House Calls

True Revival, Pt. 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang, John Stanton

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Series Code: HCL

Program Code: HCL130021


00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit back as we explore God's word together
00:05 on this edition of "House Calls."
00:21 Welcome back or welcome to the first time,
00:24 if you are just tuning in
00:26 and you've never been here before, welcome.
00:28 We ring the bell for you that you are now joining us
00:31 on the best Bible program anywhere.
00:34 Don't you believe that, John?
00:36 Well, we wouldn't be here
00:37 if we didn't know the Lord was with us.
00:39 Exact-- Best Bible program ever.
00:41 He is reluctant to say that,
00:42 but he believes that I know.
00:44 Well, anyway thank you so much for tuning into House Calls.
00:46 We enjoy what we do.
00:48 As you can tell I'm John and he is John,
00:50 we share that and we also share
00:52 our passion for sharing the word of God.
00:54 So sit back with us for the next hour
00:56 or so that is under an hour
00:58 and we're gonna walk through the word of God together.
01:01 And get your Bibles, get your pens,
01:03 invite your family and your friends.
01:04 It's kind of become a mantra of my own
01:06 and join us for a very exciting program.
01:09 We're gonna be taking your questions and your comments,
01:11 but before we do anything we always like to have prayer.
01:14 And John has been designated to pray on the air.
01:16 I do pray, I pray off the air.
01:18 He prays on the air. Pray for us, John.
01:20 All right, let's do that.
01:21 Father in Heaven, we invite Your presence to be here with us
01:25 send Your spirit to guide and lead us through the study today.
01:29 May the presence of Jesus fill us with joy,
01:32 with happiness, with a confidence
01:34 that His word is not only transforming our lives,
01:37 but will bear fruit and will help us
01:39 to know Him better, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
01:42 Now may of you sit down when this program starts
01:46 and you go, get your laptops or you're sitting at your desktop
01:49 or you have your iPad or your iPhone,
01:50 your android or whatever you have,
01:52 whatever kind of device you have and you think,
01:54 hey, I've got a question that I want to send to these guys.
01:57 And some of you guys try to stunt us,
01:59 some of you guys send us doctoral dissertation.
02:02 We don't really take time
02:03 to read those multiply long documents.
02:05 Do we, John? No.
02:07 The question or the scripture or something
02:09 and always as best, yeah.
02:11 And some people just send us comments,
02:13 but for those of you who have questions,
02:15 you can send those questions to this following email address,
02:18 housecalls@3abn.org. That's housecalls@3abn.org.
02:24 And we will do our best by God's word to answer these questions.
02:28 So, John, swing the bag today for us for the first time.
02:31 All right, I'm gonna cover a question here
02:34 that is brought to us by Harry and he is asking,
02:38 "Please, tell me if forgiving yourself
02:41 is just as important as forgiving others
02:43 in order for God to forgive you?"
02:46 Good question, and I think this question
02:49 really comes from a lot of discussion in psychology today
02:53 as to guilt and other things like that.
02:56 But I understand what he's saying.
02:57 It is important to "forgive ourselves."
03:00 Technically, we cannot do that,
03:02 only the Lord can forgive us of our sins.
03:04 But it's important in other ways to recognize
03:07 and have confidence in Christ' forgiveness.
03:10 And when we have confidence in His forgiveness
03:13 then we can let it go in an essence forgive ourselves.
03:18 And I'm gonna go to a text, John,
03:19 that is probably the most confident building text,
03:21 on forgiveness at least in my life has been
03:24 and that is 1 John 1:9. Okay.
03:29 A text that many of you I'm sure
03:30 have heard, have read, have known
03:33 and it says, "If we confess our sins,
03:37 He, that is Jesus, is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
03:43 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
03:46 This is, John, a promise. That's right.
03:50 That if we confess, if we say, "Lord, I have sinned,
03:55 I am sorry, I give that sin to You,
03:58 I'm gonna turn and walk the other direction
04:01 with You as my strength."
04:03 That He will in response according to this promise,
04:06 forgive us of that sin and cleanse our lives
04:09 from the sin that's affected us.
04:12 And in that respect, that confidence
04:14 we have in Jesus to forgive us
04:16 allows us to "forgive ourselves."
04:20 One of the things that I know that has been a struggle,
04:23 I think for some is, is when people asks for forgiveness
04:27 and they seem to have to ask for over and over again
04:30 because of something that just,
04:32 it's a strong hold the enemy has on their life
04:35 and that sin whether it'd be anger, whether--
04:38 You know, Jealously or gossip or something keeps coming back
04:43 and they keep asking for forgiveness.
04:44 And you get to a point where you almost feeling like,
04:47 "Boy, I guess I'm just never forgiving
04:49 'cause I just can't seem to get over this hump."
04:50 Well, first of all know that when you ask for forgiveness,
04:54 when you get up off that floor, off your knees
04:59 that you are forgiven in Jesus.
05:01 The more you bring it back to Him,
05:03 especially if you've asked for forgiveness,
05:05 if you haven't committed the sin again,
05:07 don't keep brining it back up to God,
05:09 be confident that He has wiped your slate
05:11 and He's blooded that sin out and that you are forgiven.
05:15 The other part of this to is--
05:18 Was a big help to me at least in this area is,
05:21 if you remember when Jesus was asked by the disciples,
05:27 if my brother keep sinning against me
05:30 how many times do I need to forgive him?
05:32 That's right. And he said, seven times.
05:36 And Jesus said, "Seventy times seven."
05:41 which, I mean, if you read that in a literal way
05:44 it's 490 times, right?
05:47 I think the point Jesus was making there though
05:50 was in regard to the continual extending of forgiveness
05:55 and how He's willing to do that to someone
05:57 who is truly, contrite and repentant.
06:00 So just because you've committed the sin before
06:02 you've done it again, don't get in your mind
06:05 that this time He's not gonna forgive me.
06:07 Repent, confess that sin, turn from it,
06:10 trust in God to be your strength
06:12 and be confident that He has forgiven your sin.
06:15 You know, it's amazing
06:16 that you're talking about the sin question
06:18 because a lot of times people hold on to something
06:23 longer than God holds on to it. Yeah.
06:26 And I have people that call me sometimes and I--
06:30 They would say, "Pray for me."
06:31 And I say, "Well, have you prayed?
06:33 They say, "Yes, I have,
06:35 but I don't think God is hearing me."
06:36 And I'd say, "Why?"
06:38 "Because I feel so depressed, I just feel--"
06:42 And they go through this whole retinue of feelings they have.
06:46 I don't feel, I feel, I don't think, I think.
06:53 And I say, "Well, here's where faith comes in.
06:56 You know, Hebrew 11:6.
06:58 But one of the things we have to keep in mind is
07:01 as John just read 1 John 1:9.
