Raymond Woodward | Apostolic 2.0

what a powerful presence of god is in this room tonight aren't you grateful to be part of a wonderful apostolic church aren't you thankful uh if if you'd allow me just to make a couple of comments i'll get right to the word it is a great great blessing a personal blessing to be here i love your pastor and his wife i am a bishop by title he is a bishop by gifting a bishop is a guardian of apostolic truth a bishop is a curator of apostolic truth he connects us to the great stories and the great heroes of the past and the bishop is an overseer a pastor of pastors and so there is a bishop in the room i'm not sure it's me but i am sure it's him aren't you grateful for bishop kenneth carpenter and his wife and so grateful for their leadership i will get right to the word of the lord i will be speaking prophetically tonight i don't say that often or lightly i will speak to those that are gathered to those that are watching and will watch but even more than that i speak into the air itself i speak of things that god is going to do and i am so grateful for his hand on the apostolic movement i'm so grateful and so uh if you got your bible in your hand that's wonderful you can lift it let's lift up our hands right now and our voices and let's pray and let's praise and let's worship and let's adore this great jesus yes i worship you jesus i thank you god i thank you god i worship you god i worship you god i worship you god amen you may be seated when you get there and you get comfortable clap your hands all ye people and shout unto god with a voice with your voice with a voice of triumph jesus is great and greatly to be praised and one years two months and twenty days ago my great uncle leonard parent received the baptism of the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues and that forever changed the trajectory of our family a couple months later in the month of february 2021 he was reading his bible and he saw something that he had never seen before never heard anybody preach he saw the revelation of baptism in jesus name and he realized he said to himself and later to his family i'm in this but i'm in it wrong and he went out after his chores were done on the homestead on the farm he knelt down in the new brunswick snow in the month of february at the head of a spring and he put one hand under the water and he raised the other hand to heaven and he said lord would you please take this as my baptism until you send somebody to baptize me in jesus name two months later a great bible teacher from your country john h dearing from caldwell idaho who had been preaching in the northeast of the um of the united states felt led to go across the border into the little province of new brunswick felt led to go to that little country place population 150 along country road with farms at the end of nowhere and he went up the road and down the road knocking on farmhouse doors and he knocked on the door of a family named majors and they said you're not looking for us you're looking for leonard parent and that's how he came to be baptized in the only saving name of jesus and that's where it all began for my family he taught my dad my dad was a great example to me and i'm so thrilled to see the progress and the growth of the apostolic movement in our day because the apostolic movement is exactly that it is a movement it is a movement albert einstein has been called one of the great scientific minds of the 20th century his theory of relativity was undoubtedly his most important contribution to science but i would argue that these five simple words attributed to him are his most important contribution to us today here's what he said nothing happens until something moves einstein spoke from the perspective of a scientist tonight i stand here in this pulpit in the center of this platform in the center of this sanctuary and in the center of this church that is this the tip of the spear for what you hosted this week the movement conference i stand here to speak from the perspective of a preacher many of them that were here have packed their suitcases and they've headed home to their respective corners of god's harvest field but i speak over them as well tonight because they went home to do something they went home inspired and instructed and action brothers and sisters is the starting point of all progress nothing happens until something moves i stood in this pulpit in this same sanctuary two years and two months ago and i declared these words to you the great need of the present hour is not to beseech god crying out for another pentecost we don't need another pentecost the first one was absolutely sufficient we don't need more of god to appear out of heaven we need more of god to appear out of us the church we need to see the demonstration and manifestation of what every single apostolic believer already carries inside of them and that is the power of the resurrected christ that power will change this city that power will change our world we talk about revival as though it's special meetings it's not revival challenges our business as usual revival redefines normal church services revival confronts old wine skins and obsolete traditions and outdated methods and it provokes christians who are carnal or complacent or comfortable revival calls this great apostolic movement to be in this world but not of this world and brothers and sisters revival compels you to be hungrier than your history and thirstier than your yesterday and more passionate than your past that's revival we're not waiting on revival revival is waiting on us you've already got a built-in revival in your spirit it's called the baptism of the holy ghost so i sat here enthralled and inspired this week at the movement conference hosted by this magnificent church because you can't be a movement without movement we often talk about a move of god's spirit as though everything depended on him but what heaven is waiting for is a move of god's people because when god's people move mountains move and demons flee and the devil trembles and hell is not attacking us hell is attacked by us because the gates of hell cannot will not shall not prevail against the church