Mike Rothwell: After the party is over

This week Mike shares on how this is a day of good news, a day to celebrate the victory that God has won. We have been given the privilege of knowing the risen Jesus and experiencing His power in our lives. Let us not keep silent, but go and share this good news with others, inviting them to join the party and experience the victory for themselves.

What is The Community Church: Sermons and teaching?

In this podcast, we share our sermons and teaching from our Sunday Celebrations + some other additional teaching content.

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sometimes sometimes you and I will have many of you know, we don't do satin names and stuff like that. So we'll get in the car and I little go, do you know where you going? And I'll go, yes. Sort of. Sort of. So.

I'm gonna say something on my heart and that's what I'm going to share. And as God is like something on my heart. This isn't to.

Devolve it or whatever, but it is God responsibility for him to speak to us through what he's laid on. My heart. So a lot of what we'll do will be based on Scripture, and God will speak through those scriptures to us.

You will notice those of you who've seen the The social media or whatever. Harry likes to come up with the title. So those of us who who speak on a Sunday morning, Harry will. And for me, it was weeks ago because he's been on holiday. So it was like, what's the title? So you'll notice it's a very natty title.

Which is Paul, do you remember?

When the Party's over. Well, that was, that would have called it, right? Yeah, something like that. This year, one of our, sons is getting married in, Italy. So preparations, well underway. We haven't officially been invited, but that's fine. We're going anyway. There is a tale behind that, but maybe that's for another time. But we we we got sent the the mock up invite, which was in Italian.

But the main thing, because Matthew's fiancé is Italian and her family are Italian, the main thing was just to make sure that the, the information links worked. So we get all these people asking us what is going on, and we have not got a clue, because all we have seen is an invite in Italian and links that took us to Italian websites.

Great. You know, sometimes we we've got an event coming and all our thinking and all our energy, all our spare moments are tied up in organizing this event. It saps almost every spare moment of the day. It saps every spare, minuscule bit of energy that we've got. and then the event happens and it's like. All that thing that has taken our time is just gone.

All that thing that's taken, our energy has just gone. what are we left with? I can remember as a as a child, my, one of my, my auntie used to live up and I used to live up in Durham. my parents and I would go up quite often for New Year, and I have vivid memories of every new year carrying a chair out of their back door, across the back fence, across the parking lot, across the back fence of the house where we were going to celebrate, and we take our own chair with us.

And at the end of the night, seeing the New year, we'd be there. Oh, you mean over there? I mean the fence sort of taking this chair back. Maybe that's what we're left with. The party's over and we've just left with the debris. We're just left with the the dishes. We're just left with the. All the furniture is in the wrong place.

We're just left with what did they spill on the floor or what's on my couch? We're left with the debris of it. The thing that has taken all our energy, the thing that has taken all our time, has gone. But we're left with more than that. We're left with the memories. Some of those might be good memories. The we've met with friends we've seen, people we haven't seen for a long time, and we've got those sparks.

Some of it might be that things didn't quite go according to plan.

We this year again have a general election in America. There's a presidential election coming. I know if you can picture what happens in I've just got this picture in my mind of American presidential election sort of after party. And if all the streamers and all the banners up, they've got the balloons in the big nets up in the up in the roof waiting to fall.

And for one candidate, all those things are going to be used. But for the other one, they're just going to stay there and all they've got is just signs of what could have been. They'll never be used because for the next a number of years. That's because I can't remember how long a presidential term is in America. Five years.

Thank you very much, Jim. For five over here. For you let me astray. There.

They will not be the president. And all those trappings, all those things they got there to celebrate. Oh, I never going to be used. It's just going to be flat.

We're going to look at three, maybe four events in the Bible, and we're going to start off in one Kings. Not yet. Josh. seen here is God called Elijah and he thinks that he's the only prophet of God. And and he is spoken against this land. And there's a drought in the land.

And he puts this challenge to the people. Second verse. Josh, please. In one Kings 18, verse 20.

So Ahab, this is the he's he's the bad king sent word throughout all this and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel, the those prophets, the prophets of Baal, not God of Baal. Elijah went before the people and said, how long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Bailey's God, follow him. But the people said nothing.

