said, oh, can I just stay one more week? I think that answers the question. Right? So she stayed there for church this morning, and then she's going to fly back, but she's promised she is going to come home.
[00:08:36] And please, Lord, send Her home.
[00:08:40] And often people ask me, when you go to something like this, what does the Lord say? What are your take homes? I just really quickly this morning want to talk about some of the take homes that I'm bringing. And I think the Lord is saying to us as a church, the first thing is we have revival. The question is, what will we do then?
[00:09:02] That we, the presence of the Lord is amongst us. We are as spirits are revived.
[00:09:08] Okay. The question now is what will we, we do with it? One of the speakers at the conference was Robert Siarden. I'm the writer of God's Generals. Have any of you read any of God's general books? Come on, two.
[00:09:23] He's a historian and he's written, I think it's. Well, he says he's written over 100 books. But the God's Generals books are stories of all the lives of the revivalists through the last few hundred years.
[00:09:42] And anyway, we got to meet him and I got to have lunch with him, which was with the gang. So it was absolute treat because I'd grown up on many of those books.
[00:09:54] And one of the things he said when he was speaking was preach from the top of your persecution.
[00:10:04] Because everyone is listening and I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that. What he was saying was whenever God moves, persecution comes and persecution is good because everyone's listening, therefore preach, you see. So when God moves, people persecute what he does because they don't like what they see and hear always. But the persecution gives you a platform in order to preach God's message. And that's exactly what's happening in acts here that Paul has had a change in direction. People don't like it, so they persecute and they're angry. And we see a little bit of that today, right?
[00:10:54] People don't like what they hear, you're cancelled or they're angry.
[00:11:00] What he was saying was whenever a move of God happens, persecution comes. So preach from the top of it. It's a gift. That's why Jesus says, blessed are you when men persecute you for my name's sake. Because God is giving you an opportunity to speak. Before they weren't listening, now they are.
[00:11:19] So you've got a platform to speak and think about it. The parts of your story that are often the most difficult are the most powerful, right? The difficulties you push through the times when you thought you weren't going to make it, but God brings you through the times when you were in a hole and there was no Hope and God rescued you out of that hole. They're the most powerful bits of your story.
[00:11:45] And so whenever persecution or difficulty comes, God is giving us a platform to speak.
[00:11:54] So what he was saying was, be joyful, don't go, oh no, I don't want persecution. Persecution is an opportunity for the church to speak.
[00:12:05] So we have experienced a measure of revival. The Holy Spirit is here and he has given us a platform. And you may not know this, but people are singing our songs now all over the world.
[00:12:23] And we were out in Colombia and some of the youngsters came up. I didn't know they were going to do the last song. Holy Spirit, we love you. And some of the youngsters came up and said, we sing that song every morning for our quiet time all the way in South America. There's people in Australia singing our songs around Europe. Why? Because God. Because as we pushed through the difficulties of following him, the persecution, people started to listen. He gave us a platform and therefore his word and blessing can go out. Does that make sense?
[00:13:01] Yeah, it's good we, we've got five of you now.
[00:13:04] You see, we have a precious gift. What we going to do with it?
[00:13:10] And the second thing I want to say is I believe the Lord has called us to influence our nation towards the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:19] You know, we were only gone 10 days and I feel the world went to pot.
[00:13:25] You know, we can now abort babies at full term.
[00:13:30] You can kill the sick.
[00:13:32] And Israel attacked Iran.
[00:13:36] Let me say something.
[00:13:38] Do you know that Parliament debated whether or not you can chase after a fox three times as long as they debated whether or not you can kill children at full time?
[00:13:54] Whenever God moves, and I know I'm talking to a younger crowd here, whenever God moves, the same demonic force wants to kill the babies.
[00:14:05] When Moses was to be born, the babies were killed. When Jesus is going to be born, the babies are killed. There is a new generation being born that is precious to God and they're killing the babies. But never once has the enemy been able to thwart the plans that God had for Moses or the plans he had for Jesus or the plans he has for this generation.
[00:14:32] So we may have fallen off a cliff of darkness, but let me tell you, there will not be one baby that will be lost who has a destiny to preach the kingdom. Not one. Because the Bible is clear. God. And if there are, and if there are people that are heading for end term abortions, any kind of abortions, I tell you, the Holy Spirit will come upon them and they will be saved. I Know, in this church, people that had the choice of abortion. I remember we had a choice of abortion when Juliet was carrying children because, you know, and even our daughter, who was born early, they'd want to abort her, but she's as healthy as they come.
[00:15:21] Just. Let's abort it just in case.
[00:15:24] No, no. No one. No one has the right to take life.
[00:15:30] Women might say, it's my body, yes, but it's their destiny. And God, before the creation of the world, has a destiny planned out for each person.
[00:15:39] And it is a sad destination day when we think we can just end lives, but God has a plan.
[00:15:49] And then Israel going, you know, going to attack Iran. Maddie over there was on holiday in Israel. Who. Who goes on holiday in the middle of a war zone?
