It is, it's good to be back after a couple of weeks.
Okay, who is still talking, if you'd like to come and take your seats? Thank you.
I just, I just really want to praise God because my husband, Mylon and myself and
Mum, we all went back to England for a couple of weeks and my niece got married
and originally I think Mylon just thought he was doing a prayer for the
wedding and then I think two days before I was told by the beautiful young
couple in love that he was actually doing the wedding and then realised it
was part of a Anglican church and that he would have to do it in tango with the
vicar and so he connected with this beautiful vicar of this fairy tale
church in a beautiful English village and God is so good because sometimes you
can be prayed into a situation and Mylon really really connected with this
beautiful man who was very very humble and he had had a word that someone was
going to come to his church and they would come without reputation and
basically they would help lead his church, cutting a very long story short,
into the ways of the Holy Spirit and when he met Martin he said I know that
you are this man and what was so interesting was the Sunday after the
wedding you know we you know really felt led to go to his church and it was
Pentecost Sunday and the bishop had come as well and he was commissioning and he
asked Martin to get up and share some of the things that God had been doing and
that Martin had been seeing and even though what we would consider maybe
formal with the liturgy whatever the Holy Spirit was really there but you know
everything was going along to the program and then we went to the prayer
meeting in the week and he said to Martin I know that you're the man so he
asked Martin to preach in his church the next Sunday and it was incredible
because he said look he said my people don't respond so if you do an
article they probably won't get up and Martin preached and right at the end it
was like every single person in that church came up and what we saw was as
they were coming up both men and women young and old with tears in their eyes
and afterwards this beautiful vicar he was so excited and so happy because he
said now I know now I know what to do and he had been praying he had a little
group of people and they've really really been praying for God to move and
God to lead them and we were so encouraged because we just stepped into
this prayer and so I want to encourage every single one of you and you know one
of the things he shared with me was he just didn't know how it was going to be
possible and sometimes when we pray we sometimes want to find the solution in
our mind we don't have to do that whatever you're asking God for simply
believe leave it with him and he will answer so I want to give all glory and
all honor to the Lord Jesus Christ amen amen okay if you would like to I'm gonna
read the passage from my husband that he's gonna preach from if you'd like to
turn to the book of Isaiah chapter 50 and I'm reading Isaiah 50 verse 10 you're
gonna be reading from verse 10 who among you fears the Lord who obeys the voice
of his servant who walks in darkness and has no light let him trust in the
name of the Lord and rely upon his God look all you who kindle a fire who
encircle yourselves with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks
you have kindled this you shall have from my hand you shall lie down in
torment the word of the Lord
you
good it is to be back at home in the house of God tell somebody it's good to
be in the house of God yeah I I thought I was going on a holiday and now I need a
holiday because as my wife just explained we just went oh yes went to
this place and to England and I thought we were going on a holiday lovely family
holiday and gonna sit there and have a dance and watch someone get married and
all the rest of it till they got there and they said well you're doing the
wedding and that was but then you know God had given me a word that he'd used
me in nations this year and it's so encouraging because you know we've been
used in the nation of of England now and and this little Church of England church
you know which which so needs revival and so needs a move of the Holy Spirit
and as Michelle said we were over there and I met this lovely man just really
godly man and he's like really seeking renewal and revival and been praying for
a long time and God had told him that the way it would come that he would send
a messenger and so I'm over there and I'm thinking this is a lovely wedding
and this satin this vicar said to me said you're the messenger and then it
was all on and then it was meetings and prayer meetings and was so wonderful
because at the end as Michelle said you know part of his word God had told him
was that the messenger would come and things would not be the same and this
church hadn't doesn't have a culture of response and the vicar had said people
won't respond but when the Holy Spirit moved there was a tremendous response
and a culture of responding to God was established and I really believe is like
Angela had a vision of a pebble being dropped into a pond and the effect will
ripple out so it's wonderful to be used of God even in surprising ways and and
we just rejoice because that's what we want to do we want to just simply be
used by God wherever and with whoever God ordains so wonderful okay let's come
to the Word of God Father I thank you for your word but this is not going to
help us Lord unless this word penetrates into where we hear you so Father we ask
that you open our ears where hearts are hard that you soften them this morning
but Father you have wonderful things to say things to encourage us things to
heal us things to strengthen us Lord let this word go into the place our spirit
where we actually hear from you in Jesus name amen you know it's it's so
wonderful to be a Christian when you I just call it on top where you're walking
in the presence of God you're walking in the fellowship of God and you know you