So some of us will know the story of what happens, that all these prophets of Baal.

All these prophets of a false God. Elijah challenges them and says, right, here's a bull. You set the bull up. And offering a sacrifice. But you are not allowed to make the fire that burns, that sacrifice. You have to call on your God to send the fire. And all these prophets of Baal, they dance around. They even end up putting themselves in there for hours and hours.

Elijah sort of mocking them, going, heard nothing yet. No. Still nothing. This bull just sits there. Nothing happens. Elijah then gets his bull, sets the bull up. He actually knowing that it's going to be the testes to fire, to fall. He gets them to cover this bull in water, lots and lots of water. Drench it to soak. And then he prays to God, and God sends the fire.

God demonstrates that he is the Lord. What do we read? How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Bailey's God, follow him. God demonstrated that he is God. God has one, not that just God is one. That God has demonstrated that he has one. The prophets of Baal defeated, fail, defeated.

See you there. We are. The side to Elijah is battling for this woman. The power of God's been shown and we read this in verse in chapter 19 and verse one. Now Ahab is a king till Jezebel the queen. Everything he denied to done, and how he has killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a message to a license to say, May the God still with me beat ever so severely.

If by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to be Sheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to broom brush bush. He came to broom bush, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die.

I have had enough, Lord, he said, take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

The victory being won, the demonstration of God being God had come. The false prophets had been put to death.

But the enemy was still making noises. The enemy was still rattling these chains, even though he had been defeated.

The enemy was making out that he still had power. The enemy was making out to. Maybe the victory that had been seen wasn't really a victory. Back to American elections. It.

And Elijah couldn't cope with the victory that he won.

He, the winner wasn't in a position to take forward from this place of victory.

He believed. The empty rattling of the enemy. Let's move to another one. We're going to move to now, today. Because I normally lose this book considered in the Minor Prophets. we're going to look at Jonah.

And we're going to start right at the beginning of the book of Jonah.

We're going to read the first three verses. The first chapter, the word Lord came to Jonah, son of Amitai, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because it's wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.

After paying the fare, he went to board and sailed to Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

And those of us who know the story know what happened. The Lord sent a big storm. The people on the ship. It talked about how they cast lots to find out who the storm was, and the lot fell on Jonah. And Jonah said to them, throw me over the side and it'll all calm down. They threw Jonah over the side.

It all calmed down and Jonah got swallowed by a rather large fish.

And then we read about that in the in the fish, Jonah seems to have repented. And then we read this.

Chapter three, verse one. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim it to it. The message I gave you. Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now there was a very large city. It took three days to go through it.

So Jonah obeys God.

And he goes through the city, and he tells him the message that God has for them.

And he says that the the the people understood the message. And it talks about how the king made this decree that all the people were to seek the God of Jonah.

And in verse ten of chapter three says this. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Good news, a victory. God's work been done. Jonah must have been so thrilled with this. Really, the thing that he wanted to see. Maybe he wasn't. Chapter four, verse one. But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong. He became angry. He prayed to the Lord. Isn't this one? I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I this.

That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for he's better for me to die than to leave.

Hold on. We've just seen Elijah. God has demonstrated his power. God is true that he is God above the false gods. He is God. And Elijah is going, I want to die. Jonah has seen revival. It tells us later.

That there were 120,000 people in Nineveh, and they have come to God. They have turned their lives around and come to God. And Jonah's going, I want to die.

So Jonah takes himself off, sits outside the city. God them out in the sun. God then creates a plant, makes this plant to grow, which brings Jonah shade. And then God sends a worm that basically destroys this plant.

And Jonah isn't a happy bully. And he says this in verse ten of Jonah, chapter four, the Lord said, you have been concerned about this plant that you did not tending to make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern, and should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which still more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and, and also many animals.

The mercy of God have been demonstrated. The side that I'd lost had actually won a bigger prize.

For the side that had won waste the quiet and were more interested in their own concerns. God had worked. Jonah was upset because he wasn't being looked after.