07:04 He is faithful, God is faithful.
07:07 All we have to keep in mind
07:08 is when God makes a covenant with us
07:10 it's not based on our faithfulness,
07:12 it's based on His faithfulness, He makes the covenant.
07:16 And although the covenant, our fulfillment is conditional
07:19 to us being willing to follow the parameters of the covenant.
07:23 God still doesn't break His covenant with us.
07:25 We often break our covenant with Him.
07:27 And so keeping this in mind or the Lord even reminds us again.
07:31 There is a text
07:35 that talks about the way that God looks at sin
07:37 and I just really appreciate
07:39 the way that David brings this out.
07:42 I want to go ahead and let me see how far back.
07:45 Okay, I'll start with-- Psalms what?
07:48 Psalms 103 verse, starting with verse 8.
07:51 Starting with verse 8 because a lot of times
07:55 God has depicted us as agree guy,
07:57 they just has an attitude and He just wants to get at us.
08:00 Right, He's waiting for you to mess up.
08:01 He's waiting for us to mess up and give us this divine aha,
08:05 but verse 8 of Psalms 103 says,
08:07 "The Lord is merciful and gracious,
08:11 slow to anger, and abounding in mercy,
08:16 He will not always strive with us
08:19 nor will He keep His anger for ever."
08:22 But here's the beautiful news.
08:24 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
08:28 nor punished us according to our iniquities."
08:30 And that's true, if God dealt with us
08:32 the way we should be dealt with,
08:33 you know, sometimes parents say,
08:35 I'm gonna let you get away this time,
08:37 but you know that what you did was not--
08:43 is not right or was not acceptable to this family.
08:48 God doesn't let us get away, but praise the Lord
08:53 in His correcting of us, there is an abundance of mercy,
08:59 there is the grace, the graciousness of God
09:02 all mixed into that so He does not
09:05 grab us by the collar and just throw us up against the wall
09:08 and handcuff us until we repent.
09:10 Sometimes people see that picture of God
09:13 and then he says in verse 11 and 12 and I love these.
09:16 "For as the heavens are high above the earth,
09:19 so great is his mercy toward those who fear him,
09:24 as far as the east is from the west,
09:27 so far has he removed our transgressions from us,
09:33 as a father pities his children,
09:37 so the Lord pities those who fear Him,
09:41 for He knows our frame He remembers that we are dust."
09:45 And when you keep going, I mean just continues to unfold
09:50 and God compares His mercy with so many attributes
09:54 that we can identify with,
09:56 but he's in essence saying to us I'm not that kind of guy.
10:00 I mean, wherever you got that idea from that
10:01 I'm just perpetuate of tournament
10:03 or there's perpetuate-- I got you, that's not who I am.
10:06 I'm a God who forgives.
10:08 And our confidence in that forgiveness
10:11 that He promises to us is in the covenant that He's made with us,
10:17 the covenant is giving to us we respond to that covenant
10:20 and we live according to that covenant
10:22 and then we can be confident
10:24 in fact if you read down a little further
10:26 in Psalm 103 it says verse 17,
10:30 "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
10:32 to everlasting on those who fear Him,
10:34 and His righteousness to children's children,
10:37 to such who keep His covenant,
10:39 and to those who remember His commandments to do them."
10:42 So if I'm willingly disobeying God
10:47 and I'm asking for forgiveness for other things,
10:49 but I'm not giving up something else
10:52 that hurts my confidence level
10:55 and trust that God will respond to me according to His covenant
10:58 because I have not kept my part of the covenant
11:00 and I think you mentioned that. Yes.
11:02 It's very important for me to make sure that
11:04 I'm living in harmony with God's word
11:06 then my confidence I can sure, I can be--
11:10 I can have a strong faith that what I read what He promises,
11:13 He will do and that is to forgive me.
11:15 But just to live with known disobedience
11:19 and then pray and ask for forgiveness,
11:22 you can have a lot of confidence there
11:23 because first God asked us to obey Him, to follow Him.
11:27 Now there will be times where you make mistakes, you do sin,
11:30 but then get back on that road to obedience to God
11:34 and you can be confident that that sin that you've committed
11:36 will be forgiving you. That's right.
11:39 And we have to accept that fact
11:41 because the opposite side of that is
11:45 we become prisoners of our own,
11:48 I don't think or I think or I don't feel and I feel.
11:51 You have to lay that down and lean on the mercy of God.
11:54 If God said He is gonna forgive you and you confess your sins
11:57 and you acknowledge you are wrong before Him.
12:00 He will forgive you, cleanse you from all unrighteousness
12:04 and then restore to you as David talked about,
12:07 restore to me the joy of my salvation
12:10 and he would not take His Holy Spirit from you.
12:12 Praise God for that.
12:14 You know, we have another question here from a gentleman.
12:16 Anyone-- Anything else you want to add there, John?
12:18 No, that's good.
12:19 We have another question from a guy named Kenneth.
12:22 And I want to leave his last name out.
12:24 And this is a very good question.
12:26 He says, "I have a question about John 20:23.
12:29 I was listening to a speaker on 3ABN talking about
12:32 the identifying characteristics of the little horn--
12:35 Of little horn power of Daniel 7,
12:38 one of the characteristics is that
12:39 the little horn power would blasphemed,
12:42 the biblical definition of blasphemy
12:44 is found in the story of the paralytic.
12:47 Jesus tells the paralytic.
12:48 Your sins are forgiven, arise and walk.
12:50 Jesus is accused of blasphemy
12:53 because only God can forgive sins.
12:56 In John 20:23, Jesus tells the apostles
12:59 that they the right to forgive sins,
13:01 if the apostles can forgive sins why not a modern day priest?"
13:06 Beautiful illustration.
13:07 Thank you so much for that question.
13:09 What is missed here in the story between the--
13:14 Between the priests stepping in the place of God
13:17 and the apostles are establishing
13:19 the authority of the Church of God?
13:21 There is a different dichotomy here all together.
13:23 If that were the only particular passage
13:25 then we could say, wow.
13:27 Well, you know, God has really given the apostles,
13:31 the power that belongs only to Him.
13:34 But if you look further, the Lord was establishing
13:37 the authority of the church, the authority of the church.
13:40 And as pastor I've been in situations
13:43 where we've had to talk to people
13:44 about certain things they've done.
13:45 And we've had to extend to them leniency
13:49 not so much in that we have the right to--
13:53 I want to use this word in the-- In the improper sense.
13:56 Have the right to vindicate them because of this sin
13:59 or absolve as the word is used in certain faiths.
14:04 We don't have that ability to do so,
14:06 but we have had to deal with matters
14:09 where forgiveness of sin was necessary.
14:11 And we're now saying to them,
14:13 my child, I forgive you of your sin.
