THE CHURCH’S GREATEST POWER: PRAYER
Jim Cymbala, Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle, Brooklyn, New York and author of several books wrote in his book, Fresh Power:
“The world we live in is, of course, antagonistic to our beliefs about Jesus Christ. Our Christian values are rejected out of hand. But instead of engaging this world and proclaiming the gospel of God’s love with an accompanying manifestation of God’s power, as we find in the Bible, the church is REACTING in one of three ways:
1. Running away from the world, circling our wagons, and saying
“Isn’t it horrible the way people are living out there?” While it
may be true that the world is careening out of moral control, this
misses the point concerning OUR calling to be salt and light.
2. Making harsh and condemning statements about the world and its
people, forgetting that they are not our enemy but rather our
mission field. This kind of attitude has formed a whole Christian
industry, with radio commentators, editorial writers and others
relentlessly attacking and analyzing sinners in both high and low
places. But this is NOT the task of Christians; as Paul (an apostle
no less) clearly wrote, “What business is it of mine to judge those
outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will
judge the outside.” (I Corinthians 5:12-13) Our job is not to
castigate unbelievers but rather to humbly look within our own
ranks to see if we church people are actually living out the
Christian life as God intended.
3. Letting the world “evangelize” US without our realizing it.
Instead of being a holy, powerful remnant that is consecrated and
available to God (in the New Testament sense of those words), the
world’s value system has invaded the church so that there’s almost
no distinction between the two.
For all the strategic planning, envisioning, goal-setting, slogan forming, calendaring churches and church leaders have done, there often seems to be a very key element missing. But before I talk about that key element, let me make some further statements. This church is not my church or your church. This is God’s Church. He is our vision-setter. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and we are His body. Jesus has already given us His vision and mission statement for His church...what it is supposed to be, how it is supposed to function, what its goals are to be and what power will undergird that work. If we hold any other vision apart from that, we are arrogant and doomed to ultimate failure.
Think with me a moment: When Jesus established His church, did He immediately sent them out after giving them His Great Commission? No, what did He have them do?
Acts 1:4-14 (NKJV)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey.
13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
He told them that AFTER they received power when the Holy Spirit had come upon them, they would be witnesses. So what did they do? They continued in one accord in prayer and supplication. They prayed. They prayed and the they prayed until Pentecost. And when the Holy Spirit came upon them, amazing and miraculous things began to happen.
We Baptists believe that we receive the Holy Spirit when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I believe that and I teach that. However, one of the very obvious things missing in today’s church is power and boldness...the very things that were present when the Holy Spirit came. Are things so different today that we don’t need power and boldness. I tell you that the church is weak and often ineffective. So, is the Holy Spirit missing, or is He crippled, or is the problem something else?
I believe that the reason power and boldness is missing in the church is because our greatest power, apart from God’s Holy Spirit, is PRAYER. Now some would argue that what the church needs is better theological education and biblical understanding. While I would certainly agree that biblical and theological understanding have great benefit for serving the Lord, I can no longer agree it will provide us power. Some would argue that what the church needs is better organizational structure and strategy. I have been down this road for a couple of decades. While I agree good planning and organization are valuable, I cannot agree this will provide us power. Others would argue that what the church needs is more upbeat and lively worship. While I would agree that our worship should be alive (and believe me I have been in some dead worship services), I cannot agree that one form of worship over another will empower us.
We Christians complain and blame the church’s spiritual condition on so many things: new age thinking, the influence of corrupted media, poor family values, liberal education and thinking, socialism, materialism, and the list goes on. Yet we need to be reminded that the world environment has ALWAYS been difficult for the gospel. Look at what the early church faced in Acts: the hostility of Judaism, the paganism and persecution of Rome, the influence and corruption of Greek and Roman philosophy, the immorality encouraged by such a pagan society. In spite of it all, the early church expanded with power from God and accomplished tremendous and lasting ministry, instead of just sitting around complaining about their challenges. So should we not ask ourselves why we don’t have that same power today?
In the book of Acts there are 30 references to prayer, most in reference to it being a regular and primary activity of the early church. We don’t see references to training seminars, structured worship services, large church complexes with the latest coffee and pastry houses, newest technology, most comfortable seating in order to reach and satisfy the wants of the public. Instead you find people seeking answers from God, strength from God, encouragement from God, direction from God. And they did so through prayer.
How important is prayer to us? Suggest that we have a prayer meeting and how many will show up? How many will complain if it goes too long? How many have no interest in spending so much time praying? We want action. We want to get with it. But we really don’t need to wait on God...we already have the answers, the resources and the will to git ‘er done...unless something more important has priority. Yet look at our results.
James 4:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Jim Cymbala makes this strong, but accurate, statement: It is not enough to teach and preach about (God). We must experience (the Holy Spirit) personally in new depths, or we will accomplish little. Without the Holy Spirit there is no quickening of the Scripture. Worship is hollow. Preaching is mechanical, never piercing the heart. Conviction of sin is almost nonexistent. Faith is more mental than heartfelt. Prayer meetings fade away. Church meetings become routine. And Christian people stay lukewarm at best.
