Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Well, we were here a year ago. How many of you are new to the church in the last year? Raise your hand. Wow, that's quite a lot of you. Well, that's great that you've joined and you're part of it, and we're thrilled to be here. We love Mark and Nita. This is an amazing couple, a strategic couple in the nation. Please pray for them and their role of leading the national movement. And Mike and Amy, we do love you like spiritual kids, even though you're getting older now. But it's great to be with you. Hey, we, we do carry. We just got something in our hearts we really want to share with you this morning. And, you know, one of the ways will. You know, God speaks many ways and you can boil it down to three main ways in the prophetic, you know, God will speak to some people with words in their mind, other people will feel things in their hearts, and still others, God will speak to them through what they see. So it could be visions, dreams, or natural signs. And you're going to hear Greta share a prophetic message now that came out of a natural sign that God highlighted to her. So she's going to share that for a few minutes and I'll come back and bring a prophetic teaching over to you, sweetheart.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: Thank you. Well, we are just absolutely thrilled to be back in Rediscover Church and also in our beloved uk, because some of you that have already heard us, you know, God has just deposited this nation in our hearts and we know that God has good purposes for it in spite of how things look. And what I want to share today is called the lighthouse, the light of the world.
And this started with a repeated vision I had of a lighthouse shining brightly in the dark. And then since June 2024 last year, when we were actually here in the UK on our annual visit, I've been having numerous encounters with lighthouses in different ways. And these natural signs have actually confirmed what I sense God saying. And here are just a few examples of these encounters. There are actually many more.
And many of you will also know that David and I minister in different nations, so I will be mentioning some. So, in the UK we stayed briefly last year in an east coast town and it struck me that the dominant building was a large lighthouse.
Then down in Plymouth on the south coast, I went for an early morning run along a cliff road, and as I rounded a corner, the huge red and white lighthouse absolutely hit me between the eyes. Now, I've seen this lighthouse before, but it's like I was seeing it for the first time back in New Zealand on a plane. The safety video. The very first scene they showed was a New Zealand's northernmost lighthouse. Coming up on our next slide, it's called Cape Rayanga.
Then in Australia, we were driving on the eastern coast called the Sunshine coast, and unexpectedly came across a lighthouse we never knew existed. It's there on our left.
Then ministering down in Melbourne, that's towards the south of Australia. We stayed in the same little Airbnb as a previous visit, and I noticed the bedroom painting had been replaced. Guess with what?
A lighthouse.
David and I watched a TV program. It was set on Christmas island in Canada, and it kept showing scene scenes of the lighthouse on the rocks.
And then the final scene showed the lighthouse shining into the dark of night, just like the vision I had.
Then an article leapt out at me about a lighthouse in America. That one on the right. Over 400 years ago, a Christian group had planted a cross there and covenanted with God that the gospel would go from this light land to the world.
Now, notice that these lighthouse encounters span five nations.
And I believe that through the symbol of the lighthouse, God is speaking to the churches. He's speaking to us personally, and he's also speaking to nations, especially these five, the uk, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and America. But firstly, let's look briefly at the prophetic big picture to give context to the lighthouse across the world. We're living in a time of shaking, shifting and many changes.
At the start of this year, I felt that the season ahead, there will be more exposures, dismantling, deposing and raising up of governmental leaders, among other things. But at the same time, God is working his good purposes, there will also be reconstructing, rebuilding, repositioning, realigning. Right now, we're in incredible opportunity, a window of opportunity in the world. And the spirit of the Lord is moving across many nations, often unseen and in unexpected ways.
It's the sense of things that are just rising up, you know, increasing to this convergence of what God is going to do in the world.
Now, in the midst of all the many upheavals going on in the world, the church of Jesus Christ will stand strong like a lighthouse. And I felt Jesus say that very emphatically.
Lighthouses are always built on solid rock, as we know. And one of the things I felt Jesus say, he reminded me, I am building my church. I am the rock on which she's built. I am the firm foundation, so she will remain unshaken.
Lighthouses are Also built on the coast overlooking the seas.
And we know that the light guides those in danger and distress to safety. And over the centuries, countless lives have been saved.
Now in Revelation 17, the seas represent the peoples, the nations, and I believe God is calling his church globally. Be a lighthouse in your city. Be a lighthouse in your nation and beyond, so that countless peoples and nations are saved.
And the house of God should be a house of light that shines in the darkness and the wonderful things. We are powerful together as living light. Together we shine exponentially brighter.
Jesus declared in John 8, I am the light of the world, and whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
And that is why he also declared in Matthew 5, you are the light of the world. Let your light shine before people that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.