and that brings me to my subject tonight because jesus very last command to his disciples in acts 1 just before he ascended from the mount of olives was a command to move acts 1 and 8 but ye shall receive power after that the holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem and in all judea and in samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth you see the church was promised power in acts one and eight and the holy ghost was not primarily given to give you chill bumps on a sunday night when the choir gets singing an exciting song which they always do by the way the holy ghost was given primarily to empower an expansive evangelism effort that would impact their city jerusalem their region judea a cross-cultural witness that was samaria and ultimately impact the entire world but there's a challenge in the book of acts and we're meant to notice it because there's nothing accidental or incidental in your bible the narrative between acts 1 and 8 and acts 6 and 7 covers a period of about five years and during that five years after the day of pentecost the jerusalem church was blessed abundantly blessed divine visitation miracles of healing holy boldness they grew in spite of persecution they grew in spite of opposition they even grew in spite of some internal problems and their growth rate is pretty impressive by anybody's standard 3 000 people in acts 241 5 000 men in acts 4 and 4 multitudes of men and women in acts 5 14 and even a great company of jewish priests in acts 6 and 7 which says and the word of god increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in jerusalem greatly and even a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith but if you look close you can see the problem it's two words in jerusalem jerusalem certainly enjoyed the rich blessings of the lord during the church's first five years many souls inside of jerusalem came to salvation during that span of time but here's the problem what about the 99.9 of people in the world of their day who did not live in that one blessed city and were not part of that one blessed church what about the other cultures god specifically had told them to reach it is now five years after the day of pentecost the clock is ticking and not one gentile person has been reached yet with the acts 238 message and that five-year honeymoon was shattered with the martyrdom of stephen he was one of the deacons from acts chapter 6 and after his death there was intense persecution led by saul of tarsus and suddenly disciples from the wonderful place the blessed place the beautiful place of jerusalem suddenly disciples are being scattered everywhere but here's the thing we're meant to notice as things grew worse in jerusalem great things were starting to happen in samaria in judea and eventually beyond in one swift act of persecution god forced obedience on his church and he compelled them to mobilize stephen's death was tragic they wept bitterly at his funeral no doubt about it but that event probably resulted in more obedience to the great commission than any single event in the history of the early church up to that point it was even a major factor in the conversion of a man named saul acts 8 and 1 and saul was consenting unto his death and at that time there was great persecution against the church which was at jerusalem and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of judea and samaria except the apostles who stayed in jerusalem to manage everything do you see what's in that verse right there that is god compelling the church to do what he had told them to do five years previously because they wouldn't budge out of their comfortable spot in jerusalem god allowed persecution to come god allowed an uncomfortable feeling to come god allowed some turmoil and some trauma to come and now they're in judea and now they're headed for samaria and you would think well god why are you allowing this to happen to your people but god had a purpose because god is not primarily committed to successful ministries god is not primarily committed to great churches like this one god is not primarily committed to all kinds of awesome organizations like the aljc god is primarily committed to his great commission so if we will not go then god only has two alternatives to make us move somebody shalt move see first god used persecution to drive them out and you look at that and you say oh my that's terrible that's awful that's tragic that's traumatic yes it is but god is so committed to lost people being one to lost people being added to his bride that he'll even allow uncomfortable times to come to churches like jerusalem and when that doesn't work god has a second option and it's far worse because his second option is substitution to send somebody else who will go willingly the narrative of the book of acts now moves to judea and samaria it's five years from the day of pentecost the clock is ticking still not one gentile has been reached with the apostolic message philip who's another one of those young deacons from acts 6 he suddenly ends up in samaria and he begins preaching please hear me philip is not one of the leaders he's he's not ahead of anything he probably doesn't have a key to the church building he definitely doesn't have an office but when that young man sets his feet in samaria and begins preaching stuff starts to happen that's absolutely astounding i've been here in this city for a week now i have watched young men and young women that are part of this church part of these teams part of this choir let me tell you there is so much potential in the upcoming generation don't you ever sit around and wait for somebody to pass you a position before you decide to do something for god you can have a revival anywhere you want to because you're filled with the same power that raised christ from the dead that's what kind of power you have in you mr philip goes and he just starts preaching god starts to move outside the box acts 8 and 5 verse 5 and 6. philip went down to the city of samaria he preached christ unto them the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which philip spake hearing and seeing the miracles which he did and now this is funny the