Overall, the present American church is about three generations removed from the last great awakening when the church influenced individuals, families, businesses, schools, communities, and governments. In fact, there has never been a massive spiritual awakening until churches first returned to God in powerful corporate prayer. In those times of spiritual awakening the churches had a deep belief that intense corporate prayer was essential to experience God’s power in revival and evangelism. The method or format for such prayer was not the key, but simply coming together to seek for a powerful, relational encounter with God Himself. Our great-grandparents churches were experienced at meeting God in powerful prayer meetings. They came expecting to encounter God and stayed at it until they did. They exhibited intense spiritual hunger and a deep desperation to seek God’s face in prayer.
2 Chronicles 7:14-15 (NKJV)
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
If Jesus is the head of the Church (and He is), if the Holy Spirit is the power of the Church (and He is), and if God has demonstrated time and again that He hears and responds to the prayers of His people (and He does), then why should it be so difficult to find people committed to prayer? Are we desperate enough about our nation and our world’s moral collapse? Do we really believe that those without Christ as their Savior will go to hell? Are all the other things that have our attention in our daily lives so important that we must limit God in our schedule? How serious are we about Going Forth and Making Disciples?
What will it take for us as a church to come to the place where we gather together and cry out like that pastor in Dallas: “God, I’m not going to let go of You until You burst from the heavens and come down!”
Chatham, Illinois and the surrounding region need the gospel, but many do not yet realize it. By the power of God’s Holy Spirit their souls can be convicted of their need and our souls can be emboldened by His presence. We have a prayer gathering at 8:30 AM on Sunday mornings. We have a prayer gathering at 6:30 on Wednesday evenings. We are going to schedule some corporate prayer gatherings in the next several weeks. Will you pray to God and ask Him to remove the indifference, the lack of zeal, the barriers that stand in the way of becoming a congregation of prayer? Will you ask God to teach you how to pray?
“Lord God, get hold of us so that we desire to hold on to You.”
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THE CHURCH’S GREATEST SIN: NOT TRUSTING GOD
Were you asked the question: “What is the greatest sin of the church?”, how would you answer it. Holding too much to tradition? Conformity? Focusing on numbers? Materialism? Immorality? Shallow doctrine? Bigotry? Intolerance? Liberalism? Fundamentalism?
I suspect that the answers would be many and would often contradict one another. Why? When the definition of and expectation toward the church is not founded upon Christ’s definition and expectation it produces confusion and disunity.
Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;
5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
If we continue reading through Acts, after the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, we find Peter and John used of God to heal a lame man and then Peter preaching a sermon about repentance and trusting in Christ on Solomon’s portico at the Temple. They are taken into custody by officials of the Temple and some Sadducees and the next day speak to the Jewish leadership.
Acts 4:5-21 (NKJV)
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,
6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16 saying, "What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name."
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.
Now let’s take a look at the church of today. We are told we need to become “user-friendly” so that non-believers (lost people) can attend our meetings and not be turned off. By that it is meant they should not be offended or feel out of place. In other words, they should not feel conviction about sin or about the need for Christ from what goes on in our church. We are told to ‘tone down’ or dilute our message so that we don’t scare people off. We are told it is much more important to relate to everyone and make everyone feel good rather than preach God’s Word and speak God’s Word as it really is. Instead we should find ways to nurture them spiritually and offer them encouragement and peace. With such methods there are increases of attendance in such churches, but, interestingly, we are not seeing a great movement of God’s Spirit in the church. The church is in decline and many of its members are indistinguishable from the rest of the world.
Where I come from we call such an approach “entertainment”. In the entertainment industry you provide the people with what gets there attention and provides stimulation for their emotions. Nowhere in Acts, where the power of God is displayed in His church do you find such an approach. As a matter of fact, the church was bold with God’s truth and did not give in to the demands of the desires of the public, often being persecuted by the status quo.
Listen to Paul’s advice to Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:2-5 (NKJV)
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Now, why is it that Paul would give such a warning to Timothy? Paul had already seen the tendency of people to be selective about the truth they like and the truth they don’t like. He knew full well that if the leaders of the church did not hold fast to God’s truth, the power and the effectiveness of the church would wane.
Look at most church’s today. Does Verse 3 not describe much of modern day Christianity? Paul’s instruction in many churches today would be rejected as insensitive, offensive, bigoted, and intolerant. So then, what is the greatest sin of the church?
The greatest sin of the church is NOT TRUSTING GOD. The evidence is in our actions or the lack thereof. We will build and maintain buildings, we will give our money and even our time to benevolent causes, we will attend inspirational gatherings, whether they be self-improvement meetings or events we call worship. But how long has it been since we saw God do some things that ONLY His power could have accomplished? Have you ever seen or been a part of God doing something as is described in the Acts? I would suggest that we really don’t believe God does such things anymore.
We should be praying the prayer of Isaiah:
Isaiah 64:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence--
2 As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil-- To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, The mountains shook at Your presence.
4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
Jim Cymbala made this statement about this passage:
“(Perhaps) we have not done what (verse 4) suggests, (wait for God) as they did in the Upper Room. The Christian life, like the life of Jesus on earth, is a combination of waiting and activity, of prayer and service. Jesus spent time alone with the Father in solitary places and then went forth in POWER to face incredibly busy days of ministry to needy people. Likewise, we must balance all our activities FOR Him with time spent WITH Him, waiting in expectant prayer and worship. We must avoid the idea that well-intentioned Christian service and doing things for God will ever amount to much without fresh infillings of the Spirit’s power.