14:16 We're leading to the-- We're leading them
14:18 to acknowledge their forgiveness of sin
14:21 is what they need to seek.
14:23 And the difference between this passage
14:25 and the authority that is identified as the little horn,
14:29 the little horn is taking in,
14:31 usurping the power that belongs to God alone
14:34 and that is the power to forgive sin.
14:36 In other words, the Bible said John-- 1 John 1:9,
14:39 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful
14:42 and just to forgive us of our sins."
14:43 Now the confession here is not confessing
14:46 to the confession spoken on this,
14:48 confessing to God if we confess--
14:50 Or confessing to another as we have wrong one another.
14:53 But in the case of little horn, He is saying,
14:55 "Okay, you confess your sin to me
14:57 and I'll extend forgiveness to you."
14:59 Well, that's not what God has
15:00 established here for the apostles to do.
15:03 The Lord is simply saying to the apostles in the--
15:05 In the exercise of the authority of the church,
15:09 you'll have to speak and deal with various matters.
15:13 And one of those is leading people to understand
15:15 the importance of the forgiveness of sin
15:17 that's what this passage is talking about here
15:19 rather than-- rather than taking on for themselves.
15:24 The role of forgiving the sins
15:26 of all of those who maybe in their presence.
15:28 Secondly, what is bringing out even more directly is,
15:31 if somebody sins against you and you forgive them,
15:34 it's gonna be forgiven,
15:35 but if your retain it, it's gonna be retained.
15:37 He is speaking about the personal,
15:39 the personal insults and the personal attacks
15:43 that each of the apostles will have to deal with.
15:45 That's why if you read the text here says John 20:23,
15:50 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them
15:54 if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
15:57 He didn't say, "Go around forgiving people's sin
16:01 when they need to be confessing those sins before God."
16:04 And this is talking about personal attack on the apostles
16:06 and you may remember one of the illustrations
16:08 where the Lord talked about, the Lord talked about
16:11 they were going from city to city
16:12 and the people gonna be receive them.
16:14 He said, "Shake off the dust from your feet."
16:16 And in other words, that's gonna be
16:19 a symbol of judgment against those
16:21 who refused to receive you as apostles or disciples of Christ.
16:25 But He's not talking about this general booth setup where,
16:29 "Okay, guys have sins that you need to confess,
16:32 we're going to forgive them
16:34 and then take God out of the equation."
16:37 That's not what this is talking about here.
16:38 That's not what's been talked about here at all.
16:41 It's very much the personal dynamic relationships.
16:44 And we are ambassadors of Christ
16:46 in the ministry of reconciliation.
16:49 So if we're ministries of reconciliation
16:52 then we need to do all we can
16:53 especially in the forgiveness arena
16:55 to make sure that the barriers are removed
16:57 and when you forgive somebody else
16:59 who extend forgiveness to somebody else,
17:01 you're removing a barrier between you and them.
17:02 Right, that's what this is talking about.
17:04 That's an important thing, yeah.
17:05 Because Jesus made it very clear like in Matthew 9,
17:07 when He talked about the paralytic who couldn't walk,
17:09 He says, "Your sins are forgiven you."
17:12 You know, and then He said,
17:13 "Take up your bed and walk arise,
17:14 take up your bed and go to your home."
17:16 That was an exercise and the power
17:18 that only has the power and the authority to exercise.
17:21 But what He is saying to the disciples here is,
17:24 if anybody wrongs you and you forgive him,
17:26 I'll accept it, if you retain it I'll accept that
17:30 and that is on the authority of the church.
17:32 And He is speaking to men
17:33 who are being imbued by the Holy Spirit
17:35 that's what the verse prior to that is talking about.
17:38 The Holy Spirit is gonna be working through your lives
17:40 to carry out these functions in your life
17:44 as apostles dealing with large groups of individuals
17:48 as the New Testament Church is being established.
17:50 What else do you have for us, John?
17:52 I've got a question from-- Let's see.
17:57 Well, he doesn't actually give his name,
17:59 so I'll go ahead and just read the question here.
18:00 It's from Leviticus 10:1-5.
18:05 "Fire went out from the Lord and devoured Nadab and Abihu,
18:09 since the fire devoured them, what was left of them
18:13 for their brethren to pick up by their tunics
18:15 and remove from the sanctuary.
18:18 If God inspired it then I believe it,
18:19 it seems I'm missing a vital point here.
18:22 Will you please explain? Okay.
18:24 So I went through here and looked at this passage
18:26 and it says exactly as presented there.
18:30 "Nadab and Abihu were offering profane fire before the Lord."
18:34 It says in verse 9.
18:35 "Something the Lord did not command."
18:39 And it says in verse 2, "So fire went out from the Lord
18:42 and devoured them and they died before the Lord.
18:45 And Moses said to Aaron, what is the Lord--
18:49 This is what the Lord spoke, saying
18:52 'By those who come near me I must be regarded as holy.
18:55 And before all the people I must be glorified.'"
18:59 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan and sons of Uzziel--
19:05 The sons of Uzziel and the uncle of Aaron,
19:09 and said to them, "Come near, carry your brethren
19:12 from before the sanctuary out of the camp.
19:15 So they went near and carried them out
19:17 by their tunics from the camp, as Moses had said."
19:22 We read elsewhere when the fire
19:25 that comes from the Lord devourers people,
19:29 especially in the end, referring to the end.
19:30 Malachi Chapter 4 says that
19:34 it will leave them as ashes under our feet.
19:36 I believe that that's a pretty good
19:42 description of what would've happened here.
19:45 The only reason to mention the tunics
19:47 carrying them out by the tunics was
19:48 because what was left were the ashes of Nadab and Abihu.
19:53 There will be no reason if it was body themselves,
19:55 itself to be carried out by the tunic.
19:59 They're no need to do that, but because they were ashes
20:02 and they were devoured the tunic,
20:04 they were able to carry the ashes out from the sanctuary
20:07 and deposit them outside the camp.
20:11 Consumed or devoured does not me disappeared.
20:15 It's an important thing as well.
20:17 So it's not just they were suddenly vanished
20:19 or they were totally gone, but there were ashes remaining
20:23 that were evidence that they had
20:24 been devoured by the fire of the Lord
20:25 and it was those ashes that were carried out by these gentlemen.
20:32 Which the names I had a tough time pronounce.
20:34 Nadab and Abihu? No, no, no the other one.
20:37 Mishael and Elzaphan. Okay.
20:40 I'm so glad we use the names like John, Rick nowadays.
20:44 I know the names had a lot of meanings.
20:46 If your name was Elzaphan, I'd find some nickname for you.
20:49 El. El.
20:51 And not to be little
20:52 but the significance of those scripture names
20:54 because the names had so many
20:57 spiritual connotations connect to them
21:00 and that's why today, what's in your name.