apostles are back in jerusalem and they're forced to play catch up with what's happening they're they're scrambling philip's hollering you got to come down here we got people that need the holy ghost philip's not trying to do something that's outside of leadership or he's it's not that he's not submitted he calls for the apostles to come and help him but see god is using a young man like philip to do something that's absolutely amazing acts 8 and 14 when the apostles which were at jerusalem heard that samaria had received the word of god they sent them peter and john peter and john go down and they help young philip manage the revival that he's having and then don't get your attention so focused on the big stuff we love the big numbers don't we we love 3 000 on the day of pentecost we love that but what happens next is that at the height of his revival philip is directed by the lord to leave the crowd and go out into the desert to meet with one person don't you ever underestimate the power of one person to make a difference they may be the worst addictive perverted sinner in maryville tonight but when god gets a hold of them god can use your friend your family member whoever it is that you shake your head tonight but god can use them to do something amazing now this is this is so awesome acts 8 and 27 and he arose and went and behold a man of ethiopia in eunuch of great authority under candace queen of the ethiopians watch this he had the charge of all her treasure he had come to jerusalem for to worship he had come to the temple he'd heard about that glorious temple he'd come to the temple to worship and now he's headed back and he's sitting in his chariot and he's reading isaiah the prophet but see here's the problem you might skip over that and not realize this a eunuch was not allowed to enter into the house of the lord deuteronomy 23 and 1 says you can't a eunuch's not allowed in the house of the lord so he's come to jerusalem so hungry so sincere wanting to worship with them and they've slammed the door in his face and now he's headed home and he's broken-hearted but he's so hungry he's still reading the writing of a jewish prophet and god sends philip zeroed in on that hungry heart and god has a hungry heart somewhere in your orbit god has a hungry heart somewhere at your job god has a hungry heart somewhere in your subdivision and god wants to send you you talk about missiles overseas god wants to send you like a guided missile straight to that hungry soul and here's what he did you say i don't think i could do that that's brother and sister carpenter that's the pastoral team they could do that i couldn't do that here's what philip did 8 35 then philip opened his mouth began at the same scripture and preached unto him jesus that sounds pretty simple all you have to do is when the opportunity arises and the conversation starts and the person says anything pick one they say something about church they say something about disappointment they say something about a need they see something about the end times they say something about how scary the world's getting that's an open door for you so do what philip did open your mouth start where they are don't start where you are start where they are and preach to them jesus that's really simple that's what philip did and then this is absolutely amazing you know verse 36 says and they go on their way philip obviously is preaching to him from the book of isaiah not the book of acts there is no book of acts right now they're they're creating the book of acts he's preaching to him from the old testament prophet isaiah as they went on their way they came to a certain water and the eunuch said see here's water what doth hinder me to be baptized now that's amazing to me because we know where they started reading in isaiah because the bible quotes it they started reading it isaiah 53 and 7 and that says nothing about being baptized in fact water isn't even mentioned in that chapter but if you keep on reading you won't see it i don't think in chapter 53 and you read through see there were no chapters they just kept reading on that scroll and read through chapter 54 no 55 no 56 i think this is where philip stopped his home bible study i think 56-3 they're reading the prophet and here's what it says neither let the son of the stranger that has joined himself to the lord speak saying the lord has utterly separated me from his people neither let the eunuch say behold i am a dry tree for thus saith the lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my covenant remember he just went to jerusalem they slammed the door in his face and sent him home but here's what god said even unto those eunuchs will i give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters i'll give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off i can't prove it but i think that's where he said if god has a plan for somebody like me i want to be baptized right now and if you're in this service and you've never had the privilege of having your sins washed away by going down in the name of jesus in the waters of baptism let me tell you god would love to meet you in the water and wash away your sins tonight there's room in this movement there's room in this church for anybody who has a sincere heart toward god oh my my mind now it's amazing because see god can multitask i know you think you can multitask but if you read enough articles you'll find out that multitasking is actually an illusion of your brain you're really only doing one thing at one time but you carry on and believe what you want but god he can multitask oh my at the same time this is happening in samaria god is moving sovereignly behind the scenes to give the church a great leader and preacher and writer and theologian and missionary and the lord even conscripts ananias and barnabas to make sure that saul of tarsus who has literally just been knocked off his high horse on the road to damascus god makes sure that those two men see that saul is brought to the church in jerusalem because god has a call on saul now you know who saul was he was a hebrew he was a pharisee he was a champion of the law and he loved to persecute the church and he would