God Leads Revival | Eld Terence Atkinson

You're listening to a message to go from Acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

This morning, I have a word from you, a word

for you. And it's entitled, God Leads Revival.

Hopefully, by the end of this, you'll see why revival

is actually in the Lord's hands. 我希望到我们最后能够看见这个复兴是在神的手里。 And you'll see

how wonderful revival is. 你就可以看到这个复兴是多么的奇妙。 Because a lot of good

things happened during revival.

因为有很多好的事情发生。 And I'm.

Going to be reading.

From Acts 16, and we'll go through the whole story,

I guess.

我们会来去看使徒行传十六章。 Let's start. 那我们一起开始。 Now it happened as we went

to prayer that a certain slave girl possessed with a

spirit of divination met us and brought her masters much

profit by fortune telling.

16th chapter, verse 16, it says, This girl followed Paul

in us and cried out, saying, These men are the

servants of the Most High God who proclaim to us

the way of salvation.

She followed Paul and we, saying, These men are the

servants of the Most High God who proclaim to us

the way of salvation. They were about to go and pray.

And they were disturbed.

Someone who was possessed disturbed.

Them. Scripture says that this woman brought her masters much

profit through fortune telling.

So you say, wow!

The demon-possessed girl can tell the future! Straight off, I

want to tell you it's based on lies.

Sorry? Based on....

It's based on lies.

I must not pass it by without telling you how

things like this happen. If I tell somebody go behind

that covering, take a bucket of.

Water, And then when the person walks there, throw the

water on him.

Okay, so I've already set it up, right? Then somebody

comes up and says, I see your future.

I see you're about to get soaking wet. But you see,

The person who hears this doesn't know I've already set

it up.

So as the person walks by, the person behind the

blind throws the water and this guy gets wet.

And he looks at me and says, wow, you can

tell the future! It was a setup.

And this is how the enemy traps a lot of people.

He sets a lot of things up.

And people fall for his tricks. There is only one

who knows our future.

Jesus is his name.

So don't you ever forget it.

所以不要来去忘记。 So now this girl followed Paul and cried out,

these men are servants of the Most High God.

那现在这个使女呢, 她就可以来去说到, 哇, 这是至高至上的一位仆人。 Was she telling the truth?

她为何她说真理呢?

Okay, how many of you believe she was telling the truth?

Can I see your hands?

那谁知道说她是说真理的? She was telling the truth.

她真的是在说真理。 But I want you.

To know you can tell the truth in an irritating way.

Listen to what verse 18 says. And this she did

for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said

to the spirit, I command you in the name of

Jesus Christ to come out of her.

And he came out that very hour.

See, why would Paul get annoyed at someone telling the truth? Now,

if I followed Paul every day and I spoke like this,

these men.

Are the servant of the Most High God, who proclaim

to us the way of salvation. Wow. Did it sound nice?

Would you get offended at that?

But have you heard demon-possessed people speak?

They are very irritating.

When I was young, I used to go to church

every day and pray for deliverance cases with the pastor.

So every day from 10 a.m.

To 4 a.m., we'll be praying for possession cases. Then

I'll go and get about two, three hours sleep, get

dressed and.

Go to school. This is how I think it might

have sounded like. Yeah. These men are.

Sons of the Most High God, proclaiming to us the

way of salvation.

Those people might... Fail.

Try again. You can do it.

Come on. Good try.

Did the second one sound irritating?

Could Paul have got annoyed? You can say the truth

in an annoying way. And that's what the evil one does.

Even when the evil one speaks the truth, if at

all there is truth in him, He says it in

an annoying way. It annoyed Paul. Do not mess with

the men of God.

Because men of God are not powerless.

You are not powerless.

Because you have Jesus in you. You can speak to

your situation and change it. Because he who is in

you is greater than he that is in the world.

Paul took it for a little while.

And his patience wore down.

Then he decided to show who's the boss.

Jesus is his name. Come out of him.

Come out of her. In the name of Jesus. And

the evil spirit came out.

You and I, we go through many difficult things.

Sometimes we don't realize that there's a power behind it.

Have you ever gone through those days where everything just

seems to go wrong? I want you to know you're

not meant to just accept it. You have the authority

of Jesus Christ in you. 你有耶稣基督的这个权柄。 You are meant to

do something about it. 你是可以来去做出一些行动。 You can command it to

stop in the name of Jesus. 你可以来去宣告让它来去停封耶稣的名。 Two things can happen.

两个事情可以发生。 Either it stops or it doesn't. 就是它停或是不停。 If it stops,

you're blessed. 如果你停, 它停的话呢你就被祝福。 If it doesn't, you're still blessed.

