Revival - Acts 19 // 20 September 2026

That's all right.

Yeah, got it.

So, yeah, good afternoon.

Um, this afternoon we're going to be looking at the Ephesian revival, which is found in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Um, I have been strictly instructed this afternoon by my wife to smile all the way through this preach.

So, like Scott, when he looks at Rachel for approval, I'll be looking at my wife all the way through, and hopefully, she'll be smiling back at me.

That's how it works.

If you want to participate in that and also smile back at me when I look at you, then hopefully this will work a lot better this afternoon.

But um, the title for my sermon is Um Paul Allows His Jesus to be public.

And I want us today to immerse ourselves in this passage.

You know, we can hear about revival and we can get excited, but there's no better place for that to start than in our own hearts this afternoon.

And what a privilege we have that we can serve a God who wants to reveal himself to us, amen.

That's what revival is, it's a revelation of the tangible experience of God, and that's what he's always wanted.

But sometimes, just as he's starting to reveal something new in us, sometimes, quite often, as Christians, we can put on the brakes and say, Whoa, Lord, hold on a minute.

I'm not sure if I'm completely comfortable with this.

So if you've got your Bibles with you this afternoon, let's jump straight into um Acts chapter 19 and it's reading from verses 1 to 20.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Says this.

There he found some disciples and asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

They answered, No, we have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit.

So Paul asked them, Then what baptism did you receive?

John's baptism, they replied.

Paul said, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance.

He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is in Jesus.

On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

There were about twelve men in all.

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God, but some of them became obstinate.

They refused to believe and publicly maligned the way.

So Paul left them.

He took his disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that he had touched were taken to the sick, and their illness were cured, and the evil spirits left them.

Some Jews went around driving out evil spirits, tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.

They would say, In the name of Jesus, who Paul preaches, I command you to come out.

Seven sons of Skeva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this one day when the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?

The man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and empowered them all, and overpowered them all.

He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honour.

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.

A number who had practiced sorceries brought their skulls together and burned them publicly.

When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachnas.

In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

I wonder when we think of revival where our minds actually go this afternoon.

And as I've been thinking about this, as I've been preparing this study, I think that maybe you know all of us can be a little bit guilty of this.

And I wonder sometimes these are just some options that I'm going to throw out there.

But I wonder if we think of just huge church gatherings.

I wonder whether another thought when we think about revival could be just vast numbers of people responding to an altar call.

Or maybe we think of excitement around a particular worship service.

I just want to share with you this morning what the great evangelist Billy Graham had to say about it.

And here's what he said concerning revival.

He said this some people think that revival is a powerful emotional experience.

That's not what I'm talking about.

A true spiritual revival must begin in the hearts of believers before it can actually reach the rest of the world.

He believed that no amount of human eloquence, money, or organization could manufacture an awakening.

It requires and must begin with the Holy Spirit.

True revival demands that people forsake their sins, turn away from evil, and humble themselves in earnest prayer.

Billy Graham often reminded audiences that opportunities to witness for Christ are short, signalling a deep urgency to seek God's renewal immediately.

He also said this that the greatest need in the church is spiritual revival for a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ and a greater desire to do his will.

I hope you're all still excited about revival.

You know, as I prepared this, um I've done my best to really just try and climb into this passage and walk this out with the Apostle Paul.

Um, and I wonder if any of you have ever like read a portion of scripture and just thought to yourself, I really wish I was there.

And that's what I've done.

I've I've almost climbed into this in my mind and walked it out with Paul just to try and understand what it was actually like walking in the shoes of Paul.

And as I've climbed in, I felt that God gave me three key points that he wants to look at this afternoon.

And point number one is this that a public Jesus starts with a first hand faith.

A public Jesus starts with a firsthand faith.

Point number one, church, you cannot take your faith public if it isn't real to you personally.

You cannot take Jesus during the week if he hasn't genuinely captured your heart personally.

And what we see straight away in the verses is that as Paul encounters these 12 men who somewhere along their journey warmed to the idea of some form of identity, but really didn't know what that was.

And you know, as I walked this out with Paul, I was reminded that those we meet who are longing for change and looking for a way out are all around, everywhere we walk.

People who want their lives to be different and people who are actually just looking for a way out.

You know, John's baptism wasn't the full story.

When Paul encountered these men, he says to them, Who where were you baptized?

And they said, We received John's baptism.

But John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, it was almost like a preparation of for when Jesus was to come.

And you know, as I walked this with Paul, I thought there's people who I meet where they're just longing for something to be different, they want their lives to look different, they're almost on, if we like, step one or maybe step two.

They're maybe not even in the doors of church yet, but they're on a journey where God has started to prepare their hearts because they're longing internally for something that is to come.

And you know, Paul was carrying the mandate of Jesus to what?

To complete it.