arrest christians and put them in jail and have them put to death it was like he was a terrorist against the first century church we've got some terrorists in our world today we've got some leaders that have nothing but evil in their heart we've got all kinds of mess happening on this planet but god is able to reach into the most authoritarian regimes god is able to reach into the hearts of people that tonight they are persecutors of the apostolic church but god can reach into their heart and turn them around and they can become a champion of the faith i came here tonight to tell you don't you draw any lines and say god could never save them god could never use them they're not interested they don't want it would you stop that our god can move behind the scenes in a way that you don't even see coming however saul's conversion story and his unique ministry see he feels to go reach the gentiles which is really weird because he's a jew it's so outside the box that when they take him to jerusalem to introduce him to the leaders do you know what they do with the greatest missionary theologian leader preacher writer do you know what they do with that guy they send him home they don't want him look look at this acts 9 26 when saul was come to jerusalem he has saved to join himself to the disciples he tried to join the jerusalem church but they were all afraid of him and they believed not that he was a disciple they refused it is now 10 years after the day of pentecost and they still haven't reached a gentile and saul wants to reach gentiles and they shut him down and send him home to cool off it's not that the jerusalem church rejected the great commission outright it's simply this they wouldn't move they were too happy too content they had their nice exciting church they had the gifts of the spirit they had a few miracles they had lots of blessings they were comfortable and they wouldn't move and as einstein said nothing happens until something moves so god used persecution first and he had some results but god's about ready to pull the trigger here and use his second method and it's not fun and it's kind of tragic the scene in the book of acts now shifts to ant antioch and caesarea it's it's a.d 40. it's about 10 years after the day of pentecost and then this happens god's a multi-tasker brothers and sisters acts 10 there was a certain man in caesarea called cornelius he was a centurion of the band called the italian band he was a devout man he was one that feared god with all his house he gave much alms to the people and he prayed to god always a decade after pentecost the church has still not moved out of their comfort zone to reach the gentiles if it had not been for god's direct and forceful intervention no gentiles would be in the church today because the jews in jerusalem who had now become apostolics they did not want gentiles in their church gentiles didn't share their politics gentiles didn't share their language gentiles didn't share their preferences and their customs gentiles didn't share their history gentiles didn't know the heroes of the faith gentiles didn't get a lump in their throat when you said shadrach meshach and abednego gentiles didn't get that warm feeling in their heart when you said moses or jacob or daniel or david they knew nothing of that they were ranked sinners they were gentiles and god had had enough of his church just sitting there soaking up the blessings that he had given them and he decided no it's time for my people to move and so god sends a couple of visions um he sends one to cornelius to tell cornelius the gentile go find peter the pentecostal preacher and then god sends a vision to peter the pentecostal preacher to say go find cornelius guess who had a harder time with that it wasn't cornelius he sent servants the next minute it was the pentecostal preacher who had locked himself into we're blessed we've got favor god's moving it's comfortable it's nice we've got a great church jerusalem is doing just fine and peter was the problem and so cornelius sends his servants and god he sends peter three visions you remember this peter's sleeping he's up on top of a rooftop to escape the heat and god sends three visions and there's this sheet let down over peter's head and it's full of all kind of creepy crawly things and unclean animals that the jews don't eat and and this voice comes to peter arise peter kill and eat and peter said no sir i'm a good jewish boy i don't do the pulled pork sandwich i don't do any of that and god speaks to peter in that vision and he said what i have cleansed don't you call common or unclean and peter turns around and goes back to sleep and god sends us the second time and the third time it's the same every time what i have cleansed don't you call common and unclean literally what i am working in don't you tell me i can't what i'm touching don't you tell me that's off limits peter wakes up after that third vision and guess what there's a knock at the door he goes down into the house opens the door and there's three gentile men standing there that's why three visions three gentile men and they tell him our master cornelius he's a centurion he's employed by rome but he's a good man he prays he wants to know more about god would you come peter never would have gone with them if it hadn't been for those three visions and furthermore when peter went with the three of them he took six jewish bodyguards read your bible it's there he took sixes two to one in case there's any trouble and peter makes the journey to the household of cornelius and he walks into this gentile household and he looks around and he is not expecting what happens when he begins to to to enter that house he looks at those open eyes and those sincere hearts and everybody's sitting on the edge of their seat waiting to hear what the pentecostal will tell them acts 10 and 34 then peter opened his mouth and he said it took me 10 years to get here it took me a whole decade to get out of my comfort zone but of the truth i perceive that god is no respecter of persons he doesn't want to just save people who are just like me who look like me and talk like me and have all my preferences and share my politics and