没有的话你还是被祝福的。 Because God wants to teach you something.

So either way, you're okay.

But it's not okay not to do anything about it.

You are meant to do something about it.

So I want you to.

Know that when her master saw, this is what verse

19 says, when her master saw that.

Their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and

Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

Do you think that everyone is happy.

When you do good.

How many of you working life, you work in companies,

and when you do good, people not happy? Can I

see your hands?

Am I speaking to real people? It's true, isn't it?

You do something good and people are not happy.

Not happy is one thing, they find trouble with you.

I was working in this.

Factory a long time ago.

It was a.

Pipe extrusion factory.

Pipe is a PVC pipe, right?

It's made from a white powder. It's a resin, it's

a powder. So it used to come from Germany. And

there was a world shortage.

So we had a factory and we couldn't get pipes made.

I just joined the company for one month. 那我就是去了这个公司做一个月而已。 So

I took a walk in the store. 那我就那天来去这样在这个仓库里面走动。 And I.

Saw all the wastage pipes at the back.

就看到了很多那些浪费的水管。 When the pipe first.

Comes out, the first beginning part comes out, it's not

so good, right?

So they cut it off and throw it away. 对, 那个水管一出来的时候, 前面那半段呢, 他们都会切掉, 因为是没有那么好质量的.

So I went to the managing director and I said,

these pipes are 100% recyclable? He said, yes.

So I said, would you imagine from what I see,

there's about 20 tons of wastage here? He said, yes.

So I just said, in terms of.

Your LC interest charges, It's costing you $ 20, 000 a month

to have that sitting there.

那我就说那因为你要来去有这个.

Why don't you recycle that whole thing Save RM20, 000 a

month And you got recyclable.

Material that you can use until you wait.

For the new one to come 你在等这个新的粉末来的时候呢 你再重用这些的资源。 Before he

said thank you to me, 那他还没有跟我说谢谢之前哦, He called the operations manager.

他就来去叫另外一个管理层来。 Then he said, 他就说.

What is the matter with you? He's here one month

and he's given me the solution.

And he doesn't even know the business. You have been

here for years.

And why couldn't you give me that solution?

And then started my trouble.

She hated me after that. Found trouble with me everywhere

she went. So you see, sometimes you do good also

people don't like.

This was what Paul was experiencing.

Now Paul and Silas, I want you to know, they

were going to this area, the scripture says, because they

also wanted to share.

They wanted to share Jesus in the marketplace. That's a buzzword, right?

Marketplace? Everybody talks about the marketplace.

Can I give you a word of caution?

Be a Christian in the marketplace. Do not be a

marketplace Christian. There's a big difference. Because when you're a

Christian in the marketplace, you're a Paul.

So they brought Paul and Silas to the very place

they wanted to share the word.

But do you think they were interested in listening about Jesus? No,

they were dragged there because they wanted to hurt Paul

and Silas. In your ministry with the Lord, you have

an idea where you think you should go. Sometimes it works.

But God always has a better plan.

I want you to know that God's plan is tremendous.

我要告诉你, 神的这个计划是更伟大的。 And when God puts His plan into action, 当祂把祂的计划来去执行的时候,

Almost always we don't see it.

很多时候我们是可能看不见。 Pastor Kenneth, by the way, Pastor Kenneth, Pastor.

Sandra, send you your love, okay? 对, 我们Kenneth牧师还有Sandra传道, 向大家问好。 There's a

difference between trusting God God, and trusting in God. Trusting Jesus,

and trusting in Jesus. When you trust in God.

Your belief doesn't waver according to what you see or

don't see.

It is firm, it is fixed. And it doesn't matter

what happens to you. You will focus on doing what's right.

So I want you to know that.

When you build it's good.

And whatever profits God, versus loss to the enemy.

And that's why the enemy is very upset when you

do what's right.

That's why you get more challenges when you do what's right.

Because when you're doing what's wrong, he don't care. You

are making no impact in the kingdom of God. Why

should he bother with you? In fact, he's patting you

on the back and say, go for it.

Do some more of not doing anything. Okay, so anyway, now,

these people brought them, Paul and Silas, to the magistrates

and said, these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city.

They were just going to pray. And that creature kept

disturbing them. Who was doing the disturbing?

The enemy lies a lot. I told you that, right?

So you mean to.

Say that you're going to tell the magistrate the truth?

They were going to pray and our fortune teller disturbed them.

Did they say that? They said, no, these men trouble

the city. And they teach customers which are not lawful

for us being Romans to receive and observe. They hadn't

begun teaching yet. Not lawful for us Romans to follow.

