Dr. Wayne A. Lawson
Preached at Antioch Institutional Baptist Church, OKC, Oklahoma
Sunday, January 4, 2009
11:00 a.m.
RevWLawson@aol.com
TITLE: SOME PEOPLE FEEL THE RAIN WHILE OTHERS JUST GET WET
SCRIPTURE: DEUTERONOMY 11:14
I am honored this morning to bring the first Sunday Message of this New Year of 2009. I believe that the message Delivered the first few weeks of a New Year help to set the Tone and the Pace for how the Church will move for the duration of the year. My prayer is that the message will strengthen us this Morning as well as help us learn how to deal with the Challenge of Growing in God’s Grace. There is a great concern that I have as it relates to Christendom -- that it appears that so many are in the Church and yet continuously struggle with their Christian Walk. There are many that appear as though they are not able to Grow in the Faith. We read in I PETER 2:2 “AS NEWBORN BABES DESIRE THE SINCERE MILK OF THE WORD, THAT YE MAY GROW THEREBY.” As we study the Word, we will Mature in the Word. Yet so many remain as newborn babes and never seem to Grow spiritually, thus, they always struggle in the Faith.
• They Seem to struggle along year after year
• Struggle with the same battles year after year
• Don’t seem to Grow in God’s Grace
• Always sing that Familiar Baptist Hymn – “I’m Not There Yet”
Today my prayer is, “Lord, Rain on Us!” We need the Shower of the Holy Ghost in our lives like never before. During a good rain, vegetation is nourished -- animals are nourished -- the grass gets greener; rain refreshes the land. Rain causes things to grow and be fruitful. We as well need to be nourished and refreshed. We need God to send us the Latter rain to make us fruitful for His kingdom. Without Rain falling on the Land, we would call it a drought.
• There comes a time in every person’s life they experience a drought of some type
• It may be the drought of health when it seems like there is no end in sight to your physical problems
• It may be the drought of finances when it seems like the bills are coming in faster than the money to pay them
• It may be the drought of your occupation because you have lost the enjoyment of doing what you do for a living
• There may be a drought in your marriage because you are staying together not because you love each other but just for the sake of the children.
But of all the droughts I can think of, the worst is a Spiritual Drought. We have all experienced them at one point or another. You pray but you feel like the prayers don’t leave the roof of your house -- You read your Bible but it is like reading Greek and Hebrew and worse yet, it puts you to sleep; and you go to church and get absolute nothing out of it and you find yourself experiencing a Spiritual Drought.
I read that there are close to 100 million church members in America and yet, we are not making the Moral and Spiritual impact that we should? Why is it, that on Sunday morning, thousands of churches have empty pews? Why are so many churches closing their doors on Wednesday night and Sunday night? I believe that it is because of a lack of passion that exit’s within the Body of Christ.
The problem is there are those who are only able to see a snapshot as to what Christianity is. They are not able to view beyond their Current Circumstance. This eventually causes a Drought and hinders our Spiritual Growth - Causing only a Narrow Glimpse of Christianity. For many the Grace of Cavalry’s Cross is only in Distant View. The Challenge I present you with this morning is the importance of taking into view the whole picture and not just a small portion of the life and message of Christ. To fully understand this, we must take into account the importance of the Cradle to the Cross. Not able to be Passionate about our walk with the Lord until we fully embrace the life and message of Christ. This reminds me of a story.
---REMINDED OF A STORY ABOUT SHERLOCK HOLMES AND HIS SIDEKICK MR. WATSON. WE FIND THEM ON A CAMPING TRIP AND THEY HAVE JUST PITCHED THEIR TENT AND THEN DECIDED TO TAKE A HIKE. FINALLY RETURNED LATER IN THE EVENING AND THEY ARE IN AN OPEN FIELD LAYING ON THE GROUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. LOOKING UP AT THE BRIGHT STARS THAT DECORATE THE MIDNIGHT SKY, SHERLOCK HOLMES LOOKS OVER AT WATSON AND SAID – WATSON – LOOK UP AT THE STARS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE.
AFTER LONG CONTEMPLATION, MR. WATSON FINALLY RESPONDED. WELL HOLMES WHEN I LOOK AT THE STARS AND CONSIDER THEM THROUGH THE EYES OF:
• PSYCHOLOGY - Man has a long way to go
• PHYSIOLOGY - Man was created a little lower than the angels
• TECHNOLOGY - God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts
• SOCIOLOGY - Minuteness of man
• METEROLOGY - Summer is ending and we are close to Autumn
• ESCHATOLOGY - About One O’Clock in the morning
• THEOLOGY - God is in Control
--FINALLY, WATSON LOOKS OVER AT SHERLOCK HOLMES AND SAID, HOLMES WHEN YOU LOOK UP AT THE STARS WHAT DO YOU SEE?
HOLMES SAID…WATSON, YOU DUMMY WHEN I LOOK AT THE STARS I REALIZE THAT SOMEONE STOLE OUR TENT!
Some People Feel the Rain While Others Just Get Wet. This is how many of us treat our Christian walk. We don’t feel the rain, go through this Christian Journey simply getting wet. My prayer for this New Year is that we become more Passionate about our Christianity. Let me caution you, without a Genuine Experience with the Lord we can not be Passionate. Passion entails Conversion and conversion involves transformation; it is to undergo change as the result of an experience.
• Rarely do people change without going through an experience
• Few drug addicts just wake up one morning and decide to stop using drugs
• Few alcoholics just make up their minds to leave the bottle alone
• Few gambling addicts just decide to stop gambling.