So God is saying, it is time for our light to shine. And as beacons of hope, we need to shine for Jesus more than ever before in our communities so that those who dwell in darkness, because there's so much darkness out there, will see Christ the true light.
God is also, after a fresh reformation, in every sphere of society and every single believer. Wherever you live, work, study, whatever you do, be a shining light of hope in your sphere of influence.
Light really dramatically changes things.
Just one candle can transform a dark room. And your light really matters. Don't believe the lie that it doesn't. And don't hide your light. People need to see your light.
And I really feel that for rediscover church. God today wants to impart light, more power to you.
It's like increased wattage for greater luminosity that you will shine even brighter than you do now. You shine beautifully for Jesus, but I believe it's going to go to a new level of shining for his glory. And God is going to do a shift today to that new level of shining. And we'll pray into this at the end.
Now we know we can only shine by God's grace and power. So how do we shine practically? Well, here, just three ways. The other ways as well. Firstly, how we live. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5, 8, Philippians 2, 15. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a crooked and perverse generation.
2. Preach the gospel or testify. Tell people about Jesus. You know, Jesus said, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you to be my witnesses and tell people everywhere. People are so open up there, they are desperate to hear hope. They're Desperate to hear good news. And we are blessed with the most brilliant news in the world, the gospel.
3. Pray. Exclamation, exclamation.
The lighthouse is also God's house of prayer for all nations. And when we pray God's will and words into being, we actually release his light and transforming power into lives and nations. We learned yesterday just how powerful a weapon our prayers are.
And then nations. Some nations God has called to be a light to other nations. And they include these five that I mentioned today. The uk, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and America. They are on his radar for revival and awakening. We know that there's an unprecedented awakening coming for the greatest harvest of souls in history. And I really sense we are getting close and we need to be ready to run with what heaven is releasing. Here is a quote from the founding Fathers of America. God oversaw the creation of the USA for his purposes of being a city on a hill, a light to other nations, and an evangelist to the world.
So here's the question. Can the United Kingdom be one too?
You know, I did a quick research. The UK has lighthouses to north, south, east and west. I mean, when you look at the map, there's so many, it looks like a Christmas tree.
And you know, can the Church of Jesus Christ shine so brightly across the country that God releases awakening in this land, across the land and that the United Kingdom steps into her God intended destiny to be a light to other nations and a great mission sending nation again to other nations in the world? And this is what we need to keep praying because this is God's calling on this nation. This is his desire.
And I close with this important truth that the Holy Spirit really highlighted in Daniel 12. Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens. And those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
If we shine like bright lights now on the earth, we will shine like stars forever in eternity.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: That's a great word. And I think you just preached Pastor Mike's message from last week, sweetheart. So that's. That's really good. All right, I want to talk to you about. A new world is coming and I really want to, you know, just back onto what Greta said. Hey, we've got a book table out there. I'd love to give some books away. So I want to take. I know there's a lot of new people in the church who won't have had copies before. Look, there's this book called Hope.
One of the things the world lacks right now is hope. And we are supposed to be hope carriers. Bible says we are to overflow with hope by the power of the Spirit. Yet a lot of Christians actually live in disappointment over stuff that hasn't happened. And we've got to learn to navigate disappointment and be strong and overflowing in hopes because not only will it bless your life, but it will also bless others. So this book will really light a fire. It's full of stories and teaching about how you can overflow with hope and. Nita, do you have a copy of this?
You got a coffee? I won't give you a free one then. I was going to give you anyone like that. Just give us a wave. The lady in pink. Would you come out and get it?
Yes, yes.
That's all right. Give her a hand.
All right. Yeah, yeah. If you want the free book, you gotta come out. All right. Now. Charles Spurgeon said whenever God wants to do a great work, he first sets his people to pray. This book, how to pray and change your world. How many need your world changing? Okay. Your own world and the world you're in.
God all over the earth is calling the church to pray. I was telling Pastor Mark and Nita, our home church has got 20 prayer meetings for revival going at the moment. Some of them are 40, 50 strong. Some four or five. There's a spirit of prayer being released and I tell you things, the atmosphere shifting and so, you know, we gotta up our level of prayer. So if you struggle in prayer or you're a prayer worry, this book will just help you go to another level. Anyone like a freak I saw. I see your hand, sir. Come here it is all right, catch. Catch.