说不可受不可行的规矩。 Your Christian way of doing things is.

Alien to a lot of people.

It is.

We believe in one God.

Jesus is His name. And then Jesus says, Come unto

me all ye that are heavenly labored and I will

give you rest. Jesus says, I am the way, the

truth and the life.

Nobody comes to the Father but by me.

Jesus says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

Jesus said, I will die and in.

Three days I will rise again. Jesus says, I go

to be with the Father, but I send you a helper.

All these are strange things he's saying. And people who

do not know Jesus find it hard to receive. Which

is why Jesus can only be received by faith.

不是以人类所了解的逻辑。 Because if you could understand.

Jesus humanly, 因为如果你能够来去依靠逻辑去领受和接受他, You're making yourself God. 你会让你自己成为了神。 You cannot

understand the fullness of Jesus. 你没有办法能够来去完完全全地了解耶稣。 You cannot contain the

full knowledge of Jesus in your mind. 你没有办法能够在你的生命里面完全地来去理解和接纳耶稣的这个本性。 He is

accepted by faith.

Now, these are some of the truths. Always remember, against truth,

the enemy only has lies.

So when you go through your life and things are

not going well, hang on to the truth. Because lies

will fail.

And I'll prove that to you.

Don't be surprised if many rise up against you or

you seem alone.

Do you know that the multitude has a long history

of always being wrong?

Look throughout history.

And almost everywhere you look, you'll find a group of

people doing idiotic things. The multitude always gets it wrong.

Isn't it true?

The Spanish Inquisition The Salem witch trials. Salem witch trials. Salem. Witch.

History is full of these situations.

Now I'm going to introduce you to some drama. Verse 22.

Then the multitude rose up together against them and the

magistrate tore their clothes and commanded them to be beaten

with rods.

So dramatic.

Hey, some fellows do wrong, you go and tear your clothes.

Who's losing? You come and tell me something wrong and

I tear my shirt. I look good to you. Don't

I look silly? That's what the world portrays.

When they try and do something against.

The Lord, when people do.

Something against you and you are on the side.

Of Jesus, they look silly. I mean, it's kind of...

Can I use the word? It was very stupid of

them to tear their clothes. It just doesn't make sense.

Somebody does something wrong, I take my good shoe and throw.

I'm the one who has to walk without a shoe.

Makes sense or not? Doesn't make sense. So they commanded

them to be beaten with rods.

So the authority actually even worse, always a lot of drama.

Do you know.

That it's going to hurt you to do the right thing?

Does that stop you from doing the right thing? Can

I tell you that 47.

Years ago when I received the.

Lord, and I told my dad, I am a Christian now.

You step over this line and you say that? So

I stood over the line and I said, Dad, I

am a Christian now. And he punched me in the face.

He was a boxer.

I still have all my teeth. I have all my teeth.

I was not hurt.

It was hurtful to tell the right thing. I will

give you.

A testimony at the end. It always works out.

And when they had laid many stripes on them, they

threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.

And having received such a charge, he put them in

the inner prison and fastened their feet with stocks.

The enemy doesn't want you to be heard.

He wants to stuff you behind in some prison. And

nobody can see you. And no one can hear you.

You think the prison was a nice prison?

Let me break down what this prison was like, okay?

This is the inner prison.

Dark. Dark.

You think they put lights?

The only one who had lights was the jailer.

And you think every day the guy comes to the

hose pipe and wash?

Your....

Pets were the rats and the cockroaches and the bugs.

You think got toilet?

Let me tell you, Paul and Silas, their feet were

in stalks. Bible says they started singing at midnight. If

they needed.

To do short call and long call, trust.

Me, it was where they were. They let go wherever

they were.

And if they didn't let go wherever they were.

The other prisoners were also doing it.

So the smell would have been really terrible.

It would have been.

Damp, dingy, dark, smelly, filthy, dirty. God sent them into

such a place to do His work.

He wanted to go to the marketplace with the restaurants

and the nice places to eat. And God allowed them

to be sent into a horrible dark. I want you

to know something about God. He cares about.

For everyone. You see, who was going to reach the

people in that dark prison?

Locked away from society.

No visitors.

You want to go into that prison and visit anybody?

Most days, no plastic bag.

You cannot put plastic bag on your So if you.

Walked into that place, whatever was there was on your shoe.

God cared.

You think God didn't care for Paul and Silas? He

cared enough for them to send them to where they

wanted work to be done. Paul and Silas wanted to

share Jesus. That was the desire of Paul and Silas.

God sent them to where they were going to share

That was the desire of Paul and Silas.

God sent them to where they were going to share Jesus.

It may not have been the place they thought. But

it was where God wanted them to be.