actually there's a place where you know the anointing is flowing you can actually
feel the smile of God on your life that's just wonderful and then you know
life your life is full of light and it's full of life and peace and joy in those
times and you know we often call those as Christians we call those times you
know mountaintop experiences and and and it's wonderful and the trouble is some
people think that is the and it's even been taught incorrectly in some parts
of the church that's where a Christian ought be and that's where a Christian
lives and and God's plan for them is just to be in that place but this
passage my wife just read it kind of shocked me when I read it not that I
don't know it but the way it is read here is just so obvious and verse 10 says
who among you who fears the Lord who obeys the voice of his servant so that's
that's a serious believer and he says who among you who fears the Lord who
obeys the voice of his servant who walks in darkness and has no light let
him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God so he's saying this
person who is a real serious believer who fears God you know he's in awe that
God is that he exists that's what it is to fear God and and he obeys God's he
obeys the voice of God when God speaks to him when he reads the Word of God he
actually doesn't just hear it he actually does it and he says this
person who's a serious believer very next verse says walks in darkness and
has no light and you know there are times where you know light means revelation
and it means sensing the presence of God his peace and his joy in your life and
this passage is saying there there are times in your life where you will not
experience and feel God and there are times where you will not have vision of
what God is doing with you and an understanding of what God is saying to
where he is leading you there will be a times where you're in darkness and in
darkness you you can't see and you have no vision and it's very very interesting
that many of the significant people in the scriptures experience darkness and
deep darkness Adam God put him into a deep sleep sleep of darkness and then
out of his rib he pulled Eve sometimes God will put you in a place of darkness
but you'll discover something that you didn't know was in you in the times of
darkness Abraham was put into a place of darkness and and God spoke to him and
God made a covenant with him and when he came out of that place of darkness he
just knew his children and his children's children would be blessed even
Jesus three days in a tomb before he was glorified place of darkness and Paul he
was Saul was killing Christians and persecuting Christians and before he
was changed from Saul to Paul he spent three days blind completely in darkness
so you you as a believer it's not all mountaintops and it's not all glory it's
not all the presence of God there are times where you are not gonna know what
God is doing with you not gonna know where God is leading you you're not gonna
always because God's ways are above your ways and it's really important is really
important because I've seen so many Christians blow it when they can't feel
God when they don't know what God is saying it's really important that you
know what to do you know why because as I am we had this word over this church
in 2020 the start of it before the virus came and all the that that that what was
the word Isaiah 60 says this this is a word arise shine for your glory has come
we love that bit but verse 2 behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep
darkness the people and I believe we're actually heading into a time where there
is going to be darkness economic darkness lots of darkness in the world
and God's people need to know what to do when you're in that situation and this
scripture says that first of all it tells us when you're in that time of
darkness he said let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God
that's faith talk to trust in the name of the Lord and rely on God it's just
another name of saying what's important when you're in darkness is faith it is
to stay in faith it's so important because Jesus spoke in the scriptures
three times he rebuked the disciples for not having faith in Matthew chapter 6
verse 33 and 40 I think it is he actually speaks about having faith for
your provision he says look at the birds of the air and how you know God closed
them or feeds them and look at the flowers of the field the lilies how God
closed them and he says God cares more about you than a than a lily and a bird
and he rebukes them for having little faith and having you know anxiety about
tomorrow and their provision another time he rebukes them when they're in a
storm and Jesus is with them and so they rebuke because they don't believe
God with you is enough another time when Peter's got out of the boat and walked
on water for a few steps Jesus rebuked him for having little faith so Jesus
wants us and expects us to have faith that's important because without faith
it's important to believe him and when you're in a time of darkness what is
important is faith it is faith and it's really important because the one thing
Jesus was concerned about when he returned and he is returning he said
will the Son of Man find faith in the earth when you're in darkness what's
important is faith and this is the problem verse 11 look all you who kindle
a fire who encircle yourselves with sparks walk in the light of your fire in
the sparks you have kindled this you shall have from my hand you shall lie
down in torment what's that speaking about it's speaking about someone when
they get to that place of darkness and they don't know what God's and they
don't know what God's doing they don't know where God's going to direct them
they don't know if God's forgotten them that instead of being someone who trusts
God and lives in faith they kindle a fire for themselves walk in the light of
your fire the sparks you have kindled so they try to create a solution they try