21:04 Boy, that was huge in scriptural days.
21:06 One other question, Isaiah 45:7. What is this saying here?
21:11 This question comes from a person name Vince, all right?
21:17 And let me go ahead and answer this from Vince.
21:20 Let me go ahead and read the context of it
21:22 because you know, a lot of times we read a single scripture
21:24 and you could say a ton of things that is by itself
21:27 like the absent from the body, present with the Lord scripture.
21:30 You could read that by itself and you can insert in that
21:33 while the soul is absent from the body,
21:34 therefore the soul must be present with Lord.
21:37 But it didn't say anything to that affect at all,
21:39 nor does it even support that even.
21:41 It doesn't even support that ideology.
21:43 Let me go and read the context to you.
21:45 I'll read the text Isaiah 45:7
21:48 and then I'll go and read the context, all right?
21:51 "I form the light." Verse 7 of Isaiah 45.
21:55 "And create darkness. I make peace and create calamity
21:58 I the Lord do all these things."
22:02 Now when you look at the context God had chosen Cyrus.
22:09 If you look at verse 1,
22:10 "Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
22:16 whose right hand I have held."
22:18 Or King James says holden "To subdue nations before him,
22:23 to loose the armor of kings, to open before him
22:26 the double doors so that the gates will not be shut."
22:30 What God is talking about
22:31 is the arsenal He's using in behalf of Cyrus,
22:34 as Cyrus goes for concurring, as Cyrus goes forth in war,
22:38 as Cyrus goes forth to encounter the force of any other nation.
22:44 The Lord says, "I'll use calamity,
22:46 I'll use darkness, I'll use light,
22:48 I'll use anything that I need to use
22:50 in order for Cyrus to be victorious.
22:52 Thus the context of that.
22:55 But in fact, let me just even go outside of the context of that.
22:59 There are times when calamity does come.
23:02 And not all the time does calamity come
23:05 as a result of Satan's arm,
23:07 but sometimes God allows this calamity to come.
23:10 And you'll find the Lord talks about.
23:12 He says, "For those who ignore His law,
23:14 He will laugh at them when calamity comes
23:17 from the presence of the Lord." Yeah.
23:19 And the other thing to that always jumps out of me with
23:21 when it comes to disasters is this picture
23:24 that Paul paints of earth groaning. Right.
23:26 The earth groans and it moves
23:29 and it is really struggling to sustain itself
23:32 and disasters are truly natural in some cases. Right.
23:36 God can withhold those and keep those from happening,
23:38 but a lot of times He allows them to happen
23:40 and it's not necessary Satan who is doing them,
23:43 but the earth is groaning.
23:44 We are seeing more and more disasters.
23:46 This earth is falling apart. I mean, can you image?
23:48 Here we are at the time of the year
23:49 where it should be very much colder than it is now
23:53 and the weather is just heating up all over the place.
23:55 But does God have the ability to create calamity? Yes.
24:00 Can God create darkness? Yes.
24:02 Can He create light? Yes.
24:04 So when He says in verse 7,
24:06 "I the Lord do all these things."
24:08 He is simply displaying the fact that
24:10 because He is the Lord, He can do whatever He wants to do.
24:13 He can use any of these--
24:15 any of these attributes in His spiritual arsenal
24:19 and you find that for the sake of the children of Israel.
24:22 Let me use the example
24:23 when He led the Israelites out of the Land of Egypt.
24:26 How do you think He kept the Egyptians at bay?
24:29 He created a pillar of fire that was a wall
24:33 separating them continually from the destruction
24:35 that Egyptians wanted to bring to the Israelis.
24:39 They just could not get to the children of the Israel
24:41 'cause God created this wall of fire.
24:44 And also not only that God created calamity through the sea
24:48 the very sea that became a medium of deliverance
24:53 for the children of Egypt, for the children of Israel,
24:56 became a destructive force to the Egyptians.
25:00 Who created that calamity? God did.
25:02 But in whose behalf? In behalf of His people.
25:05 And so you find all the plagues that fell upon Egypt.
25:08 All of these were directed by the hand of God.
25:11 Was He able to create calamity in Egypt? Yes, he did.
25:14 Did he use darkness? Yes, he did.
25:16 Will he use darkness again in the seven last plagues?
25:18 Yes, he will.
25:19 So God is saying, "I have got the capacity and the ability
25:23 to create all these things, but in the story of Job,
25:27 there were not done by the Lord.
25:28 So you have to understand the context of it.
25:31 Is this in behalf of His people?
25:33 Is He protecting His people from an adversary
25:35 were something that could consume their lives.
25:37 If the answer is yes,
25:39 then God is the one creating these calamities.
25:43 Wisdom is very much needed, but when the insurance companies
25:46 blame everything on God, I don't support that.
25:49 Because we have a world
25:50 that's on a natural course of destruction
25:52 because of the presence of sin
25:54 and not everything that happens in our world
25:56 like earthquakes, disasters,
25:58 fire, floods and you go down the list.
26:00 These are not the instrument of God's hand
26:03 bringing torment and death and suffering to humanity.
26:07 But can God create calamity? Yes, He can.
26:11 Anything else for us, John? No, I don't think so.
26:14 All right. And we're ready for our topic.
26:15 Okay, Well, we're doing pretty good today.
26:18 Well, you know, friends, we may have opened a can of worms,
26:20 or we may have just stimulated a thought on your mind
26:23 or maybe have your own thought that you want to share with us.
26:25 If you'd like to do so, we have an email
26:27 send us questions or comments to housecalls@3abn.org
26:31 That's housecalls@3abn.org
26:35 And we thank you for all you do to support this program,
26:39 to keep this network on the air
26:41 and we surely do appreciate that from the bottom of our hearts.
26:45 John, take us into-- Take us into our topic today.
26:48 Try to get my throat clear. You know, there is a--
26:52 Yeah, flogs come up sometimes.
26:53 Yeah, sometimes they show up uninvited.
26:55 You know, we as a church
26:58 and pastors of the Seventh-Day Adventists Church had been doing
27:02 and engaging in a united effort for revival and reformation,
27:07 we believe that our church has arrived at a time,
27:10 we are living in a day where we need that spiritual revival
27:14 and the question always comes to those that hear that call,
27:19 the clearing calls for revival. What does that mean?
27:23 And we interpret it differently.
27:24 What does revival look like?
27:26 Well, I think it's important to go through and see scripturally
27:31 what a revival look like in the period of the early church
27:36 because this church went forth to conquer
27:39 victoriously in Christ by supporting the gospel.
27:42 They were inspired by the Holy Spirit
27:45 and engage in the work of Christ and His mission
27:51 giving specifically for the church.
27:53 We will experience that "Pentecost"
27:57 latter rain outpouring.