Admittedly, we must also beware of the opposite: a pseudospiritual life of spending time alone with God without ever getting out among the people and laboring with all our strength to bring them the gospel. Consider the proper biblical balance of human effort and dependence upon the Spirit’s power: “To this end I LABOR; struggling with all HIS ENERGY, which so powerfully works IN ME.” (Colossians 1:29).
If we are to be the church that Jesus established, it will require us to trust God and trust His word. We must seek God and pray that His Holy Spirit would fill us. We must seek God and ask His Holy Spirit to reveal our sin and the strongholds that keep us weak and ineffective for His kingdom’s work. We must trust God and let Him fill us with boldness and power to proclaim His truth into a world that is hostile and resistant to His truth. We must trust God that when He says “The fields are white unto harvest” He will also reap that harvest using His faithful laborers. We must trust God that when He commissioned His church to go forth and make disciples and said “Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age”, He meant just what He said and to do anything less or anything else is disobedience.
By the leadership of God’s Holy Spirit, I am calling upon this congregation this morning to come to this altar in prayer and repentance for our not trusting God. I am calling upon this congregation to ask God to reveal and tear down strongholds in our lives that hinder the Spirit’s in-filling. I am calling upon this congregation to plead with God to fill us with His Spirit and empower us to go forth and make disciples.
This cannot happen if you have never repented of your sin and commit your life to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This cannot happen if you are not yielded in obedience to God and are committed to His church. This cannot happen if you are holding back anything in your life from His control.
From whatever point you must begin, join me in making a commitment of trust in God this morning.
THE CHURCH’S GREATEST NEED:
HUMBLE OBEDIENCE BEFORE GOD
January 26, 2014
John was a farmer. Mary was from town. They met at a community gathering. John and Mary dated for about a year and decided that they should marry. Immediately after they were married, John returned to his farming with a new joy and motivation. He had a new bride to share his life and care for. He anticipated a life of shared hopes, dreams, plans and achievements. Mary, on the other hand, was enthralled with the idea of having the best marriage possible. She enrolled in the Junior Women’s League’s training course for new brides, Being A Proverbs 31 Wife, that met two evenings each week for a year. She also enrolled in the County Extension training program, How To Become The Wife of Your Husband’s Dreams Cooking Club, that met every Saturday afternoon. Later in the year, she joined a sewing club, Stitching Sisters, that met one evening a week, so she could develop a skill for making her husband’s clothes.
About nine months into the marriage, Mary began to realize that John had become somewhat quiet and that he didn’t seem as happy as when they were dating and were first married. It wasn’t that he was angry toward her or that he ignored her...he just seemed...well, distant. Having learned in one of her courses that it was a good thing to communicate, she fixed a special dinner one evening and after dessert, led John to the den and sat him down. She said, “John, I want to be the best wife to you possible. I have been learning a lot of things about being married and I believe it is important for us to communicate. Now, I have learned how to cook, how to sew and how to do the things that a wife is supposed to do in a marriage. Yet you don’t seem to be happy with me. I am doing everything I can to have a good marriage and it seems you are responding less and less. So, tonight we are going to communicate and get with the program. Now tell me, what’s wrong with you!”
John smiled and placed his hands on Mary’s hands and looked her in the eyes. He said, “Mary, I love you so much and I want so much to share my life with you. But Mary, I am not so sure you are in love with me. You are fixated on having a storybook marriage. You are studying, training, learning, and going to classes. But the one thing you are not focusing on is spending time with me. You don’t really have any idea what I want because you never listen. When we do talk, you’re telling me what your classes say. You have gained a lot of knowledge, but what we lack is a relationship. The very thing I want most from you is to be with you, to share my life with you, to know your love and for you to know mine. Communication is spending time with one another and getting to know one another. You can’t learn that in classes. You can’t make that happen when you are away from me so often. If you really want to have a storybook marriage, you have to have a close relationship with your husband. That takes spending time with him. Mary, I don’t want a wife who knows everything about marriage. I want a wife who is totally in love with me and wants to be with me.”
As Southern Baptists we have had some of the best and most well-developed programs for the last seventy years. Our boards and commissions have produced biblically sound strategies that can get the gospel to the lost and disciple believers in some of the most essential Christian disciplines. As a matter of fact, we have busied ourselves with such things to the point that we have convinced ourselves that such programs are the key to empowering the church. One would expect with all of these resources, some of which have been refined and fine-tuned, that we would have been experiencing a tremendous surge in evangelism and profound discipleship and thus church growth and expansion. However, the statistics don’t indicate that.
In fact, what we find is less and less interest in such methodology and more and more questioning about what the church is doing. As our society spirals off in so many directions that are hostile to the church and Christianity, we are reactive instead of proactive. Many Christians are reacting in fear and see their need as retreating from our society and isolating themselves and their families to their own form of holiness, waiting for Jesus to come. Within the ranks of Christianity some feel that the primary need to is to correct doctrine that they believe is erroneous, becoming doctrine police, so that their primary focus is insuring those in error are revealed and promptly labeled. Then there are those who believe the real need of the church and of Christianity is to confront and battle social errors, such as abortion, the gay agenda, poverty, materialism, immorality in the media, etc. Of course, let us not forget those who believe that what we really need is ‘revival’, which is defined as a wide range of spiritual manifestations, including speaking in tongues, prophetic utterances, healing, slaying in the spirit, laughing in the spirit, and other such manifestations.