to do something of themselves but it's a not faith solution it's something that
excludes God something it doesn't depend upon God or rely upon God it's getting
something happening for yourself and he says the trouble when you get to go down
that path it will end where you shall lie down in torment it shall lie down in
torment so you don't try to create your own light when you're in darkness don't
try to create your own situation to get yourself out what's important what God's
looking for is faith because darkness when you're in darkness it's a faith
battle in fact every battle is a faith battle every time you're placed in a
place where things are challenging it's a test of faith in every battle it's a
faith fight it is a faith fight when you're in darkness it is a faith fight
it is a faith battle and faith and only faith is the victory so it's really
important that we we understand you know I always say you know you can have all
the feelings you can have all the emotions you can fall on the ground you
can laugh you can do all the things people prone to do in the church but
until faith comes in nothing's going to change until faith comes in there'll be
no victory faith is what counts and you know that's why before Jesus died he
knew that Peter was going to go into a time of darkness where the enemy came
and he prayed and said Peter I know the enemy wants to sift you like
wheat but I have prayed that your faith will not fail not the alive his life
failed but Peter got onto his destiny because even though his life failed even
though his character failed even though morally for his faith never failed
therefore he was able to make a comeback and therefore he was able to keep on
track with Jesus because his faith did not fail this is what's important in
dark times you know it says here let him trust who walks in darkness has no light
let him trust in the name of the Lord let him rely upon his God and let me say
let him rely upon and trust in the name of his God this is speaking about faith
and there's a lot of talk about faith kind of in the word faith movement some
of its goods and it's not so good but the problem is a lot of it's speaking
about you having to produce faith you having to work up faith and faith and
you end up in a place where you have faith in your faith but that's not what
biblical faith is the Bible never speaks about having faith in faith and never
says just have faith and believe it says the Bible teaches have faith in God
believe in Jesus Christ because faith biblical faith has an object it rests
upon the object then it rests upon the person and character of God and Jesus
Christ that's what biblical faith is and it rests on God rests that's what says
trust and rely but see what is what is needed if you're going to trust and
rely on God what is needed and what is essential to biblical faith is knowledge
of God there is nothing more valuable that listen to this there is nothing
more valuable than a faith-based knowledge and knowledge based on faith
a faith based on knowledge a faith which is based on really knowing who God is
that's what's so important that's what's so violent so precious in two Peter if
you turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 now Peter is writing this and Peter is about
himself to be martyred and he knows the church is entering in a season where
great persecution is going to come to this is this is a time where Nero was
lighting Christians up and using them as oil lamps in the city he was just
killing people most dreadful way and Peter knew that this was going to be a
great faith fight for the church they were going to need to stand firm and
believe and trust God because they were going into a season of great darkness
and this is the last words Peter said in his letter and he says verse 18 because
there is a great faith fight in front of you grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grow in the grace and knowledge of God because
in a faith fight what you need is knowledge of God it is knowledge of God
which is that knowledge of God is the basis of faith it is a foundation of
faith it is your faith rests upon knowing that God is faithful these long
suffering that God is Jehovah Jireh your provider he is Jehovah Rapha your
healer he is merciful he's caring he's long suffering he will fight for you
faith is based on knowledge of who God is and what's what's really important is
we're living in a generation you know I don't know if you've read but a lot of people
are read this guy Tim someone this week on the internet he's talking about how
Millennials are deconstructing and I've heard this before but it's like yeah we
don't we don't really want to have the faith that's been passed down to us for
2,000 years we kind of want to do something different and what the focus
is now a lot of young people they want to focus on discovering who you are
there's nothing wrong with knowing your identity in Christ in fact it's good but
but but when you're in a faith fight when you're in a place of darkness
knowing who you are isn't going to help you knowing who you are isn't going to
get you out you need to know who God is you need to know the greatness of God
when you're in a dark place when you're in a battle you don't need to know who
you are you are dust you need to know someone greater you need to know the
amazing attributes of God and that's why we need to be growing in the knowledge
of God and that's why in this church what we're doing we know dark times are
coming so we have Bible studies why do we have Bible studies to see you grow in
the knowledge of God that your faith may not fail that may not fail you know the
it's all about not knowing and thinking that you are somebody that's actually
really knowing somebody great that's that's what your faith rests on and and
knowledge is so important because knowing who God is is so important
because when you're in a faith battle you know what the enemy does is what
Satan does when you're in place of darkness you're you're you're under the