28:00 The Pentecost is the early rain,
28:01 but we will have a Pentecost type of experience
28:03 in the latter rain as it's poured out
28:04 to revive the church in the last days.
28:07 So I think it's good, maybe take a look at true revival.
28:10 What does it look like? What it look like then?
28:13 What can we expect here in the future?
28:15 And, John, I actually moved one of our things in our handout
28:20 they are down a little bit,
28:21 so maybe I'll iterate which one's
28:22 and you'll be able to follow on very easily.
28:25 But these are 12 characteristics then
28:28 of what true revival looks like.
28:30 I don't know, if we'll finish in one program,
28:32 we may a take a couple of programs
28:33 which will be just fine.
28:35 But let's dive right in. Okay, go for it.
28:37 All right. Here's number one.
28:39 The revival began in the church. Okay.
28:43 When God is about to bestow spiritual blessings upon people
28:47 specifically His people,
28:49 it is His usual method
28:50 first to awake them out of a spiritual sleep.
28:54 They recognize their spiritual need. Wow.
28:58 He begins with the church. This is where He goes.
29:01 There's not any isolated groups.
29:03 He starts with His people in His church
29:06 and He awakens them to a need.
29:09 And in response to that then He can begin to work. Wow.
29:15 And I think we see that clearly in the New Testament,
29:18 specifically The Book of Acts.
29:19 All right, you want to go to the Book of Acts.
29:22 I think it's kind of a good ground work
29:23 because Acts obviously is where Pentecost occurred.
29:28 And Jesus said to His disciples before He left them,
29:32 after His resurrection before He left
29:33 and went to His father He said,
29:35 specifically that He'd have come together
29:38 and they were to unify do other things.
29:40 And we'll cover these things in specific details,
29:43 but they were to come together as a church,
29:46 recognizing their need and depending upon Him
29:49 for spiritual revival. All right.
29:51 What text are you turning to there?
29:55 Well, let's see. Let's start with Chapter 1:4.
29:59 Okay. "And being assembled together with them,
30:03 He commanded, that is Jesus,
30:05 commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem,
30:07 but to wait for the Promise of the Father,
30:10 which, He said, 'you have heard from Me',
30:13 for John truly baptized with water,
30:14 but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
30:17 not many days from now.
30:19 Therefore, when they had come together,
30:21 they asked Him, saying,
30:22 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'
30:27 And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons
30:29 which the Father has put in His own authority.
30:32 But you shall receive power
30:34 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
30:36 and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
30:39 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"
30:43 Okay, so that revival primarily,
30:46 that began was a spiritual blessing.
30:50 You know, the disciples and the apostles
30:52 could not go into the work of God without having a power
30:56 and that power had to come out of the sin,
30:57 so the spiritual blessing that the Lord poured upon them.
31:02 I like that, It's usually His method to awaken His people.
31:06 I saw, I saw another passage here in Psalms 138.
31:10 Let's look at that, Psalm 138.
31:14 Okay, I'm turning there and here I am.
31:19 Okay, Psalms 138. And...
31:27 Let me see if that's the right one to that one.
31:29 Okay, here it is.
31:33 Okay, Psalms 143:11.
31:36 Actually that's the one I'm looking to, Psalms 143:11.
31:41 This is the one I'm actually looking at.
31:44 I like the two words that begins within the verse, verse 11.
31:48 Revive me. Notice what it says.
31:50 Revive me, Revive means wake me up.
31:53 "Revive me, O Lord, for Your name's sake.
31:56 For Your righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble."
32:01 David was using this here in the context
32:03 of delivering him from his enemies,
32:05 but what I want to use
32:06 in this particular passage is the revive part.
32:09 You know, we've talked about reformation.
32:11 You cannot have reformation unless you have revival.
32:15 So who is doing the reviling? Only the Lord does.
32:19 When we talk about The Parable of the Ten Virgins?
32:21 How many of them slept? They all slept.
32:24 So in order for God do a work in the church,
32:27 one of the first things he has to do is, wake up the church.
32:30 Revive me and then reform me,
32:34 get me back on track, strengthen me.
32:37 And whose names sake is that being done for?
32:40 For His name sake.
32:42 And that's at the request of the church corporate
32:44 that is come together recognizing
32:45 they have this need for spiritual revival.
32:48 You know, I think one thing that is
32:51 a powerful statement about revival and reformation
32:54 and the need for both hand in hand
32:57 is that revival without reformation.
32:59 In other words, a changed life,
33:01 a reordering restructuring of the life.
33:02 Revival without value brings nothing but fanaticism.
33:07 It's a shoot in the dark of firing off of the emotions
33:11 and trying to figure out how God's working.
33:14 But reformation without revival is nothing but cold formalism.
33:19 It's a dead faith.
33:21 It's a doing the works for the works themselves,
33:23 but it's relegated to a legalistic approach
33:26 to our faith in following God because we have to
33:29 or we have to follow these sets of guide lines.
33:32 In those cases, we need a revival of the spirits.
33:34 So revival of the heart, the spirit of God
33:37 poured out on us with a response of a changed life
33:40 and then reforms changes made in our lives in response to that
33:43 is what's needed together, they go hand in hand.
33:45 Okay and another one in David's writing, Psalms 139.
33:49 Psalms 119:37 he says, "Turn away my eyes
33:54 from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way."
33:59 Excuse me. One of things that we do often times is people that--
34:04 People that are wasting their time,
34:05 looking at worthless things.
34:07 Today, we could easily transit that
34:09 it's a televisions, it's movies and just a waste of time.
34:13 The Lord is in essence being beseeched by David.
34:17 He says, "Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things
34:21 and revive me in your way."
34:23 In other words, give my eyes a new focus,
34:25 give my eyes a new direction
34:27 that is so indicative of what God does.
34:30 And one of the needs of the church Laodicea is open my--
34:34 Anoint my eyes with eye salve
34:37 and I would need to say this fits so wonderfully
34:39 into the context of revival and reformation
34:41 because the question of the prayer
34:43 turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, really.
34:48 What's worthless in our generation?
34:49 There are so many worthless things in our generation
34:53 that gropes for our attention
34:56 that that cries out for our attention
34:58 and when we give them attention or when we give it attention,
35:02 we fail to be alive unto the things of God.
35:07 So David is saying turn them-- Turn my eyes away
35:09 from worthless things from looking at them
35:11 and revive me how in Your way. Psalms 119:37.
35:17 So the revival comes, there is a change
35:19 not only in the things we say and preach,
35:22 but in what we spend our time looking at.
35:25 And that's actually one of them coming up.
35:27 All right, go for it.
35:28 Well, no, when we get to that list,
35:30 I'm just saying that what you're saying
35:32 is very, very true about that.