Jeremiah proclaimed an interesting prophecy in Jeremiah 29.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Now before any of you suggest that this prophecy was from the Old Testament and applied to Israel and not to the Church, let me remind you that the early Church did not have a New Testament to turn to and that much of the New Testament is built upon the prophecies of the Old Testament. This prophecy itself is directly connected to an earlier statement made by God to King Solomon as the dedication of the Temple:
2 Chronicles 7:12-22 (NKJV)
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,
18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.'
19 "But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?'
22 Then they will answer, 'Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.' "
Do you hear the call of God in these prophecies? The Sovereign God, who is Creator, Sustainor, and Righteous and Holy Judge, and who has full control over all power...Almighty God...desires from us that we seek Him with all our heart. What does that mean? It means that when we truly find Him (and we will) we will realize who He is, be humbled before Him, see the darkness of our sin and recognize our unworthiness, but we will find His forgiveness and be restored to a relationship with Him. Then and only then will we be able to have the relationship He truly wants...one in which He is personal to us and we to Him. We will then listen to Him and obey Him in love and praise.
Remember what Jesus said in John 14?
John 14:12-21 (NKJV)
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Don’t hear me saying that all that we have done in the church is in vain. These programs and strategies and disciplines have been developed by God’s leadership and used for His purposed to fulfill His Commission. But like Mary, we have been guilty of substituting training and knowledge for relationship. We have often been duped by the enemy into focusing on the how to’s and neglecting the whole purpose for which and Person for Whom we have gained this knowledge.
The greatest need of the Church today has been the greatest need of the Church since its inception: HUMBLE OBEDIENCE BEFORE GOD. God wants us to know Him and to hear His desires and allow Him to empower and lead us to do His will. Such a relationship cannot happen if we spend little or no time with Him. The very essence of the spiritual power that we need can only be found in humble, God-seeking, God-embracing prayer. Wherever you find a powerful relationship between God and a human being in the Bible, you find that person engaged in humble prayer and obedience. The powerful faith and accomplishments of that person are not because of their study and training, but because of God’s filling them with His Spirit.
Dr. Gregory Frizzell made this statement: “Scripture and history clearly prove that fervent prayer is God’s absolute requirement for sending mighty floods of awakening. Today we undoubtedly have the greatest strategies, the best trained ministers, and the most extensive organization in the history of Christianity. Yet, without dynamic (corporate) prayer meetings, we can be much like a fully loaded Cadillac with a lawn mower engine.”
Isn’t it interesting that the one thing the Scripture emphasizes, the one thing the patriarchs, the prophets, the Lord Jesus, the disciples and the early church did most, is the one thing today’s church seems to either neglect or avoid. People will come to a Christian concert, they will flock to hear the newest Christian guru, they will storm a place where some new manifestation of Spirit is being exhibited, they will debate over doctrine, decor, and forms of worship. But call people to prayer as a primary function of the church...you won’t need a large room or many chairs.
Do you understand what I am saying? God is calling us to seek Him with all our heart in order that He can do mighty things in and through us. Not only that, but the things that He will do will be lasting, eternal, amazing.
He has already made clear what He wants His church to do:
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Acts 1:7-8 (NKJV)
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Our primary objective is clear. But instead of studying and training and exercising to become spiritual Christians, what God desires of us we yield ourselves completely to Him and His will. This primary objective is His will. Yes, we must worship. Yes, we must grow in knowledge and faith. Yes, we must fellowship with other believers. Yes, we must live in holiness. But such things in and of themselves are empty if we do not have that personal interaction with God Himself. Humble obedience before God means that He fills our life, directs our life. As Jesus said, “If anyone will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and FOLLOW ME.”
Such a relationship with God begins with prayers, is sustained with prayer and is expanded with prayer. John wanted Mary to be his wife. Christ wants you to be His bride. Will you commit to join us this coming Friday and Saturday to fast and pray? From noon Friday until noon Saturday, I am asking those of you who can to fast and pray for the Holy Spirit’s in-filling and power to lead us in boldness to go forth and make disciples. Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon we will gather in the Sanctuary in corporate prayer under the leadership of Phil Miglioratti. Maybe you have never been a part of something like this. Trust God and join us. See what God is able to do.
The Laborer’s Greatest Purpose: A Person Being Led to Christ
An illustration I used here in July 2002 and again in August 2010 seems appropriate for this phase of “Going Forth and Making Disciples”. If we need to be praying for laborer’s to enter into the harvest, if the laborer’s greatest tool is a relationship with Jesus Christ and if the laborer’s greatest method for harvesting is a relationship with others, then what is the laborer’s greatest purpose. The answer would seem quite simple. However, in the course of church life, the answer can sometimes be forgotten.
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks occur, a group of concerned citizens build a crude little lifesaving station. They only had one boat and, for shelter from the wind, cold, rain and fog, they built a little hut. Devotedly they kept constant watch over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they dedicated their lives to rescuing people who were shipwrecked.
Many lives were saved by this wonderful little group with the single boat and the little hut. Its fame became widespread. Some of those who were saved and admirers from outlying communities wanted to become associated with this simple but profound work. They purchased new and modernized boats, trained crews, and provided state-of-the-art lifesaving equipment. The work grew.