Oh, he didn't catch. Nevermind. That's all right. Bad throw. I got another one. But I need to hold onto it for a minute. How many have ever read the Bible completely through? Raise your hand like you've read it all. That's great. If you haven't, there's reading guides online that'll get you through the Bible in a year. It's a great thing to do. If you've read the whole Bible through, you know that the Bible starts with the creation of this world, Genesis 1 and 2. And the Bible ends with the creation of a new world, Revelation 21 and 22. Those are like the bookends of the prophetic purposes of God. In 2 Peter 3:13, it says we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth. He has promised a world filled with God's righteousness. There it is. What a beautiful promise that is. And this world is Our temporary home.
It's not our final destination. And a glorious new world is coming. And if we realize this, it will absolutely transform the way that we live. I love the story of a true story. An American pastor, he was invited to be a speaker at a conference in Brazil. He went to the city of Goiania, which is a sort of a center of revival in Brazil. And he was part of the speaking team to 12 and a half thousand pastors and leaders from this one church movement of over 300,000 people. And he thought to himself, 300,000 people, that's probably, probably a movement that's about 50 to 60 years old. But when he sat down with the apostolic leader of the movement, the leader said, no, this movement's only 16 years old. It started 16 years ago with one person. And the American pastor said, how can this be? How could you have such rapid growth? And this is what the leader said. He said, because we teach our people about judgment and eternal rewards. In the west, you have a 70 to 80 year mindset. Our people have an eternal mindset. When you get an eternal mindset, when you see that there's another world coming where this life is not all there is, this is not the end. This is only a passing through. And we make a huge difference as we pass through. When you have an eternal mindset, it changes everything. The problem is with many Christians, we have a very nebulous view of, of what eternity is like. CS Lewis said this, if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world are those who thought most of the next. So it's not talking about escapism. Wow, I'm headed for eternity, you know, I can't wait. And, you know, it's not escapist. It's, I am going to make a difference here on planet Earth. I'm looking forward to the new world coming. But how many know before that new world comes, this old world needs to be reached.
I love what David Lloyd George Said, the UK Prime Minister in the early 1900s. He said, When I was a boy, the thought of heaven used to frighten me. I pictured heaven as a place where time would be perpetual, Sundays with perpetual services from which there would be no escape. It's like this idea of hell, I think in eternal church service, it's like, you know, and I think, I think a lot of Christians think that, oh yeah, heaven, you know, we're gonna all get issued harps at the pearly gates and we're gonna be worshipping and playing and, you know, There'll be billions of us. So maybe I'll be right at the back of the crowd. I might just get a glimpse of Father and Jesus in the far distance. It is so far from that concept. I think that's a lie of the enemy that people perhaps have never read the book of Revelation, never understood where it all ends up. One day, Jesus will return to Earth. He is coming back. He will raise the dead to life. There will be eternal judgment. And I'm not gonna mention rapture, millennium tribulation theories. You can, if you don't know what I've just said. Stay happy in your ignorance.
Just be. Just enjoy your ignorance. Let me tell you, it will save you much pain. I am fast forwarding right to the end. Jesus comes back. The dead get raised to life, both the righteous and the unrighteous. There's a jud. Those that have rejected Jesus sadly will be shut out of eternal kingdom and will be sentenced to hell, a place of separation from God. But those who've believed in Jesus will be allowed to enter the new world that he creates. And after that judgment, Father destroys this world by fire. And he creates a brand new world.
Let's have a look. In Revelation 21:1 4, says, Then I saw a new heaven. That's a new universe. Stars, galaxies, planets. God's gonna make a whole new universe and a new earth for the old heaven. And the old earth had disappeared and the sea was also gone. Sorry, bodies, fishermen and surfers. You're out of luck. There's a big river there, by the way, in the new world. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, like a beautiful bride prepared for her husband. And I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, look, the home of Go among his people. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever.
So this new Jerusalem, as it's called there, this heavenly city that's currently in heaven when Jesus raises the dead, judges everyone. Father creates a new world. The astonishing thing to me is he now then brings that heavenly city that's currently in heaven. He brings it down to Earth, and he lives with us on planet Earth forever. I think that is an extraordinary act of incredible generosity that Father, instead of saying, well, you're gonna live with me in heaven for eternity. No, I'm gonna put you on a new world in a New physical body, because we're physical creatures with spirits inside of us. And I'm going to come and live with you eternally on that new planet. I think that's phenomenal generosity and kindness. That city, by the way, measures over 1400 miles on all sides. There is no city on Earth that big.
It would occupy two thirds the land mass of the United States. That's how big it is. It's got mansions in it. It's our home. You see, the whole thing we need to understand is if you're a believer in Jesus, you will not spend eternity in heaven, you will spend eternity on earth.