share my lifestyle no no he will save anybody from the uttermost to the gutter most to the uppermost he'll save anybody peter said i just perceived something i was the day of pentecost featured conference speaker but it took me a decade to get this i perceive god is no respecter of persons but in any nation in every nation anybody that fears god and will do righteousness they'll be accepted by god can i tell all you wonderful apostolic people at first apostolic church there are people in this community that you look at them and you think they hate you and right now they do but god has a hook in their jaw and he's going to pull them out of that sin he's going to reach them with his gospel and he's going to reach them through you don't you tell god who he can't save nothing happens until something moves nothing happens until somebody moves but when the church moves they can move mountains and peter he goes to preaching he's not staying for fellowship because they might serve pork and acts chapter 10 verse 44 while peter yet spake these words you remember this one we love this one the holy ghost went boom and the holy ghost fell on all them which heard the word just instantly those gentiles are speaking in tongues now i thank god for acts chapter 2. that's ground zero for the new birth experience but you want to thank god every day for acts chapter 10 because if it hadn't been for acts chapter 10 there still wouldn't be any gentiles in the apostolic movement the jews weren't going to let us in we would have messed up their nice clean jewish apostolic church they didn't want all of you american apostolics gentiles they didn't want you in their church they had a nice little jewish apostolic church if it had not been for acts chapter 10 there still wouldn't be any gentiles in the church furthermore and this is not part of my message but i i just compelled to say this don't you ever let somebody back you into a corner because you're a pentecostal apostolic tongue talker and they make you feel like you know you're somehow less than or whatever would you please hear me there wouldn't be any gentile christians of any kind of denomination if it had not been for that moment right there because if the gentiles had not spoken in tongues they wouldn't have recognized what was happening they knew that god had touched them because they heard them speak with tongues so there wouldn't be any kind of christian in america if it had not been for speaking in other tongues you're a pentecostal you're an apostolic you need to hold your head high and say thank god i'm a tongue talker there wouldn't be anything of christianity in the country of america if it hadn't been for right there and in that glorious majestic supernatural moment a few people had a problem verse 45 and they of the circumcision the jews which believe so they're apostolic but they're jewish they were astonished they did not expect this to be happen all the people that came with peter the six jewish bodyguards because that on the gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy ghost i don't know about you i hear a lot of pentecostals today worrying about whether the world will receive our message and they fret about whether the world will ever accept our doctrine or embrace our apostolic lifestyle could i point out to you that none of those concerns are ever addressed in the book of acts the overriding concern in the history of the first century apostolic church is not whether they will be open to us the overriding concern of the book of acts is whether we will be open to them when god starts sending them in are you ready fac maryville for when god sends in people that don't look like you act like you they have a lifestyle that offends your sensibility they have addiction and perversion and you just shake your head they've got all kinds of junk all kinds of baggage are you ready for when god sends them in to this beautiful church among all you godly people are you going to be repulsed or are you going to be receptive are you going to back away or are you going to run to meet them and greet them and love them because such were some of you but now you're washed and you're sanctified you're justified you say oh not me pastor raymond i never you don't know where you would have ended up if it had not been for the grace of god if it had not been for the lord who was on your side if it had not been for his blood that washed you of your sins and cleaned you of your addictions and set you on the path to heaven you have no idea who you might have been so that's the question of the book of acts it's not whether they will be open to us it's whether we'll be open to them when god sends them are we truly ready in the last of the last days and the end of the end times for the whosoever will are we truly ready for the chiefest of sinners to walk into our church and here's another question are you available to build relationships with religious people and lead them into truth please hear me because that happened over and over again in the book of acts religious people they had some kind of of idea about religion they had some kind shut up siri they had some kind of idea watch this a great company a jewish priest religious a city filled with samaritans they were religious a sincere ethiopian eunuch he was religious a zealous pharisee named saul religious a prayerful centurion named cornelius religious a powerful preacher named apollos religious a seller of purple named lydia religious a jailer in philippi religious a deputy in paphos religious a chief ruler of the synagogue named christmas religious an entire group of john the baptist disciples in ephesus all religious but they didn't have the full truth are you ready to move to them when god moves on them because that's the question of this era the apostolic church is not on decline we just pulled the throttle back and we're headed this way but on the way there's going to be people that need what you've got i wish you'd lift up your hands and i wish you'd lift up your voice like a trumpet in this sanctuary and pray not for revival you've got revival right in you right now but if you'd pray god let it flow through me let it flow out of me oh that's