Some of the members of the growing work became unhappy with the crude shelter. They felt more room was needed and that a more comfortable facility should be provided as the first place of refuge for those rescued. They built a building with emergency cots and beds, medical supplies and storage closets, food preparation areas and comfortable furniture...oh, and nice offices.
New areas of concern developed as the lifesaving station grew. Officers and boards were appointed. International training seminars were offered. An alumni association was formed. There were committees that planned alumni banquets, awards banquets, anniversary banquets, and fund-raising banquets. There were committees that solicited support, kept up the facilities, took care of advertising, and updated equipment. The lifesaving station began offering a place of retreat for city people and expanded its facilities. It even taught corporations effective methods of administrative growth and development.
The lifesaving station became a resort, a gathering place for members, trainees, and dignitaries. However, fewer and fewer members had the time or the interest in going on lifesaving missions. So the lifesaving station hired professional lifeboat crews to do this work. The theme of lifesaving was expressed in the decor of the clubroom area...but very few people were being saved from the sea.
One day a larger passenger ship was blown by a typhoon and wrecked just off the coast from the station. The hired crews, in professional form, effectively rescued load after load of wet, oily and injured people. They were people of various nationality, some in pitiful circumstances. In the process of the rescue, the station, now a magnificent resort, was oiled and bloodied up, with shipwrecked victims mingling with its members and guests. This caused a great stir of discomfort.
The property committee decided that a separate building needed to be built so this kind of situation couldn’t happen again. Their proposal produced an emergency meeting of the board members. Most of the board wanted to put an end to the unpleasant, messy and primitive lifesaving activities, which had driven some guests away and interfered with the activities of the station. Others insisted that a separate building would insure that the essence of their heritage would still be visible. A smaller number of the members argued that lifesaving was their PRIMARY purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But the majority voted these fanatics down and told them that if they wanted to save the lives of stupid people who had no better sense than to be out in a storm, then they should start a lifesaving station farther down the coast.so they did.
As the years went by, the new station followed a similar pattern to the old station. And, today, if you were to visit that coast, you would find a number of exclusive clubs along its shore. However, while shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, the people usually drown.
The reality of this story is any organization can, over time and generations, lose sight of it’s original purpose. The reality of this story, as well, is that the modern church is extremely guilty of losing sight of it’s original purpose.
I thought about taking us on a trip down memory lane and showing you what Chatham Baptist Church’s original purpose was when it was constituted almost 46 years ago. Our church constitution’s statement of faith says that “we band ourselves together as a body of baptized believers in Jesus Christ personally committed to sharing the good news of salvation to lost mankind” and that our purpose is “to be a light to the world by 1. Loving God (worship) and man (fellowship); 2. Learning the teachings of Jesus Christ (discipleship) and 3. Living by the leadership of the Holy Spirit (evangelism and missions). While this and other statements of purpose that CBC has made over the years would substantiate our original purpose, I have concluded that these statements are simply semantics. Our intent in these words and phrases has always been to emulate the purpose of the church as Jesus established it in the New Testament.
Therefore, I concluded that it was necessary to clarify our purpose as Chatham Baptist Church on the basis of Scripture. However, once one begins to list the scriptures that define the purpose of the church you find that the list is enormous (one author has identified over 175 individual scriptures that he believes identify the purpose of the church).
In 1995 Rick Warren introduced the popular book “The Purpose-Driven Church” in which he identified five general purposes: Worship - Love the Lord your God with all your heart.; Ministry - Love your neighbor as yourself.; Evangelism - Go and make disciples.; Fellowship - Baptizing them.; and Discipleship - Teaching them to obey. These are broad generalizations, but they do cover the primary categories of the purpose of Jesus’ church.
However, as we consider the purpose of the church here on the earth, Jesus seems to have made one of those purposes somewhat foundational. So, laborer’s in God’s harvest, it seems rather important that we clarify this greatest purpose.
Matthew 9:35-38 (NKJV)
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Acts 1:6-8 (NKJV)
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
The laborer’s greatest purpose is to do that we can to lead a person to Jesus Christ. Now, I can already hear the arguments and let me quickly respond to them.
1) We cannot ‘save’ anyone. I absolutely agree. Salvation is the work of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. But we are indeed responsible to be used of God to guide, influence, instruct and nurture people by introducing them to Christ and His gospel.
2) Worshiping and obeying God is our primary purpose. That is true for us as believers, but one cannot worship and obey God if one is not redeemed by Jesus Christ. Jesus’ commission to us is to go forth and make disciples. Observing the things He commanded us cannot happen until one is a true disciple.
3) Helping the poor, the widows and orphans, the imprisoned is what Jesus told us to do. Jesus certainly instructed believers to do these things, but His instructions were in the context of religious people who were picky about who they would and would not associate with. In fact, His very point is that we are to be ministering to the neediest of people. Who is more needy that a lost person?
Anyway one approaches the purpose of the church, they must face the absolute necessity of reaching the lost with the gospel, otherwise they are completely disconnected from the primary purpose of the church here on earth. This was the purpose of Christ...to seek and to save that which was lost. Having accomplished that in His obedience to His Father’s plan through His suffering, death and resurrection, He has now commissioned us, His church, to continue His purpose.