God is in control. Because the ones whom sometimes you

want to go and share to, don't.

Want to hear. Don't want to receive. Don't want to accept.

But the ones who are waiting to hear the gospel,

remain forgotten. To everyone except Jesus.

Are you beginning to see where I'm going with this?

At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns

to God. And guess what?

The prisoners were listening to them. So you can sing

when you're clean.

你在干净的这个时候也可以来去唱歌, 来去赞美神。 You can praise when you're clean. 你可以就是在干净的这个舒服的时候来去赞美神。 Can you

do it when you're in a filthy state?

你在一个非常肮脏的这个情况, 你还能够吗? Sweaty, smelly, soiled in your mess.

然后有很多泥在你身上。 My scripture says yes.

So you see, God is not interested in about our

outward condition.

He's interested in our hearts. A heart that was willing

to praise and worship.

Even though they were in a mess. 你认为神把你差派到一个非常烦乱的地方, 祂不会来去赐给你那个力量吗?

The power to see God work is always in your hands. 你知道这个源头在哪里吗?

Praying and singing hymns to God.

就是祈祷来去赞美还有敬拜神。 Verse 26 says, Suddenly.

26节说到呢, 突然。 Suddenly. Suddenly there was a great earthquake. So that the.

Foundations of the prison were shaken.

突然地大震动甚至监牢的地基都摇动了。 And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's

chains were loosed.

箭门立刻全开, 全囚犯的锁链也都松开了。 Right.

This word, pray.

这个祈祷的字眼。 You know what it actually means?

你知道它真正的意思是什么吗?

Prosukamai. You don't have to.

Say that, it's quite clear.

It means this. It is Greek. And it means to exchange.

One of the meanings is to exchange. So Paul and

Silas were exchanging their situation 這保羅希臘就是來去做這個情況的交換.

For the situation God was about to bring on them.

來去與神要賜給他們的這個情況來做一個交換。 You and I, we don't see prayer that way, right?

那你和我都不會這樣來去看待嘛, 對不對?

We don't see singing praise to God that way, right?

我們不會以這樣子的姿態來去和神祈禱。 If you can believe it, that is your superhero power.

Not because you are great, but the one whom you

believe is great.

So Paul and Silas, when they were singing and worshipping, they.

Were exchanging their situation for a miracle that was about

to take place.

They were exchanging our ideas for God and praising Him.

You know, exchanging our ideas for God and praising Him

will always shake the shackles.

Of your life.

However firm they may hold you, However deep of a

prison you are in, when you exchange them with the Lord,

these shackles will fall off you. And now the miracle.

Verse 27.

And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and

seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled,

drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But

Paul cried out, called out with a loud voice saying,

do yourself no harm for we are all here.

Paul and Silas wanted to go into the marketplace and

share Jesus. Where did God send them? Into a dark,

dirty dungeon.

Where they continued to do what the Lord had told

them to do.

They praised the Lord. They sang hymns. You know what

are hymns? Scripture in song. That's what hymns are. So

they were singing scripture. What kept the.

Prisoners from running away?

Did you ever wonder why the prisoners did not run away?

You guys, let me break it down for you.

No telephone.

No internet.

No fax machine.

No WhatsApp.

No Telegram.

No Instagram.

When the prisoners ran away from that prison, they go

to another town. Nobody knows who they are. There's no

way for anybody to find them. No passport.

No IC. You get out of that prison, you're gone.

I spent a lot of time telling you how lousy

the prison was, right?

If you were in that.

Prison and the prison doors opened, you're.

Going to stay here.

You would run out.

Why didn't they?

God had said.

Paul and Silas to speak to their spirits. Do you

know that conviction by the manifestation of the presence of God,

people will stop running away from Him. He will exchange

our ideas for His. We will start praising Him in

our pits. people will see God's hand and it will

convict them. The prisoners didn't need to run anymore because

they had found Jesus. Their spirits were freed from the shackles.

The prison doors of their hearts were already open. They

were now free people. Free in a way you and

I probably don't understand.

Their spirits were free.

They were redeemed of the Lord. They didn't need to

run anywhere.

Because they found freedom.

With Jesus in their hearts. And the great miracle of revival.

Was done where no one was sent to go. Where

no one wanted to go. And God sent Paul inside.

How amazing is that? To be so free, you don't

need to run anymore. Paul can say, don't kill yourself.

Everyone is here. Everyone is here.

Not one single person ran.

The miracle or revival saved everyone in that prison. But

the miracle didn't stop.

Then he called for a light and ran in and

fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must

I do to be saved?

又领他们出来说, 二位先生, 我当怎样才能得救呢?