[00:15:59] Okay, she's like. She's like, where can. Where can I go for a bit of excitement? Ibiza or Israel? No, we'll go Israel.
[00:16:09] And so I'm thankful some people that the airspace is closed at the moment. They smuggled her out and she's all in one piece and she's back here safe and sound. Let me say something about Israel.
[00:16:23] Do you know there is a demonic hatred towards Israel that is being preached?
[00:16:31] Israel is God chosen people.
[00:16:36] He made an agreement with Abraham, and he said, I make a covenant with you and you will be my people.
[00:16:47] Now, Israel don't always behave themselves.
[00:16:51] And there is a pause. There is a pause on what happens with Israel so that the Gentiles can come in. And that's what we're reading in Acts, so that Africa can be saved by the Ethiopian unit, so that India can be saved. When Thomas goes and preaches in India, so that the full number of the Gentiles can come in. But let me give you a warning.
[00:17:14] Just as Israel don't always behave themselves, nor do the Gentiles us. And aren't you pleased that God is merciful when you don't behave yourself?
[00:17:24] Because we live under grace.
[00:17:28] And still Israel is right at the prophetic center of everything God does. Look on the map, this tiny little nation who God said, I will establish a people. And the devil has tried to wipe it out. And it will not be wiped out because God has spoken.
[00:17:50] And you know, the church is a little unsure at the moment.
[00:17:54] But this. But this and this and this. No, this is what Psalms 122 says. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you.
[00:18:04] I love Israel.
[00:18:06] And I pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And I pray that next time Maddie goes on holiday, it's not a war zone.
[00:18:15] But. But the, the lovers of Jerusalem will prosper.
[00:18:21] He was talking to the Gentiles will prosper. This is the word of God. The stage is changing.
[00:18:31] And you see, it's interesting that Paul doesn't labor on what is wrong with the Romans and the Jews.
[00:18:37] What Paul does is he tells his story of how God saved him, but he keeps his eye on the prophetic purposes of God, that, that he is to be sent to the Gentiles because this was a big deal for the Jews that the Gentile, that God was now opening the door for the world to be saved. The prophetic story that's gone right the way through the scriptures that he would call the nations to himself, he is doing today. Look around you. The nations are in this room. But don't think he's forgotten about Israel.
[00:19:10] Because when the full number of Gentiles come in and Paul is clear, he says that when the Jews see what God has done, he'll provoke them to jealousy and they will turn back to the Lord. Now, please hear me. I'm not minimizing what's happening.
[00:19:31] I'm just saying as this stage gets set around the world, how much more should we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ?
[00:19:39] You see, as we see what God is doing around the world, our voice must get louder.
[00:19:49] Men and women need Jesus and they can only find him by an encounter with the Holy Spirit. You see, how did we get here today? We went after the presence of God. The Lord is clear. It's not by might, it's not by power, but it is by my Spirit.
[00:20:07] And as we have started in the spirit, we must finish in the Spirit. It would be so easy to get distracted. And we need to do this, we need to do that. No church stay in the presence of the living God. You see, we have a job to influence our nation towards the Holy Spirit. You see, we could go on marches and we are going to go on marches. We are going to march to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.
[00:20:33] Okay, but we are going to steer.
[00:20:38] We're going to steer this nation towards the Holy Spirit.
[00:20:42] You see, it is the gospel that changes us from the inside out. We heard the good news of Jesus and our lives were transformed. And we must keep this really simple.
[00:20:56] We go after. He said three things. He said, you're to go after my presence. You're to get your thinking about money right, and you're to proclaim salvation. Both the saving of sin and the healing of our bodies. And the third thing, I want to Say really quickly is the next generation is key.
[00:21:17] You see the next chapters of Acts. Paul is going to be imprisoned or under house arrest, but he will lay in the coming end part of Acts. He's going to lay a foundation for the world to be changed. And young leaders who he will encourage will, will, will change the face of the, what they called the Way or the Christian scene. Leaders like Timothy will go to Ephesus, Titus will go to Crete, Barnabas, who will turn and train. John, Mark. So we get Mark's gospel, Titicus, the messenger to the churches, the young man who's traveling to the churches, and he's going to deliver all Paul's messages. Ephraim in Colossae is going to minister there. Onesimus, a redeemed runaway slave, he's going to have his life totally turned around. And Priscilla and Aquila, who train Apollos and many other leaders around, around Ephesus and Athens.
[00:22:26] You see, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's never a good time to change the world.
[00:22:32] Have you ever noticed that? There's always a reason why we can't. But when the darkest day comes, and I honestly, when I looked at the news, I thought, oh my goodness, England has just fallen off a cliff.
[00:22:48] We fell off a cliff this week.
[00:22:52] I never, I never thought this day would come.
[00:22:57] But when the darkest day comes.
[00:23:01] Isaiah 60. Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, deep darkness, the people.
[00:23:13] But the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon, upon you.
[00:23:22] On the darkest days the church arises.
[00:23:26] And as we speak, and as persecution comes, we will be given a platform that everyone is listening to.