Let's go back into Kings. We're going to two Kings this time.

we go into two Kings. Chapter six.

we're just going to read a couple of verses to give a bit of context, and then we're going to read the last section.

Verse 24 of Two Kings, chapter six. Some line. Some time later, Ben Hadad, king of Aram, mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. There was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for 80 shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods.

Or, as my Bible helps, he calls it, doves dung for five shekels.

There's a famine. There's a siege. God's people are locked up in the city of Samaria. Verse 32, Now Elisha. Was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead. But before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head?

Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. It's not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him. While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. The king said, this disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer? Elisha replied, hear the word of the Lord.

This is what the Lord says about this time tomorrow. A seer of the finest flour will sell for a shekel, and two seas of barley for shekel. At the gate of Samaria. The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?

You will see it with your own eyes, answered Elisha. But you will not eat any of it. Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, why stay here until we die? If we say we'll go into the city, the famine is there and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die.

So let's go over to the Kang, the camp of the Iranians, and surrender the Iranians to the people who are besieging the city. If they spare us, we live. If they kill us, then we die. At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Iranians. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was safe, for the Lord was cold.

Caused the Iranians to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, look, the king of Israel is hide the Hittites and the Egyptian kings to attack us. So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. And they left the camp as it was, and ran for their lives.

The man who had had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents, and ate and drank. Then he took silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them. They returned and entered another tent, and took some things from it, and hid them also. Then they said to each other, what we're doing is not right.

This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go once and report this to the Royal Palace. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. Going back to the party analogy.

Day to the party. They found out that their people had gone to victory and they were there celebrating the gone in the dance food. The drunk, goodness gracious. Is these gold? Is it silver? This stuff we can take and happy soul was they were celebrating.

The losers had gone. They were defeated. They left the scene. The winners or the only people who knew they were winners were partying. And they said, this is a day of good news.

And we are keeping it to ourselves. So they went and they told everyone else so that they too could come and celebrate, so that they too could enjoy the victory that have been won by God.

And he says at the end of the chapter.

So all the people are gone out. All the people had gone and enjoyed the party, enjoyed all the seeing the good things God had done for them.

And he says this in verse 17, now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway. And he died just as a man that God had foretold. When the king came down to his house, it happened as the man of God had said to the king about this time tomorrow a seer of finest flour will sell for a shekel and two shears, says a barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.

The officer said to the man of God, look, even if the Lord open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen? The man of God replied, you will see it with your own eyes, for you will not eat any of it. And that is exactly what happened to him. For the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.

Not last time. Price. The prime price before.

I start this caveat in that I bring an apology to the people who were there. Yes, God felt that God wants us to pray. To God. People of to pray. Into lives. Do they want to see him brought back to God that righteous in a circle? We had people in a circle here.

And as we were praying, we were praying for each other.

I felt God stir me.

And I started to bring a word into that meeting. But I only had a little bit of it. Arouses I still only have a little bit of it.

But that little word was about how sometimes we look at things and we think that God is running out of time.

God, this has been going on for so long. That person has been away for you, from you for so long. This situation has been happening in my life for so long. God, you're running out of time to sort it out.

But God isn't running out of time. We have just read how he said this time tomorrow. And the guy, the King's helper, Adam. Even if God just works, it's amazing miracle that could never happen. And God almost laughed at him. And it happened as God had said it would happen. And it's important for us to know that God.

Is not running out of time to do the things that he said he would do.

I'm going to take a little detour. And we're going to look at somebody else who I've been enjoying looking out this week or the last couple of weeks. A guy called Jehoshaphat.

And we're in two Chronicles chapter 20.

So Joshua's put this verse up. We will get to this verse in a moment. Back in verse two of this chapter. 12 verse one. So Joshua was a good guy. Joshua had sought to bring God's rule into the land that he was king over.

Verse one. This after bit, after this demo bites in the ammonites with some of the meal. Knights came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. Some people came and told Joshua that a vast army is coming against you for freedom from the other side of the Dead Sea. It says, alarmed, Joshua had resolved to acquire the Lord, and he proclaimed to fast the Judah.