a good five-second ten-second response to the preacher i mean i wish you'd lift up your voice and pray this great church yeah yes yes yes there's some religious people in this city there's some deacons in this city there's some pastors in this city that are going to find their way into this building and to this altar or maybe not maybe you're going to go to them and their church is going to turn into an fac their church is going to turn into a church that baptizes in jesus name it's happening in other places it can happen here oh my my my my clap your hands to the lord not applause praise not applause worship not applause faith not applause huh let me move as quickly as i can it's hard to imagine that anybody would have a problem with the people that god was using mightily to bring souls into his kingdom but some in jerusalem did jerusalem actually called peter in and contended with him about getting out of his lane and peter's answer is classic he said in acts 11 and 17 for as much then as god gave them this very same gift that he gave to us who believed on the lord jesus christ who was i that i could withstand god what did you want me to do i'm just standing in the living room talking about the gospel and all of a sudden i've got a room full of gentile tongue talkers so i just told them it's time to go get baptized in the name of jesus what was i to do god was there can i tell you we're entering into that era what were we to do there's people that are going to receive the holy ghost that you'll be shocked when they do because you're looking at the outside but god is looking at their heart and he's leading them and guiding them it's going to blow your mind who becomes an apostolic if saul of tarsus could become an apostolic anybody can become an apostolic oh well you see here's the issue because jerusalem wouldn't move out of their comfort zone god eventually moved the revival beyond their control and god gave the revival that should have happened in jerusalem he gave it to a church that would move to reach the lost acts 11 and 19. now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about stephen they traveled as far as phoenix and cyprus and antioch watch this they preached the word to none but unto the jews only all of these apostolic people filled with the power of the holy ghost baptized in jesus name prayerful people righteous people godly people when they were scattered you know what they did in every city where they went they looked for a little tiny population of jews and they thought they were the only ones that deserve to hear the word of the lord antioch was a predominantly gentile city it's unthinkable that they would only preach to the people that were just like them but that's what they did because their vision was so little but then this happens you are meant to notice this we are meant to learn from this in the book of acts acts 11 and 20 and some of them were men of cyprus and cyrene which when they were come to antioch they spoke unto the grecians gentiles preaching the lord jesus and this is the moment it's tragic god lifts his hand of blessing off of the jerusalem church they had the message they had the doctrine they had the lifestyle they had the experience they had the power but because they wouldn't move god lifted his hand of blessing off the jerusalem church and he transferred it over to the antioch church and the bible says a great number believed and turned to the lord the hand of the lord was with them brothers and sisters that is a moment of destiny that's where the church in antioch is born that's when some biblically illiterate gentiles came to know god that moment right there is why the apostolics in the first century would soon be known as they that have turned the world upside down and that moment is why there's a church at all in the 21st century because jerusalem they had no clue how to deal with a revolutionary like saul of tarsus he just jumped too many fences and and he was reaching all kinds of people and they didn't like that they sent him back to tarsus to cool off and and they just left him jerusalem never got to send out history's greatest missionary that honor fell to the antioch church because they had a missionary heart and they would move to obey god look at this acts 11 barnabas kind gentle barnabas got so fed up here's what happened then departed barnabas to tarsus for to seek saul he said this is ridiculous this has gone on long enough we've got this great man that god has saved and called and anointed and he wants to reach gentiles and they've got him out in the back 40 somewhere and they won't let him do anything and when he found him he didn't take saul back to jerusalem to be rejected the second time he brought him unto antioch and it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves together with the church and taught much people and here's the verse that should not be in your bible and the disciples were called christians it should read first in jerusalem that's where the day of pentecost happened that's where peter pete peter preached acts 2 38 that's where the holy ghost fell that's ground zero for the gifts of the spirit and the apostolic lifestyle and all of that that scripture should read they were called christians first in jerusalem but it doesn't say that because jerusalem wouldn't move but antioch said god you touch us we'll move you direct us we'll move you tell us who to go for we'll move we'll move and so they were called christians first in antioch jerusalem was apostolic 1.0 they had truth they had experience they had holy ghost they had signs and wonders but antioch was apostolic 2.0 because they didn't just have truth they didn't just have experience they didn't just have holy godly lifestyle they were willing to move they were the fountainhead of the gentile apostolic movement oh my my my my my i don't know about you i love our history and our heritage you only need to know me for three seconds to know how much i love elders but i don't want to be apostolic 1.0 that i hoard all the truth for myself and i hoard all the blessings for myself and i hoard everything that's god's done for myself i want to be apostolic 2.0 i take all that we have