A new earth. It's ironic that we all want to get to heaven, right? I can't wait to get to heaven. You know what the saints up there cause heaven now is the home of Father Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the angels, and also the spirit of dead Christians. Every believer that's lived through history, their spirit is in heaven. They haven't got a body yet. They're waiting for that at resurrection. But it's ironic that all those Christians up there are longing for earth while we long for there. It's kind of like, okay.
And that's why they are saying, that's why they're a cloud of witnesses cheering us on. Because they know when we run a good race, when we finish across the finish line, when the church of Jesus Christ gets the job done of making this gospel known in every nation, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in every nation. Then the end will come. That's why the church up there is praying for us, cheering us on. Come on, run your race. Be a shining light, be a lighthouse. Make this world understand there's a heaven to be gained, a new world to be part of.
You know, many people that have died and been resuscitated have claimed to have seen heaven and the city. Here's the account of one cardiac arrest victim who died momentarily. And he says, immediately my spirit left my body. I saw the city of God. And I was looking down on the most dazzling sight imaginable. All the adjectives one could use, beautiful, splendid, magnificent, are totally inadequate to describe this place. There were many levels and seemingly millions of miles of streets, avenues of solid gold. It was the purest and brightest gold imaginable. And it looked like DAs everywhere through the streets and as far as I could see were millions of mansions.
Wow. You know, other people have had visions of heaven or been there, and they've seen all kinds of things. They've seen lakes and forests and plants and Rivers and waterfalls and animals and birds and people, you know, it's just an incredible place. So this present heaven is a temporary home for dead believers. But it's not our final destination. Neither is this current world. We will spend eternity on that new earth. And I'm going to just look briefly at some of the features of the new Earth. I need a drink of water. So why don't you turn to your neighbor and say, you have amazing hair.
Thank you, sweetheart.
Sorry. Sorry, Ma. Yes.
I really didn't think that one through, did I?
Listen, I see you in your resurrection body.
There is a huge mass of hair. It's going to be. It's going to be great.
It'd probably be justice for me to be bald in the resurrection.
Okay, so here's some of the features. If we can have that slide, I really don't have time to talk too much about it. There's going to be no night.
There'll be nations and rulers present, so God will preserve ethnicities we know. There's different levels of rulership in the. In the new earth and eternity, there's going to be organic paradise. So this whole world, which there's no sea, it'll be a total landmass. It'll be absolute paradise. If we think this world is beautiful, it'll be even better than the Garden of Eden. Because when God finishes a thing, it's really good. There'll be universal harmony. There's no wars between people. Isaiah says even animals will be at peace. The lion will lay down with the lamb. And even the plant kingdom, it says thistles. Instead of thistles, trees will grow. How many gardeners in the house? There'll be no weeds in the new world. Amen. That is exciting news, let me tell you.
There'll be one universal language. Zephaniah 3, 9. So we'll all speak one language. The fact we speak different languages as a result of a curse. If you read Genesis, God confused the languages of the, confused the people of the earth because they were rebellious. And God will restore one universal language. I'm guessing it'll probably be the language Adam and Eve spoke when God created them. We don't know what that is, but we'll all speak one language because there's going to be total unity. And I don't have time to elaborate, but I did write a book called Afterlife, and it's just got a whole lot of wonderful information on what is heaven like, what happens when you die, what's the return of Jesus going to look like?
Your resurrection body. There's a whole chapter on how amazing that will be. But I've got a chapter on the new Earth and just all the features of it, what we'll be doing there. So please do grab a copy and check that out.
I think the wonderful thing is it's Jesus who made this possible.
You know, if Jesus hadn't have come, died on a cross, shed his blood, that city would be forever in heaven beyond our reach. He said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. And when he hung on that cross and he shed his blood, he was taking your sin and my sin on himself. See, sin will separate us from a holy God. All of us have done wrong things. Every human being on planet Earth has sinned, has broken God's laws, has done wrong things. And that will shut us out of the kingdom. Even one sin is enough to shut us out of this new world, shut us out of this eternal kingdom. But Father didn't want anyone to perish. And so he sends his Son, Jesus. Jesus willingly goes to the cross. Why? For the joy set before him. He saw you and me. He saw billions of sons and daughters like himself. He knew he had to deal with some. And the only cleansing agent in all the universe is the blood of Jesus Christ. Blood has to atone for sin. And Jesus died in your place. He died in my. Why? He was taking your sin on the cross. He was taking our rebellion on himself so that when we believe in him, we receive everlasting life. 1 John 5:11-13 I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life. He or she who has the Son has life. He or she who does not have the Son does not have life. And there are billions of people on planet Earth who do not have. They have physical life, they do not have eternal life.