The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord. Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Default position. Seek God. That was Josh found. Don't rely on his own strength. Seek God. Then we get to these verses that justice put up. Verse 14. The Spirit of the Lord came on JCL, son of Zachariah, the son beneath, the son of JL, the son of Man.

I should have cut this verse out. You know a Levite. The sentence of Asaph. He stood in the assembly. He said, listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Jew, Judah and Jerusalem, this is what the Lord says to you. And this is what the Lord says to you, to those do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

And in verse 17 it says this.

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Go out to face him tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. Take up your positions. Stand firm and see the deliverance. The Lord will give you.

God is not running out of time. The battle is not yours. Not ours. It's the Lord. Take up positions and see the deliverance the Lord will bring.

You might so say, Mike, you were talking about parties and all that. Now we're on a journey. And I just felt as if this is a like we do on our car journeys. We pull off the main road and we'll find a picnic spot, and we just enjoy the view. This is a detour. It's a purpose to some of us.

We need to hear that this morning. The battle is the Lord's. Take your position and see the deliverance that God will bring.

And God is not running out of time to answer. It's not.

We all going to go back to the party analogy. I'm we're going to hear a song. This is quite an old song. Some of you who have been part of this church for a number of years might recognize this song, because many Easters ago, a group of us acted to this song.

I haven't pulled you'll see the we've got the music and we've got the words. I didn't want to distract from the fact that it's an old song. So I've been told the visuals that go with this. I've done some slides of the words on let's go with that. Okay. Just you happy?

You demons are planning on having a party. A one night here they were. They got beaten Jack Daniels in the presence. Then red wine some way. They were celebrating how they crucified Christ on that tree with Satan himself wasn't so this. Well, he took his crooked finger and he died on the phone by his bed. Yeah. You need to call an old faithful friend.

Know for sure if he was dead, he said, great. Pray tell me he did my plan. Fail? Oh, great. Just laughed and said, I don't plan to do this. Dead. His name's May. On Friday night they crucified another category. And don't tread shit in three days. I'm gonna. Let's get you sick with problems trying to bury you and make it hard to pray.

They may see my problem. Devil, someday is on the way.

A tranquilizer and the hot oil slick could not come. Satan's fear. So Saturday night he calls up the grave. Scared of what do you hear? Hey, grave, what's going on? Graves? The man who called me twice. And I'll tell you one more. You did you so nice.

And green. Do you remember when all Lazarus was in his grave? You see, everything's cool. Then two days later, Bloom and Lazarus. He was raised. Now this Jesus. He is much more trouble than anyone has ever been to me. And in the strangest I don't never show just man sin. He only got to be dead for three days.

They crucified. No no no, he. But he shall drink. He said in three days I'm gonna live again. You see, when problems try to bury you and make it hard to pray. It may seem like it ever some this unknown way.

Sunday morning singing. Woke up with a jump ready to blow. Fuze. He was shaking from the tips. The spontaneous toes of his pointy shoe. He said grave, tell me, is he alive? I don't want to lose my neck, graves said. You'll evilness maintain your cool devil. You body wreck.

Graves said who he jets big D you. My sting is still intact. You see, Jesus is dead forever. Take it from the grave, brother. He ain't never coming back. So just to mellow out, man. Just go drink up, shoot up. But the devil just leave old grave alone a little homie, may I catch you? Let, let I know I know, I know, I know somebody is messing with a stone.

And the stone was rolled away in about a time or two. And I need to step aside and say. Yo, I'm Gabriel. Who are you? If you want these at this very hour, I tell you, he's alive and well with the resurrection power.

Trying to deny the crucified the.

But he said, Andre, he said in three days you could count the boys all the big. You see, when problems shot you, bury you and make it hard to pray. It may seem like Brian might, but I said Sunday. I'm here to tell you someday the devil hates Sunday. Because Jesus rose on the street on a Sunday morning.

And I'm coming up to you this Sunday is here to say.

Hallelujah.