Even your tormentors will see Jesus. 这些伤害你的人也可以看见耶稣。 Even the ones

who bully you will see Jesus. 那些来去霸凌你的也可以来去看见耶稣。 Even the ones

who have given you trouble will change. 给你添麻烦的也可以来去改变。 Isn't that amazing?

So now, the jailer can fall at Paul's feet. What

is he now calling them?

Sir.

Sir.

What must I do?

Suddenly from nothing, God had elevated them. Guys, you and

I got to realize that the Lord of revival will

do great things in your life. It's still but praise

and worship Him. Because he is the one who controls everything.

因为唯有他才能掌控一切。 So they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you will be saved, you and your household. 你和你一家都必得救。

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him

and to all who were in his house. 他们就把主的道讲给他和他全家的人听。 How

many of you have family members who are not saved?

Almost all, right? What does Scripture say? Believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ. You will be saved. Are you saved?

Yes.

And it says, you and your household.

47 years ago, my father punched me in the face.

47 years later, two months ago, he receives Jesus Christ.

You and your household will be saved.

你和你一家都必得救。 My father is at the tail end of his life.

我的父亲呢, 他就是在生命的末端了。 He's 94 years old.

他94岁了。 He is now, as medical terms say, actively dying.

This life span can be hours to days. But two

days ago, in emergency, when I walked into the room,

this 94-year-old old man from across the.

Room had called my name out.

Over the crowd.

And he told me, Terrence! So I came to him.

He's in great pain. I won't tell you why, but

it's quite nasty why he's in pain. But then when

I came to him, he declared this. 他就宣告说, Jesus. 耶稣.

Jesus.

耶稣.

Twice. 两次。 Not a Jesus. Oh, Jesus, I'm in pain.

Jesus.

No, not like that.

他不是说, 耶稣, 我的很痛.

These were two declarations of faith.

而是两个凭着信心来去宣告的。 I have never heard my father in my 65

years of life ever call on the name.

Of Jesus.

They were not whispers.

They were firm declarations. Jesus.

Jesus.

Just like that.

Then I asked him, Dad, how are you?

He says, I'm okay.

How are you?

My father is dying and.

You can still ask me how I am.

And I said, Dad, are you in pain?

Just a little bit. Just a little bit means quite

a lot.

So I called the doctor, please give him morphine now.

The doctor gave him morphine, he went to sleep.

Am I broken?

Do you see somebody standing before you who is broken?

Do you think it's because I don't love my father?

It's because I know he is saved. I know when

he leaves his last day on earth, he's going to

be with Jesus. From the declaration of his lips, I

know he's going to be with 我知道他会去到谁的那里。 Any one of you.

Here who has family members who are not saved, don't

lose heart.

For scripture says you and your household will be saved.

It may take one year. It may take five minutes.

It may take almost your whole life.

But the word of the Lord is true. And then

they spoke the word.

Of the Lord to him. And all who were in

his house. Do you realize that if Paul and Silas

were not in prison.

This whole family would have been lost. Can you imagine

the people in the prison were.

Saved, 那些监狱里面的人得救。 People out of the prison were also saved.

监狱以外的人也得救。 So who is going to be saved by your troubles? 那谁会来去拯救你呢?

For doing the right thing. 来去做对的事情的时候。 When you do the

right thing. 当你做对的事情的时候。 Somebody is going to be blessed. 有些人是会来去被祝福的。

And I want you to know that God loves you so.

Much, do you think the Lord keeps you in your wound?

Do you think the Lord keeps you wounded?

After the work is done, after the miracle has been achieved,

let me share with you what happens.

And he took them that same hour, that night, and

washed their stripes. And immediately he and his family were baptized.

And when they brought them into the house, they set

food before them. And he rejoiced, having believed in God

and all his households.

So you are hurt when you do the right thing.

God heals your wounds. And not satisfied to just heal

your wounds, He sets a meal before you. What that

meal before you is?

Celebration time. Come on.

He sets a meal before you.

What that meal before you is?

Celebration time.

Come on.

That's all.

I must work with her. God will soothe your wounds.

God will soothe your wounds. I don't know if you

caught 我不知道你今天有抓到的什么信息。 Always try to do what God wants you

to do. 你要来去做神要你做的事。 Quite often what God wants you to

do does not line up with what you want for yourself.

But if you obey, if you still do what God

wants you to do, if you don't lose that spirit

of praise and worship, you know what happens? You get blessed.

Revival happens all around you.

God will comfort you and He will celebrate with you.

Praise the Lord.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit xchurch.org. We are also

active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week

is going to be a good week ahead for you.

God bless.