Now, going back to the story of the life-saving station, let me make a very sobering parallel. If it is your expectation or your perception that fulfilling this greatest purpose will be like a Disney fairy tale, with dancing flowers and singing animals and neat little cottages and bright colored costumes and Snow Whites and Prince Charmings, you had better sit down.
Let me give you a much more accurate expectation. This will be more like Saving Private Ryan.
When you begin to pray that the Holy Spirit will lead someone to Christ, that person will need to confront their sin. As spiritual awakening begins to happen, the Holy Spirit does not discriminate about a person’s education, economic level, mental stability, moral reputation, racial background or skin color. He simply sees a human being that He has created who is condemned by sin and who is in a desperate situation. He sees them and is moved with compassion for them, because they are weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Thus, He expects us to listen to them, to touch them, to hold them, to love them, to help them, to bandage them, to feed them. He does not have a concern about our petty prejudices, our phobias, our particular concerns about being neat and clean and having things in order. Instead, He expects us to be discomforted from time to time, to get our hands and our furniture and our buildings dirty from time to time, to be challenged with someone else’s burdens. This is spiritual warfare and we are to put on our spiritual armor and enter into the battlefield armed with His armor and weapons, claiming the victory that He has already established. We will get sweaty, we will be bloody, we will get smelly...sin is dirty business. We will have our modesty shocked and we will sometimes see the worst that sin can do. But we are the laborers sent into the harvest. We are the life-savers sent out into the waves to rescue the shipwrecked. Ours is a challenging and a dirty business...but the outcome is pure and selfless and righteous.
Jesus Christ is looking for laborers to go into His harvest to gather His harvest. His harvest is sheep without a shepherd. His harvest is drowning and dingy shipwrecked people who need to be saved. You once were among them but now you are to be one who helps them to lead them to the One who saved you. Don’t struggle to find reasons why you can’t lead people to Christ. As the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
1. In the harvest field now ripened
There's a work for all to do;
Hark! the voice of God is calling
To the harvest calling you.
2. In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus' love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.
3. Does the place you're called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He'll not forget His own.
4. Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.
5. When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
"Welcome home, My child well done!"
Chorus:
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus' Name.
THE LABORERS’ GREATEST METHOD FOR HARVESTING:
A RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS
Christian evangelism (sharing the gospel with the intent to lead people to faith in Christ) can be categorized into three different methods:
All three of these methods are valid and all three are biblical. Circumstances will often determine which one is the most appropriate or effective. However, the first two (proclamational and confrontational) are the two that frighten most believers. Why? As I make this statement, I am fully aware that there are those who would tell me I am wrong...and some who would tell me I am a false teacher. But here goes: I believe that in most cases those who are most comfortable with either or both of these two methods are specially gifted of the Holy Spirit in either proclamation, teaching, and/or the special gift of evangelism that many call ‘soul-winning’. What often happens when a believer is particularly gifted this way is that they develop a passion for leading people to Jesus and openly proclaiming the truth of the gospel. Their passion can often cause them to expect that all believers should have the same passion, not realizing that theirs is one of the spiritual gifts. For this reason, they can be critical of those who don’t approach evangelism in the same way.
Before I go any further with this, I will proclaim to you...since proclamation is one of my spiritual gifts...that we, the Church, are negligent in sharing our faith with the lost. I suspect that our fear that we must share the gospel in a confrontational way has scared many of us so that we don’t share our faith at all. We would prefer that those who are gifted be the ones who do it.
But there is a third method that overarches the other two. As a matter of fact, unless an element of this third method is a part of the other two, then the other two can become more ‘sales quota’ oriented than biblical. This third method is relational evangelism.
Let’s visit Christ’s Commission to us once more:
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Notice as we read through this verse that Jesus does not say “Go therefore and get as many people as you can to say the sinner’s prayer and proclaim them saved.”
I will never forget an incident back in 2004 at the Illinois State Fair when Marcia and I were manning the IBSA Evangelism booth. Our approach was not confrontational. We offered cold water, a Billy Graham historical display, tracts, literature, and a place to rest, engaging people as they stopped by. A rather forward gentleman confronted us, criticizing us for not being out on the street sharing the gospel instead of sitting in our booth. We tried to explain our approach, but he obviously was passionate about confrontational evangelism. His continued sarcasm and criticism sparked Marcia’s confrontational side and she asked him, “What do you do with a person after they pray to receive Christ? Do you disciple them? Do you direct them to a church fellowship where they can grow spiritually?” The gentleman, obviously angered, said, “That’s not my job. That’s the job of the Holy Spirit”. When Marcia attempted to engage him further in conversation, he walked away. This man had not fully embraced the Great Commission.
When we read the Great Commission there are three primary elements to it, not just one:
Now let’s look again at what Jesus told His disciples about the harvest:
Matthew 9:35-38 (NKJV)
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Do you hear what Jesus was saying? Here he was, ministering to these masses of people and, as He looked at their needs and their lostness, He was overwhelmed with compassion. The harvest is the redeeming of the people. The laborers are more disciples. But what was it that these laborers were to do in the harvest? They were to go INTO His harvest. What does that mean?
We are to mingle with, live with, experience life with, minster to, care for...develop relationships with the lost. The greatest harvesting method for the laborer is a relationship with others! It is the most readily available method for most, if not all, of Jesus’ disciples.