And Father's not happy about that.
He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. It says he doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to have eternal life. Jesus has done the job and he's gone back to heaven. And he sent his spirit upon the church. And now it's our job to make him known to a lost world so that that new world will be populated with billions and billions of people throughout history. Not a minority, but a majority.
I believe the Holy Spirit is going to be able to get the job done.
You know the ultimate thing about the new world?
Revelation 22:3 4.
For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there and his servants will worship him. They will see his face.
Wow. They will see his face.
You know, we had wonderful anointed worship this morning. But let me tell you, when you're worshipping God and you see him face to face, your worship will be at a whole different level.
You know, Greta and I live in a lovely home in our biggest city in New Zealand, Auckland. And it's a, it's a lovely home. It's got a nice kitchen, nice bathrooms, nice furniture. It's got a lovely garden where I have to keep weeding, but never mind. It's got all of that stuff. But you know what? I'm in love with Greta.
So if she wasn't in the home, it'd be empty.
It doesn't matter how good it is. Without her there would be nothing. And paradise without God is not paradise at all. This new world, it's going to be incredible. The heavenly city going to be. You're going to walk streets of gold. It's going to, it'll be the headquarters of the world. We'll probably have our home there. It'll be the headquarters of central government. We'll get to explore all of the world. Can you imagine what resurrected scientists, artists, musicians, whatever, whatever are going to be able to create in their resurrected bodies and able to chat to Jesus about his creation. It's going to be phenomenal. But the best thing of all, God will be there. You will see Father, you will walk with him. You'll see Jesus face to face. You'll see the Holy Spirit. We'll see one another. You'll get to chat to Paul, you'll get to chat to Moses. You'll. Because you got a lot of time, you know, like it might take you 10,000 years to get an appointment with Moses, but hey, you got all the time in the world. It's a no brainer. It's going to be cool.
One US pastor said, not only will the earth be restored as the paradise it was created to be, but with God dwelling on the earth, this tiny little speck of dust floating through space will become the capital the universe.
So what do we conclude about this? What we need to conclude is enjoy this present world. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, God has richly supplied us with all things to enjoy. If God's called you to be married, build the best marriage you can.
Raise godly children.
If you're a grandparent, pray for your grandkids, that they will serve the Lord. If they don't know him, they will come to him. If they're away from God, they will come back. If God's called you into business, be the best business person you can. If you are an employer, be the best employer you can for your employees. If you're an employee, do the best job you can for your boss. You might not have the best skills, but you can have the best attitude in the workplace. Because you're doing it for Jesus. You're doing it for him. If you're a sports person, be the best you can. Whatever life has called you to be, whatever vocation, whatever career, whatever position in life, be the best you can. For it brings honour to the Lord, it brings glory to the Lord. And enjoy it. But realize that you're passing through. And while you enjoy this present world, you want to have an eye on the next one, because it will determine how you live in this one. Hebrews 11, 9, 10.
By faith, Abraham made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country, for he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.
See, he said he made his home as he was passing through because he looked forward to something else.
It's important that we see this.
If we don't see it, and the Devil will do his hardest to obscure this from us, it'll affect the way that we live negatively. Florence Chadwick was a female American swimmer. She was the first woman swimmer to cross the English channel. Then in 1952, she attempted to swim from Catalina island, you can see it there, to the west coast of the United States, a bit over 20 miles. And they picked a date. Unfortunately, the day that they had chosen, it turned out to be really foggy and really cold. So she gets in the water off Catalina island, she starts swimming, and she swims, and she swims through the fog. The fog never lifts through the cold. And after 15 hours, she became exhausted and she asked the chase boat to pull her out of the water because they were not allowed to help her in any way. And when they pulled her on board, she said, how far away am I? They said, you're half a mile from the shore.
You know what she said?
She said, all I could see was the fog.
If I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.
There's a bunch of you right now. All you can see is the fog of negativity, difficulty, adversity. The fog of a world self imploding on itself because it's rejected God. The fog of faulty theology that you thought you were going to be sitting on a cloud playing A harp for eternity or some nebulous, nefarious view of eternity, whatever the fog is. Circumstances wrong theology. May it be washed away by the wind of the Spirit today. Because if you can see the shore, you'll keep swimming. If you can see the shore, no adversity, no suffering, no offense. Nothing that anyone does to you or circumstances throw at you will stop you running your race.