but i add to it i'm willing to move i'm willing to go i'm willing to be used i'm willing to be a witness yes i'll be coming to a close momentarily i'm going to skip a little bit here it is now 20 years after the day of pentecost 10 years that's cornelius the gentiles start coming in and for the next 10 years until 20 years after pentecost for the next 10 years they argue about whether the gentiles should be allowed in the church and so in ad50 20 years after the day of pentecost they convene a church council in jerusalem they don't go to jerusalem because it's anybody's headquarters they go to jerusalem because that's where the problem came from there was a group of people going around saying unless you're willing to become jewish you can't become apostolic unless you're willing to obey all the jewish laws and feasts and festivals and all the traditions and go to the temple and do the the sacrificial feast days unless you're willing to become jewish you can't become apostolic you say that's horrible but sometimes that's what i see pentecostal people doing in this century until you know all of our songs and you know the names of all of our elders and until you wear the same kind of clothing that we wear and and you do all of that you're not allowed to belong i re refuse that i reject that in fact i'll get a little bold here i rebuked that in jesus name if god could bring us in and clean us up and stand us up and god can reach anybody they do not have to share your side of the political spectrum in america they don't have to like your favorite politicians to be safe they don't have to like your style of music to be safe they don't have to know all the names of the great elders of the aljc to be saved we're going to let them get the holy ghost and let them get baptized we're going to embrace them not push them away 20 years after pentecost jerusalem is still fighting over who's allowed to be saved it's just unbelievable and that's why since they're arguing about it 20 years after pentecost that's why 40 years after pentecost there is no jerusalem church the city of jerusalem is destroyed everything's gone god shut down the jerusalem church but the antioch church was still going strong there are two new testament church models you're meant to notice this there's jerusalem and there's antioch and we have to choose to be one or the other one church has all the truth that we love and know and embrace but the other church has decided with all we know and love and embrace we're not too good or too holy or too righteous or too separated to go do what god called us to do nothing happens until something moves nothing happens until somebody moves music come on back because the church in antioch sent paul out on his missionary journeys paul eventually ended up in a city called ephesus it was the capital of the roman province of asia ephesus was a wealthy sophisticated city it had many religions it had the monumental library of celsius it had a theater that could hold 25 000 spectators and it had a famous temple to the pagan goddess diana which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world it was such a magnificent influential city but in that pagan city see because there was an apostolic church in antioch that would reach anybody they sent paul and he started an apostolic church in ephesus my goodness and then we read this in acts 19 and 10 and this continued by the space of two years so that all they which dwelt in asia heard the word of the lord jesus both jews here it is and greeks because there was an apostolic church in antioch there was eventually an apostolic church in ephesus and because there was an apostolic church at ephesus eventually the whole roman province of asia heard the word of the lord it was all because antioch decided we're apostolic 2.0 same message same experience same holiness same lifestyle but we decide we've got some passion for the great commission when god says move we say what direction lord we're already walking and that's why history doesn't refer to jerusalem as the cradle of christianity you read your encyclopedia antioch is the cradle of christianity and today through the efforts of this great church i do believe that god is raising up a movement of antioch churches because nothing happens until something moves who am i pastor raymond you've forgotten about something you've forgotten that for two whole years we've been dealing with a worldwide pandemic things don't seem to be accelerating in fact in many places they seem to be slowing down for two whole years we've been locked down and shut down and restricted and quarantined and socially distanced and physically isolated for two whole years we've been masked and muted and mandated just about to death for two whole years we've experienced government overreach and limited outreach for two whole years we've had to negotiate the new normal and the new normal isn't normal it's subnormal it's abnormal but we've had to negotiate that for two whole years you forgot that didn't you no here's the last two verses of the book of acts and paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house he's under house arrest he's in jail and he received all that came into him preaching the kingdom of god teaching those things which concern the lord jesus christ with all confidence no man forbidding him paul is locked up under house arrest the reason they say in his own hired house is because he had to pay the expense but make no mistake he's in custody he's got guards with him day and night he can't go anywhere he can't take a missionary journey he can't preach a crusade he can't teach large crowds of people anymore paul is locked up for two whole years and the book of acts ends with four words in english no man forbidding him but the book but the book of acts ends with one word in the greek language and greek scholars like i howard marshall and a whole bunch of others say that the entire weight of the last chapter of the book of acts comes crashing down on the very last word because in the greek no man forbidding him in the greek is one word akalutos it means a wide open field of opportunity it means unhindered unpreventable unstoppable you got to get this