pump and you can't feel God and maybe things are happening in your life which
are difficult what Satan comes to do he doesn't come to convince you
particularly if you're a believer that God doesn't exist because you know that
you've been born again but what he comes to do is to distort and
misconstrue who God is I was reading the same thing online this week this this
man who married this woman and he shortly after he got married his bride
got cancer and you need believing for a wife for a long time and his wife got
cancer and he he watched to die and he said you know he was in this great test
at the time he's in this great battle the great battle fate he said the the
battle wasn't about who you know whether God is the battle is about what God was
like was God still good was God still good and he said the way I know God is
good is not just through my experience of God that's good enough but I know
through the Word of God and I want to tell you you are not going to have a
faith which can stand up in dark times you're not going to have that without
the knowledge of God and the only place you get the knowledge of God is through
this book the only place you get the knowledge of God and develop a faith
which can be tested which can go through fire which can stand in darkness which
can endure when you can't see the only way you can get that is to have knowledge
of God which comes from this word and if you're not reading this word if you're
not reading this word I when challenges come when darkness comes your
foundation if it's going to stand on who you got it who you are it's going to
fail it is going to fail but see it's so vital that we have a knowledge of who
God is what he is like what his character is how trustworthy is how
perfect is his timing that he is my healer he is my deliverer he is my
provider that I have this not just head but I actually know who God is when
darkness comes there's this Olympic swimmer is the I still think he's the
greatest swimmer he's won more gold medals than any other person his name is
Michael Phelps and the one of the reasons he became great was that he had
this trainer this coach and this coach trained him in a very unorthodox method
and what his coach would do instead of just sending him up and down the pool
like everybody else his coach would periodically put pinpricks in his
goggles and so he's swimming along and his goggles would fill up with water and then
other times you know they'd be training at night and you know they'd be training
and be going up and down in this heated pool that the coach and you know the way
the swimmer you know he learns to swim he's got the lines on the pool which
show him how to stay in the center of his lane and tell him where he is in
relation to the end of the pool but his coach periodically would turn the lights
off and he'd be swimming in complete darkness but what happened was in Beijing
in the final of the 400 or 200 meters that he Michael Phelps tells it in his
testimony he says he he stood on the blocks and he just sensed and he's you
know kind of in a man he just sensed something was going to go wrong and he
dived in the pool and sure enough after a little while 50 60 meters he started to
feel these goggles slowly filling up with water and they filled up with water
and they fill it until just before the last turn he could see nothing and he
said but because I'd had this experience he said and I'd been swimming in
darkness so many times when the coach turned out the lights he said I had
knowledge of the pool and he said when I turned from the last lap I knew the pool
and I knew there was exactly 21 strokes I had to take and then I'd sail into the
the the blocks and he said so I knew the darkness didn't worry me because I knew
the pool and when he sailed in and he sailed in after his 21 strokes he looked
up and not only had he won he looked up and there was a world record but the
darkness didn't fit didn't defeat him because he had knowledge of the pool
your pool is the Word of God it's the Word of God if you know your God if you
know who he is dark times will come but you will not only get through them I
want to tell you this this the Bible says what happens to people who in dark
times don't try to make their own way out and make their own planes but trust in
the name of the Lord and rely on him I tell you two things that happen at the
end if you just trust in God it's hard I don't sense you I don't know what you're
saying I don't where you're leading me but I'm trusting you and I'm relying on
you even though it's hard what will happen
Word of God promises Psalm 112 says unto the upright light arises in your
darkness so there comes a time Jesus is the light of the world that you will
you suddenly you'll just feel how I'm not alone anymore here is God God's come
back to me this Holy Spirit has come and he's got a fresh word to me light has
risen into your darkness so if you trust and rely I promise you your darkness
will be temporary your darkness will be temporary and then Isaiah 45 3 I love
this this this I've meditated on this for a little while now and I haven't been
able to speak about it until I really understood it as I 45 3 speaks about the
hidden treasures of darkness the hidden treasures of darkness see see God lives
the Bible says in a dark cloud and for you to grow you don't grow on the
mountaintops God takes you through times where you don't feel him you don't
understand what he's doing in your life you don't know where he's directing you
but if you trust and rely on him you discover his hidden treasures and what
his hidden treasures are is it's like a seed and you are a seed and God wants to
change you he wants to change you Bible says from glory to glory from faith to
faith from from being a little bit like Jesus to more like Jesus to more like
Jesus he wants to change you you know how he changes you it's like how a
caterpillar is changed into a butterfly it has to be buried in the ground in a