Let’s take a brief look at the reasons relational evangelism can be so effective.
I. Relationships with Others Provide Multiple Networking.
If we laborers change our mindset about relationships, we will
discover that we have more connections with lost and unchurched
people that we ever realized. These are people we know and who
know us. We can begin to pray that the Holy Spirit would open the
door in conversation and ministry toward someone we already know
something about and with whom we are already acquainted. What
we will likely find is that we have a larger field in which to work.
II. Relationships with Others Provide Credibility and Visibility.
This assumes that the relationship is one of trust. This is why it is
so important that our faith have integrity and visibility. When such
a relationship exists between you and another person, they know
enough about you to know you are real. They may not trust church.
They may be totally turned off by a zealous soul-winner. They may
not respond to appeals by groups and organizations to hear their
message. But because they know you and trust you, God will be
able to open the door for them to hear your testimony and want to
know about your faith. Your ministry to them, because it is genuine,
may open a door in a time of need.
III. Relationships with Others Provide Accessability and Continuity.
The word ‘relationship’ assumes that you have an on-going
encounter with this person on a reasonably regular basis. It may be
a family member, a friend, a classmate, a co-worker, a store clerk,
a neighbor. Because the two of you encounter one another more
than the occasional encounter with a person in the airport, on the
street, passing on an aisle in a store, you have the opportunity to
engage this person regularly with your witness. You have the
opportunity to engage them in various settings in life. You have the
opportunity to connect with their family and their network of
relationships over a longer span of time.
Yet relationships with others are probably the most wasted resource as well. It is wasted in that all of us Jesus followers have multiple relationships with unsaved and unchurched people, yet we stop short of utilizing those relationships for the Lord’s harvest. We have been know to pray that God would send someone our way with whom we can be a witness. We will go on mission trips and mission projects where we can be a part of a group sharing the gospel and feel that we have been witnesses. Instead we need to ask the Lord the open our eyes to see the fields white unto harvest among our relationships.
You have a testimony. You have relationships. The Lord has given you the field in which to work. The Lord has given you His Holy Spirit. The Lord has given you His message. The Lord has given you His Commission. What more do you need?
Perhaps you need some encouragement and some instruction. Alright, this coming Saturday, March 1, at 10 AM, Jerry and I will provide you with some encouragement and instruction. We will hold a Testimony/Witnessing Workshop that will give you the tools you need. We will help you develop a simple presentation of your story of how you came to know Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then we will give you some basic how-tos in regard to sharing that story and leading someone to faith in Jesus Christ. But let me take some of the fear and trepidation from you.
“Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
THE CHURCH’S GREATEST NEED:
HUMBLE OBEDIENCE BEFORE GOD
January 26, 2014
John was a farmer. Mary was from town. They met at a community gathering. John and Mary dated for about a year and decided that they should marry. Immediately after they were married, John returned to his farming with a new joy and motivation. He had a new bride to share his life and care for. He anticipated a life of shared hopes, dreams, plans and achievements. Mary, on the other hand, was enthralled with the idea of having the best marriage possible. She enrolled in the Junior Women’s League’s training course for new brides, Being A Proverbs 31 Wife, that met two evenings each week for a year. She also enrolled in the County Extension training program, How To Become The Wife of Your Husband’s Dreams Cooking Club, that met every Saturday afternoon. Later in the year, she joined a sewing club, Stitching Sisters, that met one evening a week, so she could develop a skill for making her husband’s clothes.
About nine months into the marriage, Mary began to realize that John had become somewhat quiet and that he didn’t seem as happy as when they were dating and were first married. It wasn’t that he was angry toward her or that he ignored her...he just seemed...well, distant. Having learned in one of her courses that it was a good thing to communicate, she fixed a special dinner one evening and after dessert, led John to the den and sat him down. She said, “John, I want to be the best wife to you possible. I have been learning a lot of things about being married and I believe it is important for us to communicate. Now, I have learned how to cook, how to sew and how to do the things that a wife is supposed to do in a marriage. Yet you don’t seem to be happy with me. I am doing everything I can to have a good marriage and it seems you are responding less and less. So, tonight we are going to communicate and get with the program. Now tell me, what’s wrong with you!”
John smiled and placed his hands on Mary’s hands and looked her in the eyes. He said, “Mary, I love you so much and I want so much to share my life with you. But Mary, I am not so sure you are in love with me. You are fixated on having a storybook marriage. You are studying, training, learning, and going to classes. But the one thing you are not focusing on is spending time with me. You don’t really have any idea what I want because you never listen. When we do talk, you’re telling me what your classes say. You have gained a lot of knowledge, but what we lack is a relationship. The very thing I want most from you is to be with you, to share my life with you, to know your love and for you to know mine. Communication is spending time with one another and getting to know one another. You can’t learn that in classes. You can’t make that happen when you are away from me so often. If you really want to have a storybook marriage, you have to have a close relationship with your husband. That takes spending time with him. Mary, I don’t want a wife who knows everything about marriage. I want a wife who is totally in love with me and wants to be with me.”
As Southern Baptists we have had some of the best and most well-developed programs for the last seventy years. Our boards and commissions have produced biblically sound strategies that can get the gospel to the lost and disciple believers in some of the most essential Christian disciplines. As a matter of fact, we have busied ourselves with such things to the point that we have convinced ourselves that such programs are the key to empowering the church. One would expect with all of these resources, some of which have been refined and fine-tuned, that we would have been experiencing a tremendous surge in evangelism and profound discipleship and thus church growth and expansion. However, the statistics don’t indicate that.