Because you've got a target in mind. You're going to make that new world. And when you make it, you're going to. You're going to have a grand entrance into it. I love what Peter says in two Peter 1, 10 and 11. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Listen, Jesus worked hard to get you in the kingdom because you're saved by grace. But you and I need to work hard to get a reward that determines what we'll be doing in the new world. And I know we don't do it just for reward. We do it to love him. But nevertheless, God is. When Jesus comes back, he's going to reward his people. That's what he says. He said, behold, I come and my reward is with me. The judgment day for an unbeliever is one of punishment because they've rejected God. The judgment day for a believer is one of reward. It's like Father's prize giving ceremony. He will reward you for what you've done since you've become a Christian.
And a lot of people get threatened like that because you say, well, I'm not up front and I don't do great things. And I don't get on social media illustrating, no, no, you don't. Because Jesus said his reward is well done, good and faithful servant, not well done, good and famous servant.
A lot of famous Christians out there, God blessed them.
But there's a lot of faithful ones nobody sees except heaven.
Nobody sees what you do. You do it in secret. There's no publicity around it. You don't get on social media. You don't have a book written about you. And there's billions of Christians across the planet serving Jesus without getting a reward. If you want a reward, here, you want to post what you've done on social media. Great, you had your reward.
Hey, this is what I did. Look, it's okay to inform people, but I'm a bit sick and tired of Christians publicizing their sanctification and holiness and wonder on Social media. Look at me. Look at me. Aren't I wonderful?
Come on.
Didn't Jesus say, if you fast in secret, pray in secret, give in secret, my Father will reward you publicly. How? On Judgment Day, if you can keep a secret, like some of us are in the limelight, we're going to probably get a lesser reward. Maybe. I don't know. It's to do with your heart. Jesus said the last will be first and the first will be last on Judgment Day.
So there's a lot of people that are last right now in the kingdom of God. But on that day, because they've been faithful, God will get them great reward. I trust that gives you hope.
But here's the deal. If you live careless, if you live carelessly for Jesus now, you will suffer loss of reward. Because that day of judgment, God tests our works by fire. And the gold, silver and precious stones remain, the wood, hay and straw get burned up. Everything you do in faith and love, everything you do with a sincere heart, everything you do to love somebody else and bless them, to bring honour to the Lord, that's gold, silver and precious stones. God will test our motives, test our heart. Yes, you'll be saved. Yes, you'll be in the new world. Yes, you'll get a measure of reward. Because even a cup of cold water given in the name of the Lord shall not go without reward. God will reward the littlest thing. Hey. This is not a time to fall away from Jesus. This is not a time to get offended at God and say, well, you didn't answer that prayer, so I'm not gonna serve you. This is not a time to be seduced by the world. This is not a time to be led astray from a pure and simple devotion to Jesus Christ. Etern is at stake. Lost souls are at stake.
And when the church lives like we should be, we're not perfect, but we're reflectors of his glory. I don't have a light shining in me. I simply reflect the light. Who is the light of the world? I'm just a mirror. You're just a mirror reflecting him. Reflect him to others. I want to close with this story because it's so important that we understand the mission. By the way, the whole thing about judgment and rewards. I got a chapter in this book on it and you can get a hold of that. I'd love to give that away. Who wants it? I see you, sir. Here it is. Thanks, sweetheart. If you can run it over, that'll be great. The Africans are in today. They are hungry. For books.
I love it.
There was a man called Arthur Stace. He lived in Australia. He was a World War I veteran, had a messed up life. What he saw in the war, grew up in a poor family, became an alcoholic, and then he got saved and he gave his heart to Jesus, was radically changed. And then one day a preacher came to his church in Sydney and he preached on eternity.
And the preacher said a throwaway comment, I wish this word eternity could be written all over the city of Sydney. Well, Arthur took him literally.
And from 1932 to 1967, he wrote the word eternity in chalk over half a million times on the footpaths and fences and buildings of Sydney. We've got a photo of Arthur coming up.
There he is, simple man.
Half a million times he wrote that word all over Sydney.
Well, he died in 1967, but it became folklore in the city of Sydney.
And on New Year's Eve 1999, when we were going to tip into the year 2000, they lit up Sydney Bridge like this.
He died in 1967. This is 32 years later. They are still remembering a man that wrote eternity all over the city.
I don't know if they still remember it now. And I don't know how many souls he might have impacted who saw that word and started under the conviction of the spirit, thinking about eternity. But what I know is this. You and I are God's piece of chalk.