35:33 In fact, it's identified here as one of the true revival elements
35:37 which is both their pursuits and appearances,
35:39 it's their lives, you can see the noticeable change in their--
35:43 in what their desires are.
35:44 I think a lot of reasons why people need revival is
35:46 because they are generally spending their times
35:49 on things that are not spiritually uplifting.
35:52 They're spending their time doing things that are just--
35:55 It saps their energies.
35:56 And let me also talk about the caffeine effect
35:59 and I'm not talking about diet here at all
36:00 nor am I literally talking about the actual caffeine itself.
36:04 But what happens is the world has this thing I call,
36:07 I call it the caffeine effect.
36:08 It pumps us up on this level of excitement
36:11 and drama and intensity
36:14 and it keeps us in that arena all the time,
36:16 looking for a new high.
36:18 When our eyes are focused on that new high
36:20 and then all of a sudden when it comes down
36:22 to studying the word of God which is just sitting here
36:26 asking us to spend quality quite time in the word of God
36:33 without all this drama, it gets to be--
36:36 Boring, yeah. Right.
36:38 So the world is killing off a person's desire
36:42 to even sit down and look into the word of God
36:44 and spend quality time focusing his or her eyes
36:48 where they would as the text says teach me to do your will.
36:52 But you got to study the word of God.
36:54 And if your eyes are focused on all those things are just,
36:57 oh, look what happened, who is next.
36:59 I'm giving you the starry look.
37:02 Then it becomes a laborious task
37:06 to sit down and study God's word.
37:07 And so that's why today, John, I think one of the challenges
37:10 the church has in general is reason why Bible studies,
37:14 the desire to have Bible studies.
37:16 The desire to show up
37:18 and have cooperate studies together is dying out
37:21 because we have been trilled by a world
37:23 that's taking sapping all of our energies
37:26 except leading us into the things
37:27 that God wants us to pay our attention to.
37:30 Very, very, true. You know, it's just--
37:32 Let's look at number two here. All right.
37:34 Nothing was said about dreams and visions,
37:38 hearing voices or seeing signs
37:41 at least as the evidence of revival.
37:44 No extravagance, either in gestures or outcries appeared,
37:47 no wild enthusiasm intended the revival. Yeah.
37:51 It was not just-- It was not bedlam of noise in other words.
37:54 No, it wasn't an emotionally driven charged thing.
37:57 It wasn't based on feelings.
37:59 It was based on the knowledge of the presence of God
38:02 and what was happening in the life to change the life.
38:06 1 Peter 2:1-3, let's take a look at 1 Peter 2:1-3.
38:16 Okay, let's do that. All right.
38:19 1 Peter 2:1-3, read that for us.
38:22 Oh, yeah, that's a beautiful one.
38:24 This is really-- This is a wonderful text
38:28 indicating what happens when rival is taking place in lives.
38:32 Go ahead and read that one.
38:34 "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit,
38:36 hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
38:38 as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word
38:43 that you may grow thereby,
38:45 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
38:49 If indeed, that's right.
38:51 So what's happening here in revival?
38:52 What happens people get together
38:54 and begin to pour out their hearts before God
38:56 and what gets laid side?
38:58 Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, all evil speaking.
39:06 It is not possible for a church to seek revival
39:10 without seeking to put away these things in their lives.
39:13 You know, all of a sudden the new birth
39:14 is a fresh anointing from the Lord
39:17 and then these babies that are coming back
39:19 into the realization of how beautiful it is
39:21 to be in the presence of God, their desires change,
39:24 they begin to desire now the pure milk of the word
39:28 that now there's gonna be some growth
39:31 because they have now realized that God is gracious.
39:35 So when you talk about this,
39:37 I like the point that John is making here
39:39 is the key element of the strength
39:43 of the New Testament Church was
39:44 that they studied the word of God
39:46 and they prayed for all these things to be laid aside
39:49 that's how they were able to in one accord
39:51 when the Day of Pentecost came.
39:53 Absolutely, good. Okay.
39:56 All right, number three,
39:58 it began with an emphasis on the grace of God
40:01 and bestowed, as bestowed by the work by the Holy Spirit.
40:05 Now, John, this is an important piece of this
40:08 because when we use the word grace,
40:10 sometimes we don't understand the fullness of what that means.
40:16 All right.
40:17 And over the last few years,
40:20 about the last two and a half, three years,
40:23 I have began to share a different definition of grace
40:26 'cause typically when you say, well, what is grace,
40:28 what is the response you here?
40:29 Unmerited favor. Unmerited favor, okay.
40:32 And that's a good definition,
40:33 but it doesn't expand really much,
40:35 doesn't give a picture of God's grace.
40:37 It kind of gives it a pretty straight just a pure definition.
40:41 But here is-- Here is my definition of grace.
40:44 I felt the Lord really impress me with this
40:46 I was studying this topic.
40:48 Anytime God reaches down to something for us
40:52 that we cannot do for ourselves that's grace.
40:55 Okay, all right, I like that.
40:58 Whether it's to save us, whether it's to help us,
41:03 to protect us, to strengthen us, to empower us--
41:08 Anything He does to reach down to do something for us,
41:11 we can't do for ourselves, that's God's grace. All right.
41:15 And so this expands grace from just a realm of saving us.
41:20 Justification to sanctify and working to grow us
41:26 in every area of our life, it's all because of God's grace.
41:30 He does something for us, we cannot do for ourselves.
41:34 And so the emphasis in revival on grace is,
41:38 it brings about other complete dependence upon God
41:42 for the change that we want to take place.
41:45 Well, I could support that in the God's grace truly.
41:49 First of all, I want to go back
41:50 to the unmerited favor aspect of it
41:53 because we really don't deserve it,
41:55 but because of God's grace.
41:57 He is gracious, longsuffering toward us.
42:01 Because of His grace He sees our need
42:04 before we even realize the depth of our need.
42:07 He sees where we are before we realize
42:09 or even where He wants us to be
42:11 and then that grace begins to activate in our lives,
42:15 the power that sometimes we don't really have
42:17 an experience of with this power knowing that
42:21 it could change our hearts and change our lives.
42:23 And the way that Paul says this in the Book of Titus.
42:27 "This is for the grace of God
42:29 that brings salvation has appeared to all men."
42:32 What is that grace do as John was saying just a moment ago.
42:35 It does for us the things that we will not naturally do.
42:38 Teaching us, He teaches us. What does He teach us to do?
42:42 "To denying ungodliness and worldly lusts
42:46 that we should live soberly, righteously
42:49 and godly in this present age."
42:51 What passage is that?
42:52 This is Titus 2:11 down to verse 13.
42:59 So when you look at the grace of God, what is it do?
43:02 You know, it teaches us.
43:04 Not only does it bring salvation,
43:05 but it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts
43:09 and live soberly, righteously and godly.