What did Jesus say to us?

He said, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Church, you know, you and I carry that same mandate today.

Amen.

You and I carry that same mandate today to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Disciples make disciples.

You know, true disciples get Jesus into people, not people into Jesus.

And my prayer is that us as a movement and as a church that we never ever fall into that trap, that we actually do get Jesus into people and not people into Jesus.

You know, I'm fully aware that it's God that does the work, but as I walked this with Paul, I felt in my mind like I'm a little bit jealous.

I must admit, when I read that 12 men in one foul swoop get baptized.

I mean, what are we like when one person's baptized?

We're like rejoicing and celebrating.

And I was just reminded a few weeks back when we baptized David and Ben, and um, what an incredible meeting that was.

This place was alive, and um, it was a great afternoon, and um, Jesus was public because of a first hand faith that these boys professed, and just like hearing Ben and David's testimony a few weeks back, that same Holy Spirit was experienced by these men, but also Paul is now operating out of that.

And as wrong as this sounds, do you know I could be addicted to baptisms?

I really could be addicted to baptisms.

What an incredible moment when we as believers get to share in a chat in a change that's happened in a believer's life, and as a fellow disciple of Jesus, we're not on the outside looking in and just celebrating the moment, we're celebrating what God has done in our lives as well, as we celebrate what He's done in the lives of others.

I don't want us to get into measuring experiences this afternoon, that's not what I'm saying, but I do know this that whatever the experience is, there's a small fire that begins to ignite and spark a conviction within us.

The word says that Luke records that they spoke in tongues and prophesied, but we know as that when a believer receives the Holy Spirit, he's gonna cause effect to every part of our being.

He's gonna cause us to think differently, to act differently, for your character and your behavior to change, for your relationships to change, because he wants to impact every single corner of our lives.

Real authentic fire for Jesus, not shouting from the rooftops.

You know, I thought this as I was preparing that so often we're very good at saying, Yes, and our men, brother, we know when to stand up and when to sit down and when to do the right thing, but the problem is with that sometimes is we haven't got that authenticity within us.

And I was reminded of when a former pastor said to me about some people perhaps who we had involved in church along the way, and he said that these people had sprung onto the scene like a firework.

I'm not proud of like sharing this with you this afternoon, but I just think it's a really good example.

He said, Can you remember when they sprang onto the scene like a firework?

Absolutely on fire for God, full of faith.

But he says, as they went into the air, and as all that was seen and all that was glittered, he said, in a moment it just faded away.

And my heart would be that as true disciples of Jesus, that none of us would be like that.

We don't want to be people who just burst onto the scene, but we want to be people who are rooted and deeply rooted in the things of God.

Real authentic baptism of fire does grapple with the word of God in the quiet place.

Luke writes, you know, for two years they was in that place studying the word of God.

This meant foundations were being poured and laid.

It soaks itself in fuel in the Holy Spirit.

It's not easily knocked back when we don't see instant results.

In fact, it only makes us even more determined to continue to serve Him.

The scripture says they became obstinate when Paul spoke in the synagogue.

How many of us, I wonder, when we have one little setback, can sometimes shut down.

You know that that's a ploy of the enemy.

One little setback, one little closed door, one little no to an invite, and the enemy wants you to go away privately.

Go away, be quiet.

Don't try it again, don't invite him again, don't speak the name of Jesus again.

But church, our faith needs resilience because in those times of setback, when the door is shut, it means that we go back to him to refuel with capacity and for tenacity for his gospel, because he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

Amen.

Yeah.

The second point I want to come on to this morning is a public Jesus uses public spaces.

Church, you know, when I read in the Old Testament of the Bible, God the Father wanted to dwell with his people.

We then move on into the New Testament and we read about Jesus, the Son, moving publicly, crowds were gathered.

God the Father in the Old and publicly in the New Testament in the person of Jesus.

When Jesus ascended, he said this to his disciples, it is to your advantage that I go, because when I go, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper.

In the original language, another helper doesn't mean another.

It's not like Jesus was saying, I'm just going to get somebody else to fill my place.

It's not just another option.

The Greek word used for another helper is Alon Parakleton.

Amen.

I was expecting a big cheer then.

Alon parakleton, which means that of the exact same kind.

When Jesus said, I'm going to ask the Father and He will give you another helper, is that of the exact same kind?

In other words, he didn't leave a lesser version of himself.

Everything you had in me, all authority and all the greatness of God the Father who is in me is now in the person of the Holy Spirit.

And I'm leaving the person of the Holy Spirit with who?

You, church.

We need to hear this again.

That in 2026, 2026 years ago, when Jesus left this earth, he said, I'm going to give you a helper.

Do you know that helper is still available to us today?

He's still operating today.