In fact, what we find is less and less interest in such methodology and more and more questioning about what the church is doing. As our society spirals off in so many directions that are hostile to the church and Christianity, we are reactive instead of proactive. Many Christians are reacting in fear and see their need as retreating from our society and isolating themselves and their families to their own form of holiness, waiting for Jesus to come. Within the ranks of Christianity some feel that the primary need to is to correct doctrine that they believe is erroneous, becoming doctrine police, so that their primary focus is insuring those in error are revealed and promptly labeled. Then there are those who believe the real need of the church and of Christianity is to confront and battle social errors, such as abortion, the gay agenda, poverty, materialism, immorality in the media, etc. Of course, let us not forget those who believe that what we really need is ‘revival’, which is defined as a wide range of spiritual manifestations, including speaking in tongues, prophetic utterances, healing, slaying in the spirit, laughing in the spirit, and other such manifestations.
Jeremiah proclaimed an interesting prophecy in Jeremiah 29.
Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Now before any of you suggest that this prophecy was from the Old Testament and applied to Israel and not to the Church, let me remind you that the early Church did not have a New Testament to turn to and that much of the New Testament is built upon the prophecies of the Old Testament. This prophecy itself is directly connected to an earlier statement made by God to King Solomon as the dedication of the Temple:
2 Chronicles 7:12-22 (NKJV)
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.
16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments,
18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.'
19 "But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?'
22 Then they will answer, 'Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.' "
Do you hear the call of God in these prophecies? The Sovereign God, who is Creator, Sustainor, and Righteous and Holy Judge, and who has full control over all power...Almighty God...desires from us that we seek Him with all our heart. What does that mean? It means that when we truly find Him (and we will) we will realize who He is, be humbled before Him, see the darkness of our sin and recognize our unworthiness, but we will find His forgiveness and be restored to a relationship with Him. Then and only then will we be able to have the relationship He truly wants...one in which He is personal to us and we to Him. We will then listen to Him and obey Him in love and praise.
Remember what Jesus said in John 14?
John 14:12-21 (NKJV)
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Don’t hear me saying that all that we have done in the church is in vain. These programs and strategies and disciplines have been developed by God’s leadership and used for His purposed to fulfill His Commission. But like Mary, we have been guilty of substituting training and knowledge for relationship. We have often been duped by the enemy into focusing on the how tos and neglecting the whole purpose for which and Person for Whom we have gained this knowledge.
The greatest need of the Church today has been the greatest need of the Church since its inception: HUMBLE OBEDIENCE BEFORE GOD. God wants us to know Him and to hear His desires and allow Him to empower and lead us to do His will. Such a relationship cannot happen if we spend little or no time with Him. The very essence of the spiritual power that we need can only be found in humble, God-seeking, God-embracing prayer. Wherever you find a powerful relationship between God and a human being in the Bible, you find that person engaged in humble prayer and obedience. The powerful faith and accomplishments of that person are not because of their study and training, but because of God’s filling them with His Spirit.
Dr. Gregory Frizzell made this statement: “Scripture and history clearly prove that fervent prayer is God’s absolute requirement for sending mighty floods of awakening. Today we undoubtedly have the greatest strategies, the best trained ministers, and the most extensive organization in the history of Christianity. Yet, without dynamic (corporate) prayer meetings, we can be much like a fully loaded Cadillac with a lawn mower engine.”
Isn’t it interesting that the one thing the Scripture emphasizes, the one thing the patriarchs, the prophets, the Lord Jesus, the disciples and the early church did most, is the one thing today’s church seems to either neglect or avoid. People will come to a Christian concert, they will flock to hear the newest Christian guru, they will storm a place where some new manifestation of Spirit is being exhibited, they will debate over doctrine, decor, and forms of worship. But call people to prayer as a primary function of the church...you won’t need a large room or many chairs.
Do you understand what I am saying? God is calling us to seek Him with all our heart in order that He can do mighty things in and through us. Not only that, but the things that He will do will be lasting, eternal, amazing.
He has already made clear what He wants His church to do:
Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Acts 1:7-8 (NKJV)
7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Our primary objective is clear. But instead of studying and training and exercising to become spiritual Christians, what God desires of us we yield ourselves completely to Him and His will. This primary objective is His will. Yes, we must worship. Yes, we must grow in knowledge and faith. Yes, we must fellowship with other believers. Yes, we must live in holiness. But such things in and of themselves are empty if we do not have that personal interaction with God Himself. Humble obedience before God means that He fills our life, directs our life. As Jesus said, “If anyone will be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and FOLLOW ME.”
Such a relationship with God begins with prayers, is sustained with prayer and is expanded with prayer. John wanted Mary to be his wife. Christ wants you to be His bride. Will you commit to join us this coming Friday and Saturday to fast and pray? From noon Friday until noon Saturday, I am asking those of you who can to fast and pray for the Holy Spirit’s in-filling and power to lead us in boldness to go forth and make disciples. Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon we will gather in the Sanctuary in corporate prayer under the leadership of Phil Miglioratti. Maybe you have never been a part of something like this. Trust God and join us. See what God is able to do.