43:12 And that is revival that brings these things back to context
43:15 because there's some people-- and this always troubles me
43:17 when I think about statements, some people say,
43:20 "Well, we'll be sinning till Jesus comes."
43:23 And it almost leads this hopeless,
43:28 it leaves us hopeless table there.
43:30 I like this table of-- is my table going to be dirty
43:32 every time guest come over to have dinner with us?
43:35 Is our hearts and live gonna be dirty
43:37 every time you go before the Lord?
43:39 Are we gonna be hopelessly bound by the chains of sin?
43:42 Is they're not gonna be any change in our direction.
43:45 This shows us what grace really does.
43:48 You know, it can make a serious change in your life.
43:52 You may sin by your motive
43:55 and your desire is always to not sin.
43:58 Right. You may stumble it.
44:00 You may stumble or you may fall through,
44:03 but you're not practicing sin, that's where this is--
44:06 When it says teaching us that denying.
44:11 Got to deny ourselves.
44:12 The Lord told His disciples, "Deny yourselves everyday,
44:16 deny yourself because if you don't,
44:19 godliness and lusts will have a constant battle
44:23 if you don't deny yourself."
44:25 That's what that cross
44:26 in the Christian life really is all about.
44:28 So the other one is that's a very important point, denying.
44:33 You know, as we're taking about this stuff,
44:35 I'm adding a few things more to this list
44:38 because I think there is so much in scripture on what the--
44:43 The New, the early church,
44:44 this fledgling church that God established,
44:47 what it went through as the Holy Spirit
44:49 came down upon the people
44:50 and revived them not just your Pentecost,
44:53 but even going forward that empowered them to do this work.
44:56 We want this in our churches today.
44:58 We want our people to experience it.
45:00 So it's good to go back
45:01 and look at what was happening in their days well.
45:04 Are we down to them five? Let's see.
45:08 No, this on here is one of the last changes
45:11 I made in moving order here.
45:13 Number four is, it was the work of God,
45:16 there was a mark change in the lives of the people
45:19 both their pursuits and appearances.
45:21 And I just added this because of your comment.
45:24 They began to practice righteousness,
45:27 that's first, John, okay. Okay.
45:29 So their pursuits, their desires and things,
45:32 they didn't out things in front of their eyes
45:33 that would draw them away from God,
45:35 they put things in front,
45:36 they fed off of the things that were righteous and holy
45:39 that was what marked their life as revival king.
45:45 That's important, John, because I want you to share
45:49 that text with me again, which one is you add to that?
45:52 The practicing righteousness, 1 John, I believe chapter 3.
45:56 While you're turning there, the one that I added to that
45:58 was in Psalm 139:23 and 24.
46:02 You know, it was the work of God,
46:04 there was a mark change in the lives of the people
46:07 both their pursuits and appearances.
46:09 Now, how could that change happen?
46:11 This is the way that I see it happening,
46:12 David, when he prayed the pray.
46:14 And he is I tell you by far
46:17 one of my favorite Bible characters,
46:19 one of my favorite Bible personalities
46:21 because David in order for the change to come,
46:24 he used these two words, "Search me."
46:27 He said, "Search me."
46:29 Now, I tell you If anybody could thoroughly search you, God can.
46:36 But not your pockets and to see if you have any contraband,
46:39 but he said, "Search me, O God,
46:42 and know my heart, try me
46:46 and know my anxieties or my thoughts,
46:49 and see if there is any wicked way in me,
46:52 and lead me in the way everlasting."
46:55 So David was asking God here
46:57 for the marked changed to be manifested in his life,
47:00 both in pursuits and appearances,
47:02 God starts searching His church,
47:04 He starts, the eyes of the Lord, go to and fro on the earth.
47:09 And that's what he talked about in the book of Revelation.
47:11 Zachariah talks about that.
47:13 "The eyes of the Lord are going to and fro on the earth,
47:15 the lamb with seven eyes."
47:17 It's talking about the searching ability of God,
47:20 looking into the lives of his people,
47:22 seeing where they are and seeing where they need to be.
47:25 He changes their pursuit as well as those things
47:28 that appeared before him that are not acceptable.
47:31 Amen. All right.
47:32 What do you have for the next one
47:33 or do you have anymore?
47:34 No, number 4-- No, number 5.
47:36 Okay. Prayer becomes precious.
47:40 There was a commitment to corporate prayer.
47:43 Now there is a lot on this.
47:46 And I think one of the places to go is Acts Chapter 2
47:50 and so we all part of that and of course,
47:52 if you can have some other things there as well.
47:54 I have another one. So as I'm turning here.
47:59 Prayer. Who doesn't need prayer?
48:02 For those of us who just use prayer
48:04 for our dinner, our breakfast, our lunch
48:06 or just when we wake up in the morning,
48:07 which one of us doesn't need prayer.
48:09 Prayer is one of those things that you can't rush through.
48:14 Sometimes, when I get held up for meeting
48:17 and I arrive at the meeting a few minutes late,
48:21 the reason is I was on the phone.
48:25 But when it comes to time praying for God,
48:27 you've got to put your phone time with God aside
48:30 so that nothing else interrupts that time.
48:33 You got to put your prayer time aside with God
48:37 so you can sit down and really talk to the Lord
48:40 then after you speak to the Lord,
48:42 you beseech Him and wait for Him to impress upon you,
48:46 His will and His way and His desire
48:48 to guide you to make a difference in your life.
48:51 The text that you're gonna read is in Acts 2?
48:54 Actually it's Acts 1. All right, Acts 1.
48:56 Which one is it? Acts 1:14.
48:58 All right.
49:00 And it says, just the first part of this especially.
49:02 These all, speaking of the disciples, the apostles.
49:06 "These all continued with one accord
49:10 in prayer and supplication."
49:14 So in response to Jesus saying come together, what do they do?
49:18 They came together to pray.
49:20 Matter of fact, that's what the Day of Pentecost,
49:22 that's what they did in preparation
49:23 for the Day of Pentecost, they prayed.
49:24 That's right. They got together and prayed.
49:26 Now I have taken a different approach to that
49:30 which is in harmony with that.
49:32 I've gone to the favorite passage for prayer,
49:36 2 Chronicles 7:14. 2 Chronicles 7:14.
49:40 You remember Jesus also indicted Pharisees
49:43 and the religious leaders of his day,
49:45 he said, "My house shall be called
49:47 a house of prayer for all people,
49:49 but you've made it a den of thieves."
49:51 Prayer is so significant
49:53 in the strength and direction of a church.
49:56 2 Chronicles 7 and I start with verse 12.
49:59 "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night
50:01 and said to him, 'I have heard your prayer
50:06 and I have chosen this place for myself
50:09 as a house of sacrifice.'"
50:13 Notice what he says and this is the context of it.