in your mind paul is locked up under house arrest he's got guards on either side of him he can't hardly budge you talk about being socially distanced that's him you talk about being muted that's him you talk about being quarantined that's paul and yet the book of accents with one word and paul was unstoppable it didn't matter that they locked him up he was still unstoppable it didn't matter that they guarded him he was still unstoppable it didn't matter that he had romans guards on either side of him do you know he wrote four epistles with guards on either side of him you say i feel locked up i feel chained up i feel bound i feel limited and hindered by my circumstance here's what paul wrote while there was a guard on either side of him listen to this philippians 1 i would that you should understand something brethren that the things that have happened unto me have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel my bonds in christ are manifest in all caesar's palace and in all other places and many of the brethren in the lord waxing confidence by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear the devil thought if he could lock paul up he'd shut his mouth but it backfired big time on hell everybody else all around said if paul can have revival if call can preach the word if paul can write letters while he's chained up i guess i can serve god in my life can i tell you something america can i tell you something maryville i know the last two years have been a little tough i know it's been disconcerting and you look around and you think there's still a few people not back none of that hinders god none of that hinders the church because although we've been under restriction for nearly two whole years god has been working the entire time paul wrote when he signed off philippians he wrote this all the saints salute you chiefly they that are of caesar's household oh yeah i'm locked up over here under house arrest but we've been smuggling some of these guards they've had to write they've had to watch me write epistles i've been praying them through to the holy ghost over in caesar's palace over in caesar's household caesar's up in the throne room on the fifth level thinking he runs the world down in the wine cellar we've split open an old vat and we've got it full of water we're baptizing people caesar doesn't know it but the person who served him his salad today they're a holy ghost tongue talking jesus name baptized believer caesar doesn't know it but we got apostolics everywhere in caesar's household so i guess if god could do that he could do anything i guess if god could do that in rome he could do anything in maryville i guess if god could do that with a man under house arrest he could use you wherever you are give me one more second these are the last words of paul this is the last letter philippians was the last letter he ever wrote to a church thank you for coming that's good we're going to end up here you can save yourself some time you can get your steps in early you can come to the altar but the very last letter paul ever wrote on this planet was to timothy his son in the gospel and here's what he said to timothy about his little house arrest timothy wherein i suffer trouble as an evildoer timothy they've locked me up like a common criminal even under bonds they've chained my hands and my feet i can't go anywhere but timothy while i may be bound the word of god is not bound so let me tell you something i don't care what you're going through right now i don't care how hard it is or how bad it is or what kind of persecution or opposition or trial you've got going on in your life the word of god is not bound there are people in this room that are like philip god wants to use you to have a revival not here out there not right up here out there to somebody those of you that are in the off can we make room at the front we got lots of room here just come forward just step forward because we're going to need to pray with each other and for every and we've got room for those of you that are still in the seats we'd love to have you join us down here because this church is not measured by how many it seats this church is measured by how many it sends and so i love that your pastor has a missionary heartbeat but we need some missionaries that follow the leadership of this great man not just overseas we need some missionaries in maryville and in alcoa we need some missionaries right around this building down the streets and up the highway we need some missionaries you may feel like i couldn't do it you might feel bound but the word of god is not bound reach over take somebody on either side of you if they'll let you take their hand and your fists lift those hands together like a great big army like an apostolic army like a pentecostal army let's get ready to move let's get ready to let god move through us let's get ready the power of god has fallen on us right now it's not just to make you feel good it's to make you move it's to make you go it's to make you witness and holy holy holy you are my everything and i will adore you so there's enough young men and young women in this room we've got stevens and phillips all over the place god wants to send you out young man god wants to let you move out into this world and be an impact young lady if there's somebody near you and you know they need a miracle if there's somebody near you and that you know they need a healing if there's somebody near you and you know they need the holy ghost here's what i tell you move go lay your hand on them and let god use you right now move lay your hand on them that's good that's good you're so awesome maryville there's a movement here it's not a conference it's a real movement of god's people just one more thing everybody that will help me right now spin around you just pray beside somebody spin around lay your hand on somebody and pray for somebody instead of just praying beside somebody the power of god is present to heal somebody right now the power of god is present to deliver somebody right now the power of god is present to do the miraculous right now and god wants to use you if you'll move he'll move when god's people move mountains move