And the Holy Spirit wants us to use us to write the word eternity on the hearts of the people that we come across as God gives us opportunity to right eternity on their hearts, to tell them there's a new world coming. Look, we were in our city of Rotorua. It's the smelly city. It's got bubbling pools and sulfur and stuff. We were there ministering and a guy comes up to us at the end of the service. I want to tell you a story. I said, what? He said, I was in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago and I was walking down the aisle and this unkempt guy, just not shaven, he looked ragged, his clothes were filthy, walked past me and I smiled at him and he went on his way. Two weeks later he said, I'm in our drop in centre at church and that guy walks in and he comes up to me and says, do you remember me? I said, no. He said, yeah, you smiled at me in the supermarket. Did I? Yes, yes, I remember you.
He said, I was on my way out of that supermarket to commit suicide. Your smile gave me hope.
Your smile gave me hope.
Can you smile at somebody? I reckon you can.
You never know what a smile can do. You never know what praying for them can do. You never know what sharing the gospel can do. Letting your light shine, doing good things for them can do because Father wants them in the new world.
We're going to pray into this in a minute because Acts 1:8 says, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you'll tell people about me everywhere. We need a fresh coming upon of the Holy Spirit all over the church and it's coming. But before we pray into that and into what Greta was carrying, I want to make sure. Do you know the Lord Jesus here this morning? You're sitting here, you're hearing this. And the Bible says in John 1:12, as many that receive Jesus who believe in him, God gives them power to become a child of God. You'll never become a child of God by being good enough. Cause you can't match God's holiness. You'll never become a child of God by doing good things because good things don't earn you salvation. It's a gift through faith in Jesus. And I would love to pray a simple prayer in a moment that would allow you to give your life to Jesus. Or maybe you once gave your life to Jesus, but today you've. You've moved right away from God. And today you need to come back to Jesus. And I would love to include you in that prayer. Can we all close our eyes to help us concentrate? And if that's you, you want me to include you in this prayer, you know that you need to give your life to Jesus or you need to come back to Jesus. This morning, right where you're sitting right now, could you just raise your hand in the air to acknowledge? Yep. Thank you, sir. Right down the back. You can put your hand down. Thank you. Here, young man. God bless you. You can put your hand down. Anyone else? Just as I scan. Yeah, another gentleman down the back and over there. I see those four hands. You can put your hand down a lady. Anyone else? Just quickly as I scan the room. You know, you need to give your life to Jesus or come back to him. Yes. Thank you, sir. In the hat. God bless you. Anyone else? Anyone else? You can do it online. If you're watching online, raise your hand. I can't see it. God will see it. It's acknowledgement. But in the room right now. Don't let fear stop you. Fear stops people. In this moment. I'll be embarrassed. Jesus said, if you confess me before people, I'LL confess you before my father. So who's gonna join these five people right now? Just quickly raise your hand. Raise your hand high in the air. You know, you should do it. Just raise it up. Hold it up high. I'm sure there's one or two more. Yeah. Thank you. God bless you. Are you itching? You're scratching. All right. Okay. That's not you. All right. You're already saved. That's okay. Anyone else, quickly raise your hand. Your heart might be thumping and, you know, you should do this. And I'm not gonna wait more than another 10 seconds. But who's gonna join these other five? You wanna give your life to Jesus? You wanna come back to Jesus? Quickly raise your hand right now. As I scan the room one last time. All right. Yes. Thank you. Over there. God bless you. One more. That's six. Anyone else? Just quickly, quickly raise your hand. Hold it up high.
All right. I don't see anyone. Let's stand to our feet. And I'd love to pray with those six people that raised their hands. My problem is you are scattered all over the room. I can't get to you. What I'm going to ask you to do in a moment is if you raised your hand, I'm going to ask you to leave your seat and come down the front. You say, wow, that's a tough thing in front of all these people. Yeah. Jesus walked through a crowd with a cross on his back for you, and they were jeering him. You're going to be walking through a crowd that will be cheering for you because they're so excited that you'll be meeting Jesus. So just. Why don't you come right now? There's this gentleman. He's coming. He's coming. God bless you.
God bless you.
Just face me. Face me. God bless you, son. That's so cool. God bless you. God bless you. We just wait. Yeah. Thank you. Keep coming. God bless you. That's wonderful. Good on you. That's so cool. Good on you, sir. That's great. All right, cool. We're going to pray. A simple prayer. I'd like you to follow me. Just mean it with all your heart. The Bible says if anyone is in Christ, they're a new creation. Old things pass away. He begins to make all things new. It's not a sudden change, but suddenly your sin can be forgiven. And when Jesus comes and lives in your heart and you're going to ask him in in a minute, he starts to change you from the inside out. So we're going to get the whole church to pray along with you. So follow me and mean it with all your heart. Here we go. And if you're watching online and raised your hand, pray this prayer as well. Lord Jesus, I ask you to forgive me today for all my sins. I'm sorry, Lord. And I turn from them and I turn to you. I believe you died on a cross for me and you rose again from the dead.