place of darkness or like a seed before a seed becomes fruitful it has to be
buried in the ground has to be put in a great place of darkness but after that
time of darkness at the perfect moment that seed emerges completely different
it is changed and it is greater you think where's my biblical example of
that Jesus came out of the tomb glorified but the Apostle Paul before he
was Paul he was called Saul and he was persecuting Christians until God got a
hold of him and he knocked him off his horse and he was blind for three days
he's in a place of darkness for three days couldn't see but he trusted on God
and he relied on God and in God's perfect timing Saul became Paul this is
the hidden treasures that people experience this is a hidden treasures
that God has for people who trust him and rely on him when they don't
understand when they can't see when they've got nothing but they choose faith
in the battle they choose faith and I just have a feeling today I when I
preach this I just have a feeling today there are people here who are in that
place where you you don't know where God is leading you you don't know where God
is directing you you don't know what God's doing with you now and you don't
feel God he's got you in that place I want to tell you it doesn't mean you've
done anything wrong in fact God's put you there and he's put you there and
right where you are is a test it's simply a test whether you're going to
try to get yourself out are you going to rely on God and trust him where you're
going to try to make something happen in the flesh maybe it's singleness
singleness don't try to fix your singleness apart from God that's just
light in the fire don't try to fix it without relying on God and trusting in
God but where you are it's just a faith test but if you rely on him and if you
trust in him what's going to happen is at the exact right time his presence
his word his direction is going to come back into your life and at the end of it
you are going to be changed you are going to God's not burying you he's
planting you you're going to come out of that time like that seed like Saul
you're going to come out of that season changed and different you're going to
you're going to have grown you're going to have more faith you're going to be
more like Christ you're going to be more like Jesus because that change happens
not on the mountaintop it happens in seasons of darkness the Bible says deep
darkness will cover the people but if you belong to Jesus he's going to use
that darkness and everything else in this world for your good for your good
amen amen I don't know who I'm talking to today but I know there are people here
who you're in that place you're saying where is God where you know have I done
something wrong the word is just trust him don't try to get just rely on him
look at his word know who he is and he'll turn everything for your good amen
amen let's stand up and praise him let's stand up because he is good the hidden
treasures of darkness these are the changes that God brings in your life
when you come out the other side that's what he's going to do because he's
faithful and he's good amen Michael okay strengthening the souls of the disciples
exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying we must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom of God that is a confirmation Michael through
times of darkness they're normal but if we trust God you'll turn everything for
good let's praise you
and you're going to that time where you do feel distant from God you feel in a
dark place maybe you want to come forward just want to respond to God and
those that come for I'm gonna pray like Jesus prayed the most important prayer
that your faith in this season will not fail but God will strengthen you from
faith to faith that you will go from one measure of glory to another that you
will not fail God you will not move in the flesh that you will trust him and
you will see great change in his life at the end of it if that's you God wants
to if you feel we are in that place you come God's gonna deal with you today
God's gonna do something great in your life thank you Lord thank you Lord thank
you Lord he hasn't forgotten you you haven't done anything wrong God said you
haven't failed him it's just where God does his work
father God I pray for every person that's come here and is coming forward
today and father God we just know it's a test it's a challenge it's a battle that
only faith wins it's a battle that you have positioned these people for it's a
test that you have designed and I pray that father every person here that their
faith that their trust their reliance on you in this season will be strengthened
that Lord the faith that is there will be strengthened this morning that no
faith will fail that they will not look to the arm of the flesh in this time in
this challenge but they will look to God their healer their deliverer their
source of all things that they all trust in God that God will be their plan
a their plan B their plan C and they will see the goodness of God in the
land of the living that they will see you change what they cannot change they
will see you provide what they need they see you heal what needs healing they
will see you deliver them because Lord your timing is perfect we bless you and
praise you that you've given us we don't have to work it up but faith comes
through hearing and from this word today faith has been strengthened and faith
shall be strengthened from the knowledge of who you are
father God strengthen us our understanding that you are faithful that
your eyes never depart from your children that you love us more than we
can understand that you'll never forsake us and father God you will work
everything for our good that you never forget us or leave us on the shelf that
you have great plans for every single one of your children let our faith rest
on the true knowledge of God and everybody said praise God for the change
that's coming after the darkness hallelujah