God the Father wanted to reveal himself in the Old Testament, just as Jesus the Son walked publicly in the New Testament today, and now you have every right and privilege as a son or daughter, born again of the Spirit and made alive in alive in Christ to experience the fullness of God.

Did you know when you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you invited the Holy Spirit to what?

Dwell within, to live with him.

Often the Holy Spirit is symbolized in the Bible as a wind or a dove or uh in the form of fire, but that's not who he is, church.

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity.

He's not third because he was least of value, he's third because he was the last to be revealed to us in the pages of scripture.

But all the fullness, all the power, all the glory of God the Father is in the person of the Holy Spirit.

This means when you and I place our faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us, now we carry him everywhere we go.

Church, remember what I said?

Jesus doesn't want to just be a present Jesus, he wants to be your public Jesus.

I can remember when I had a conversation in Lydon years ago with a man, and I wish that so many of the endings to my story would be like they are with Paul.

It doesn't seem fair.

It's like Paul has a little bit of a conversation, and next thing you know, like 12 guys are getting baptized.

You think, what on earth?

Sometimes the conversations that I engage in, I can't even get people through the door to church.

And um, I was having a conversation with a man in Lyden, but I felt like God dropped this into my spirit just to share with you because actually he wants to encourage us, and it's not about the outcome, church.

When we outlive our faith, when we speak Jesus and when we speak truth and when we live out truth, those people take that on.

It's not down to us to get them through the doors and actually get them discipled and make sure they're baptized, but maybe someone else's job is to add to that.

But when we get ourselves out there and when we speak truth to people, I can remember standing in Lyddon with a guy, and as I started to share with him my faith and share Jesus, he cried his eyes out.

And he said, He just don't understand.

He said, There's things going on in my life, he said that I can't control.

And I said to him, But God can come and make a difference to your life.

You know, on that day, like I say, I haven't got the final part of the story to tell you, but he walked away, and at the moment, his choices are to not respond to that.

But we do need to be a people who are willing to share, we do need to be a people who want to share the good news of Jesus.

My final point is this this afternoon that a public Jesus is going to come at a public cost.

And as I mentioned this, maybe the question hangs over us today.

It's just an alarm clock for something else.

Maybe as I ask this question, something hangs over us today.

Church, the question I have for us is do you want your Jesus to be public?

Do you want your Jesus to be public?

What did it say in Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

It said this in the fellowship of the believers, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship.

They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

Church, I want to remind us today that when opposition comes, we need to make sure we're rooted in Him who has the power and the authority to overcome.

I don't want to find myself in a situation where when it's too late, I'm searching for Jesus.

I want him at the front of what I'm doing, no compromise.

Let's not fit him in, let's not attach him to when it best suits us.

For some of us, we live in the comfortable presence of Jesus.

And this is my final point this afternoon.

This is where I'm going to land.

Some of us live in the comfortable presence of Jesus.

Let me just explain a little bit about what I mean about that.

We live in the presence of Jesus, church, and if you do nothing, the presence of Jesus is still going to be there.

When you and I go from here, the presence of Jesus will still be with us.

Because what?

Because he's omnipresent and he's everywhere all the time.

But for us today, I believe the challenge is that God doesn't want us to just operate out of his omnipresence, but that the God of the Bible and the Jesus that I'm preaching about this afternoon, God wants us to operate in the manifestation of his presence.

God wants to come and manifest his spirit within us.

He wants the manifestation of the spirit where God makes the invisible and tangible a reality that is seen and felt and experienced by our world looking on and looking in.

It's the manifestation that sparks the spirit again.

The manifestation where there is no more compromise to his gospel.

It's the manifestation that says I'm done with the private Jesus and I want to allow the public Jesus to rise and be seen all around me.

Whatever the cost is to my reputation, whatever the cost is to my wallet, whatever the cost is to my pride, I want the manifestation of Jesus to be made known in my life.

I'm just gonna have to worship team to come up and um start to just play something.

And then you know, those three points I feel like God laid on my heart for us this afternoon.

A public Jesus starts with first hand faith.

A public Jesus uses public spaces.

And the last point, a public Jesus is not going to come at a public cost.

I'm gonna pray, and if you want to just respond in your own way this morning, then you can just open up your hands, you can stand if you want to just respond to God.

But I want to come under this.

I want to come under the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the spirit that provokes, the spirit that equips, the spirit that changes, the spirit that comes and ignites, the spirit that wants to claim territory in our hearts, the spirit that wants to break out from within to reach us externally.

But Lord that we are a people who know you more.

And that, Father, even when opposition does come, that Lord, we would remember that you are the way, the truth, and the life.

Lord God, as you change us, it's guaranteed the culture, the landscape around us will shift.

So Lord, increase our faith, I pray, this afternoon.

It's your holiness, Lord, that we want.

Father, help us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

In your name we pray.

Amen.