So now, Lord Jesus, I open the door of my heart and ask you to come and live in me. I now receive you.
Give me power to live for you for the rest of my life.
Amen. Amen. God bless you. Do you have anything to give them if I return them, what would you like to do? If you would go that way to the lady over there, they're going to give you some stuff to help you know the next step, then you can come back in. So just if you go to the. That's right. If you go over there to the lady that's waving at you. That's great. Sweetheart, could you come and join me?
I just want to pray into the fog.
We're going to pray that God lifts the fog. You know what burns fog off? Sunlight.
Here's the sun. We're going to ask the Lord Jesus to burn the fog off so you can keep swimming. Amen. And why don't you close your eyes again and if you kind of resonate with that fog thing, why don't you just lift your hand to the Lord right now? And Father, you just see hands going up all over the place today. And Lord, in the name of Jesus, God, I pray that the Holy Spirit, wind of the Spirit, would blow the fog away today. I take authority over any demonic fog. I take authority over fogs of negativity, fogs of adversity and difficulty, fogs of wrong theology, Lord, anything that the enemy has created to obscure the great hope that we have. And I speak to that fog. Now go in the name of Jesus, that you may see the shore, that your eyes may be opened, that we might know that God is the God that opens our eyes and our ears. That is a gift from the Lord. So I release you from the fog that you will keep running, you will keep swimming, you will keep walking, you will keep persevering, you will keep enduring, you will keep praying, you will keep overflowing with hope. In the name of Jesus and Lord, I pray for every person here that on that day we stand before you, there will be huge rewards, that you will help us to be good and faithful servants and not worry about whether we're famous or not, just being faithful. Would you, Lord, release a great spirit of faithfulness in our hearts today in the name of Jesus. Now we're going to pray into the other areas, so.
[00:50:29] Speaker B: Okay. Holy Spirit, we just thank you that you are with us, that you have come to empower us to shine for Jesus. And could I invite you to lift your hands if you'd like to receive individually fresh power. More power to shine for Jesus. Holy Spirit, in your mighty name, I first of all release your anointing. Just receive a fresh anointing of the Spirit. Be filled with power. Be filled with boldness to be a witness for Jesus.
I release courage. I cut off all timidity, all fear. I cut off every lie that your light doesn't matter in Jesus name. I declare that you will be bright shining lights at a new level like never before. And that God will show you opportunities wherever you go in your daily life to be his light in practical ways.
Holy Spirit, more release your fire. Let your people burn with a compassion for the lost and Lord, a passionate desire to tell people about Jesus and Lord, I just declare into Rediscover Church that you shall be a lighthouse with a greater luminosity. I impart a greater power of the Spirit spirit, that greater wattage that this church will shine brighter and with further influence and reach like never before.
[00:52:20] Speaker A: Thank you, Jesus.
Could everyone 36 and over, just take your seats? Everyone 35 and under remain standing. I know we've gone a little longer than normal.
I trust that you'll be patient with us. Everybody 35 and over, you're still standing. Listen, every age group is going to carry the fire.
35 and under standing. 35 and under should be standing. Every age group is going to carry the fire.
But I just believe God's, especially after the next generation.
And what I want to do is I just want to pray over you. And then I want some of the older ones as we hand back. Am I handing back to Pastor Mike or Pastor Mark? You? I'm going to hand back in a moment because I know we've gone a bit over time, but trust you'll allow us to just do this last thing. These under 30, 35 and under, God is doing something with this generation.
They are going to be the movers and shakers. They are going to be the faithful servants. And would you just lift your hands, all you young ones, please just lift your hands to the Lord. In the name of Jesus, I release his keeping grace over your life that he will keep you from falling. He will present you without blemish before the presence of his glory. He will hold you in the palm of his hand. He will keep you from being seduced away from a pure and simple devotion. And I now release a mighty fire of the Holy Spirit in your life that you will be a shining light. You will carry the fire of eternity in your heart, and you will spread it. You will light a fire in many other people of your own generation. Lord, let revival fire hit this generation. We pray in the name of Jesus. Could the older ones around them quickly put hands on them and pray for them? Some of you older ones, just a one minute, two minute prayer. Just minister to them, prophesy over them and bless them in Jesus mighty name.
[00:54:25] Speaker B: I'll take your water for you, darling. My L, please. Sorry.