The stone was rolled away. And he bounced a time or two. And an angel stepped inside and said, yo, I'm Gabriel, who are you? If you're wondering where the Lord is at this very hour, he's alive and well with resurrection power. You can imagine the afterparty the demons were playing. And I'm a party. They got everything they needed to celebrate.

They've been working, putting all that energy. Devil been working for decades. Centuries to defeat. It won't be that the celebrating all the energy they put into it. All the time they put into it. They were celebrating.

On Friday. So I feel society.

And on Sunday everything went flat. Because we have a God who conquered the grave. We have a God who is the ultimate party pooper.

To the devil's parties.

In Genesis 315 it says these words.

So Genesis, we've learned.

How the man, the woman disobeyed God. They decided to do something. Despite everything they've got. They decided to do something that God told them they couldn't do. And God says this to the serpent. To the devil. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and hers. He will crush your head and will, and you will strike his heel.

One John chapter three and verse eight.

Says this I keep on. Let's sing the song that goes through this, which is for this purpose was the Son of God. Manifest spoke. The reason the Son of God appeared is destroy the devil's works to destroy the works of the evil. One two Timothy one verses nine and ten.

Listening in 222 two Timothy one verses 910. He has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it is now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and bought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Colossians two, verse 15. Says this in the NIV. Become Symposium. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing, triumphing over them by the cross. In the amplified version, he says this when you disarmed the rulers and authorities, those spiritual forces of evil operating against us, he made a public example of them, exhibiting them as captives in his triumphal procession, procession, having triumphed over them through the cross.

We have seen from our point of view the demonstration of the power of God over death. We can know Jesus today because of the resurrection.

The victory that was won wasn't just on that level, but to this great spiritual victory that was won.

Paul, writing in Colossians, he's writing at a time in the Roman Empire. And they would have these triumphal possessions, even a general or a Caesar won a battle. They would they would basically drag everybody in to Rome and they would have this amazing celebration, and they would parade through the streets, the general there with all the spoils of war, all the things that he had been able to capture, all the wealth from the lands that they had defeated.

But in that procession would be the generals, the leaders, the mighty warriors of the army that have been defeated. So the general or the Caesar who done this, this was like the pinnacle for them.

And he showed their absolute victory.

For the defeated army, it showed that absolute defeat. And that's what that verse we just read in Colossians talked about. He made a public spectacle of them. The devil knows he's defeated.

This is a day of good news.

How can we keep silent?

We can party. We can celebrate. We can rejoice in all that God has done for us.

The devil, knowing that he's defeated. I think he's probably somewhat surprised. But how quiet we are of telling about this good news that we've got.

This is a day of good news.

So let's not be people who party.

But aren't in a position to go forward, to take it out. Let's not be empty. People who party and they're more concerned about our comfort. But let's be people who recognize today is a day of good news, and we can not keep silent. We're going to finish with one more read now, Luke chapter 74.

Yeah. Verse 45. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He told them, this is what he's written. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead. On the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. I'm going to send you what my father has promised, but stay in the city until you have being clothed with power from on high.

And at the back end of Matthew, then Jesus said to them, all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you.

Always to the very end of the age.

We've got reason to celebrate. We've got reason to party.

We have the privilege of knowing the risen Jesus. We are on the victory side. But this is a party. Not just in here. It's a party for out there. So let us be like those lepers of Samaria and say we are not doing right. This is a day of good news. We can't keep silent. We've got to share it because we have a God who has won a victory, a victory for eternity.

And we know that.

Time is going to come back to the musicians.

Many. Okay. Father, we just thank you.

We just thank you for all that you have done. We just cannot put into words. We've already sung the. Just saying hallelujah is. And we just come find the words to express our gratitude to you.

We thank you that we are.

Able to celebrate the fact we we have been had our eyes open. We have had our ears unstopped. We have our hearts softened and you have changed our lives.

And father, we don't want to be people who just enjoy this party. Together. But we want to be people who share the good news of this party and draw others in. Tell others about you that we would recognize. This is a day of good news, that we have a God who is the victor, and that we can go and tell others that there is victory because of what Jesus has done.

Amen.