[00:23:36] And the training and equipping of the church is going to be key in this next season.
[00:23:44] What will keep the fire of revival burning in this place? We're going to train and send out preachers that preach the word of God to hold to his ways. We're going to train and raise worship leaders that will lead people into the holy presence of God. And we're probably going to plant churches because I think that's what God's called us to do. And many of you have moved here because you felt drawn here. Others have found faith here.
[00:24:14] But there is now a rushing wind of the Holy Spirit.
[00:24:19] And what I want to say to you is, as you hear the news, don't be discouraged, but rather arise and shine, for your light has come.
[00:24:31] The Lord is arising upon us, and his glory will Be seen in us.
[00:24:37] This is the hand of God moving across the earth.
[00:24:42] You see, many are wondering what's next for them. Well, you know, I've given my life to Jesus or I've moved here. Now what? Now what?
[00:24:52] Well, it's time to be trained and it's time to hear the call of God for your life.
[00:24:57] You know, some of us older ones, we will train the next generation.
[00:25:02] You have carried the dream of revival in your hearts, some of you, for many years.
[00:25:08] Now is the time to release it to a new generation.
[00:25:13] And some of you will sit here and go, I've heard all this before.
[00:25:17] I was told that when I was young. And I understand that. So was I.
[00:25:22] I want to say two things to you. One, the time of the return of Jesus is closer now than it was when they told it to us.
[00:25:32] And number two, this. The world stage is being set.
[00:25:37] You know, if you want to come back. I was just with thousands and thousands of pastors telling the same story. Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. The Lord is getting ready to come back and you go, oh, well, I didn't know we were meant to believe that. You know, that was 2,000 years ago.
[00:25:55] I tell you. I tell you the Lord is preparing his return. Now, will we see it in our lifetime? I don't know. But I know we're meant to live it. I know we're meant to believe it.
[00:26:06] And just as they didn't see us coming the first time, this time we will. The church will be ready for the second coming of Jesus because the Holy Spirit is going to present us ready. That's what the scriptures say.
[00:26:22] And so we are in the process of preparing for all that the Lord wants to do. And you are part of the story if you want to be. You know, I think we're about to have one of the largest encounter years we've ever had. Our encounter year is like a service year. It's often the students, but it doesn't have to be students or young. Anyone can do it. But if you want to give a year to serve, to serve Jesus and to hear the call he has for your life, sign up. You can do it somehow. Rachel. I'm just looking for Rachel, but she's not there. But you can email in and sign up.
[00:27:06] Give a year to prepare your life for all that God has for the youth.
[00:27:14] Get them booked into Chosen. I tell you, this is a crucial time in, in the history of this land.
[00:27:23] Never before have I heard the media talk about a revival in this land. Now I know they're calling it a quiet revival and trust me, it needs to get more noisy. But something is happening across the land. As the darkness rises, so does light.
[00:27:40] And the last thing I want to say because I've run out of time is and this is probably my biggest take, hug.
[00:27:48] We're not alone.
[00:27:49] We are not alone, but part of a worldwide family that love the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church.
[00:27:57] We left the denomination to find a family of friends.
[00:28:01] We felt alone for a while and it was, it was lonely when we started this journey. But we now find ourselves surrounded by like minded churches and people that love the presence of God. God. In the difficulty of our journey, God gave us a platform to preach his goodness. You see, the message is not peace, peace, peace. The message is revival. The message is turn to Jesus Christ, repent of your sin. Get away from this corrupt generation. That's what Peter said in Acts chapter two. Leave it behind and come to Jesus Christ because He has a better way for your life. He has a better plan.
[00:28:40] It's a very simple message. If we will seek his presence with all our hearts, we will find him. Jeremiah 29:13. When we find him, he makes us a distinctive people, a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2 We must get our thinking about money right because the the resource for this coming revival, it's it. We, we're going to need the finance to train and release all of the people that the Lord is gathering and to proclaim his salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ along with the demonstration of the power of healing. You cannot just have the gospel without healing. It goes hand in hand.
[00:29:22] Jesus shows us that he saves our soul, but he heals our body. It's a demonstration that the kingdom of God is, is in our midst.
[00:29:33] So what is my take home? Cromer Church? We are no longer alone, but we are part of a worldwide move of the Holy Spirit. It is unprecedented and it's worth giving your life for.
[00:29:48] And I know the media isn't covering it, but all over the world, hundreds of thousands, if not millions are coming to to Jesus Christ.
[00:30:00] You may not know, but there is a revival going on in Iran at this moment and those Christians were being persecuted.
[00:30:10] There are revivals happening in all many, many lands across the world. Why? Because the wind of the Spirit is blowing.
[00:30:21] You see your story and the power of the Holy Spirit can change the world.
[00:30:28] What will you do with it?
[00:30:29] Are you ready? Will you believe?
[00:30:33] Will you tell?
[00:30:37] We've got caught up in something wonderful, but the story is just starting.
[00:30:44] 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.
[00:30:56] For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship and how to donate, visit our website at Chroma Church.