50:16 That's why I'm reading the verses before that.
50:18 "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain,
50:22 or command locusts to devour the land
50:25 or send pestilence among my people."
50:27 Talking about God sending calamity now.
50:30 So he is saying, "If I disapprove of the way
50:33 that my people are living these things I am going to do,
50:36 but what should your response be
50:38 when you see these calamites coming?"
50:40 John, read verse 14 for us.
50:42 "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves,
50:46 and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
50:50 then I will hear from heaven
50:51 and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
50:55 If you keep going, you'll find
50:56 that the word My continually shows up.
51:00 I could say the word My in verse 15.
51:03 My, my, 16. My, my, my 17, 18, 19, 20.
51:09 Always continually, my commandment,
51:12 my judgment, my statues, my heart, my name,
51:15 my eyes, my lamb, my site.
51:18 The Lord is an essence saying, I am the one that--
51:20 I am one that assessing the inventory of my people.
51:24 And what they need more than anything else.
51:26 That word if is a huge word because if is the bridge
51:32 that keeps me on this side of failure
51:34 or on this side of success.
51:37 If, and so many people that--
51:39 Two letters, but big, big words.
51:43 I mean, it makes the difference between
51:45 a person who is willing to humble himself
51:47 or willing to humble herself
51:50 or if my people will humble themselves,
51:52 if my people will do this, then here's what I will do.
51:55 So now, John, asking a question.
51:57 The burden of action is on the side of the people,
52:02 but God promises, there's that covenant again.
52:04 I've made a covenant, this is what I am going to do,
52:07 if you're willing to do that.
52:11 Formally working in the insurance industry,
52:14 they have in policies, homeowner's policies,
52:17 other policies, various things, conditions. Causes.
52:22 Well, no, specifically conditions.
52:23 It says conditions of this contract. Okay.
52:28 But if you do this, we will do this.
52:31 And you need to meet those conditions
52:33 before the policy itself will be engage or kick into affect.
52:39 If you don't meet those conditions,
52:41 it won't happen, they won't do their piece.
52:43 And God is essentially with the word If,
52:45 He is putting in a condition there.
52:47 This is conditional, if you pray, seek my face,
52:51 humble yourselves and seek my face, I will respond.
52:54 Right.
52:56 And part of prayer isn't just the words,
53:00 it's the act of humbleness
53:02 and it's the act of turning from our wicked ways,
53:05 it's the act of warning what God has to provide,
53:08 not warning what we want in our prayers that causes Jesus,
53:13 the Lord to respond to us
53:15 and to pour out his blessing upon us.
53:17 Because God wants to bless us,
53:18 but He doesn't do so arbitrarily.
53:20 God blesses us always on conditions.
53:22 Let me turn to another If,
53:24 all the way in the New Testament,
53:25 1 John Chapter 5. 1 John Chapter 5.
53:29 That I like to read verse 14 and verse 15.
53:33 1 John 5:14 and 15.
53:37 And pay particular attention to the word, If, all right.
53:42 notice what it says in verse 14.
53:43 "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,
53:47 that if we ask anything according to His will,
53:52 He hears us and if we know that He hears us,
53:57 whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions
53:59 that we have asked of Him."
54:01 See, what's the condition here? Asking according to His will.
54:06 If you do that, here's what I'm willing to do.
54:10 God makes the covenant on the condition
54:12 that we follow His prescribed method of beseeching Him
54:18 or coming into oneness with Him.
54:19 If we do that, I will do this.
54:22 And there is another piece to this too with prayer.
54:25 It's not just individual prayer, it's corporate prayer,
54:29 it's coming together to prayer.
54:31 The evidence is throughout scripture
54:34 that corporate prayer does things
54:36 that individual prayers won't do.
54:40 God response in a way for His people
54:42 to corporate prayer that He will not do
54:46 when we're just praying individually.
54:49 And I believe that it's time that we,
54:52 if we want revival as a church, as a people,
54:55 we need to come together and pray. That's right.
54:59 And seek God's face and spend time together in united prayer.
55:02 And I tell you as a pastor,
55:04 this is one of the most challenging things to do.
55:06 To get the people out, outside of our
55:10 normal worship services there for the week,
55:13 to get people to come out and to pray together.
55:15 When you say we're gonna have
55:17 a prayer service coming up on Wednesday night,
55:21 you get five or six people that show up.
55:24 To me, everybody needs to show up.
55:27 It's like the guy that-- the pastor that--
55:30 was in the middle of a town
55:31 and they hadn't had rain for a long time.
55:34 There's a lot of spiritual analogies to this.
55:36 Hadn't had a rain for very long time
55:38 and they were desperate for rain.
55:41 And he said to the towns' people that we're part of this church.
55:43 He said, I want you to come out
55:44 on Wednesday night and we're gonna pray.
55:48 We're gonna pray for rain, and many, many came out.
55:53 And as he looked out he said, "I think we're in trouble."
55:58 People said, "Well, we know we're in trouble."
56:00 But he said, "No."
56:01 He says, "We're in trouble because I look around
56:03 I don't see many umbrellas here."
56:07 Anyway, that's a kind of a thing about faith and trust in God,
56:10 but coming together to pray is what God wants us to do
56:14 and it moves upon His heart to do for His people corporately
56:18 and it's a very important thing.
56:19 Yeah, we take it very lightly I think as a church many times.
56:21 What I'm getting out of that analogy
56:23 is that you just used was I saw it in a different way
56:26 where a little boy showed up with an umbrella
56:28 and he asked the adults, "Where is your faith?"
56:30 You know, if you believe God
56:32 according to His promise and His covenant He has made,
56:35 we have to have some external evidence
56:37 that we believe that God has made a covenant
56:40 and God will promise and honor that covenant.
56:42 If you're praying for rain, man, at least get an umbrella.
56:46 Show up with some evidence
56:47 that you truly trust and believe the will of God.
56:49 Show up with some evidence that
56:51 you believe in the power and the advocacy of prayer.
56:56 That's right, we'll move upon the heart of God,
56:59 not to make Him do something He doesn't want to do.
57:02 That's not what prayer is about.
57:03 Prayer changes us and builds confidence in us.
57:06 Faith in us to trust Him at His word
57:07 that He will do according to what He says.
57:10 I was in Arizona and I was-- We were coming down
57:12 on a big, big, big mountain there
57:14 I mean, it was like, thousand of feet up
57:15 and I thought, I love to take a ride on the outside
57:19 'cause there was one person up there
57:20 and I said to see the world in a way that God sees it finally.
57:23 Well, friends, you know,
57:24 God is gonna make a house call on your life.
57:26 And if you are a praying person and trust in God,
57:29 you will meet the Lord in peace.
57:31 Make that decision today. God bless you.


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Revised 2014-12-17