That kind of conversion usually requires some kind of experience—what the young folk call drama. You awaken from a drunken stupor, not knowing where you are or what you’ve done; your health begins to fail, and a doctor tells you that you’re killing yourself; you’ve gone through your mortgage money and your car note money and your insurance money, and bill collectors are breathing down your throat. Then you decide you need to make a change in your life. As it is for those things, so it is with our Spiritual Walk. Spiritual conversion comes from having an experience with the Lord. But far too many in the Church haven’t been converted, therefore; no real experience which translates to No Passion in our walk:
• They serve in Church ministries
• Sing Church hymns
• Usher Church aisles
• Teach Church Bible studies
• Preach from Church pulpits
• Can quote Bible verses
• Can pray soul-stirring prayers
• Give their tithe and their offering
• Yet they haven’t been converted
• No real change has taken place.
We need to understand that, while conversion comes by way of an experience with the Lord, not every experience with the Lord results in conversion.
---Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus for 3 years; he saw Jesus do a lot of great things; he heard Him preach the life-saving words of the Gospel. But at the end, Judas wasn’t converted. He betrayed his Master for 30 pieces of silver and then went out and hung himself.
--Peter had seen Jesus do some marvelous things—he saw Him raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead; he saw a transfigured Jesus engage in a divine dialogue with Moses and Elijah. But with all that Peter had experienced with Jesus, Peter still had not been converted, for when the moment of truth came, Peter denied that he had ever known Jesus.
And today, there are many in the Church for reasons other than because they’ve been converted.
--Somebody’s here to make their spouse happy—you know you won’t get any peace at home unless you go to Church, and so your body’s here, but your mind is somewhere else
--Somebody’s trying to bargain with God. You’ve made a mess that you need the Lord to fix, and you figure you’ve got a better chance with God if you come to Church first
--Somebody’s here today out of a sense of obligation—you came more out of habit than a genuine desire to worship the Lord, and you feel like God ought to be glad that you got here
--But I stopped by to tell you that, if you haven’t come because you are Passionate about your Christian Walk, if you haven’t come because you know God is worthy to be praised, if you haven’t come with a mind that’s stayed on Jesus, then you may be in the right place, but you’re not here for the right reason, and I fear that you will leave no better than you were when you came. You need to be converted and become Passionate in your Service to God –Some People Feel the Rain While Others Just Get Wet.
All living things grow if they are healthy. You don’t have to make them grow. The same principle is true for the church. Since the church is a living organism, it’s natural for it to grow if it’s healthy. The Church is a body, not a business - an organism, not an organization. It’s alive. If a church is not growing, it is dying. If a healthy church is a growing church, than it stands to reason then a church will only be as healthy as its individual members. A church will only grow as each member is growing in his or her faith. So you and I need to ask ourselves, how healthy am I spiritually? How Passionate am I in my Christian Walk? Am I feeling the Rain or am I just getting Wet?
A healthy church begins with a Consuming passion for God. ST. JOHN 2:17 - “THEN HIS DISCIPLES REMEMBERED THIS PROPHECY FROM THE SCRIPTURES: PASSION FOR GOD’S HOUSE BURNS WITHIN ME.” Do you have passion in your life? The dictionary defines that passion is, “an intense emotion - strong feeling, a great devotion an intense conviction which fuels or motivates us toward compelling action.”
If you have a passion for something, you love doing it. For example:
• A teacher is very good because of their passion for teaching
• A student becomes the best student in the class because he has a passion for learning
• If you want to be good at something, you have to do it with passion
• Passion is the difference between enthusiastic action and simply going through the motions.
• Passion is the fire in your belly that causes us to get up in the middle of the night thinking about what needs to get done the next day
We constantly read in the Bible how God continuously did Great and Extraordinary things for men and women of Old. And not only that, but I have witnessed God continue to do exciting things for those around me. There was a time in my life that I used to wonder why God seemed to move for others but did not necessarily seem to be doing Extraordinary things for me. I began to realize that the Lord has always done extraordinary things with people who are sold out to Him and His work - Those who have a Passion for Serving Him. The child of God who finds his value in what is done for Christ and Christ alone knows the joy of passionately living for the Lord.
• Paul encourages us to “STUDY TO SHOW OURSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD…”
• Approval does not come from Church
• Approval does not come from Pastor or Leaders
• Only important Approval comes from God and God alone
When we are Passionate about God He will be the one who will occupy our conversation. He will be who we think of when we get up in the morning He will be the first one we talk to. When your faith is put to the test the world will know where you stand.
• When you are passionate you will draw a line in the sand.
• When we are passionate we will have a boldness a fire can’t put out.
• When the world brings in laws that are against our faith we will stand and passionately fight for God.
• Far too long the church sat by saying I don’t want to offend people and our children are paying for that now.
• For some reason the church doesn’t want to speak out in case we are accused of being different
The Lord Jesus Christ said many things about being his Disciple and how to follow Him Passionately. The word "disciple" actually has a twofold meaning. Basically, it means a Learner, and then, secondly, it means a Follower. We are learners who have unconditionally committed ourselves to be followers of Christ. Being a real Christian involves more than most people think. It goes beyond showing up on Sunday Morning and Wednesday Night. Before entering into this relationship, there must be that initial resolve and commitment. It involves Counting the Cost. Otherwise all you are is Religious and being religious may only turn out to be a Feeble exercise in futility.
That leads me to my final point -- Much of the problem in the Church is that we are okay with being Partially Passionate or Somewhat Committed. I firmly believe there is no such thing as being Partially Passionate or Partially Committed. No one can be sort of committed! You’re either committed or you’re not! A Parachute does you no good if you jump from the plan and it only Partially Opens. When a Pilot of an Airliner is speeding down the runway, there is a certain point where he cannot decide to remain on the ground. When he crosses that line, he is committed to the air, or else he crashes to the ground.
Unfortunately, our churches are filled with many who have never left the ground. They’re sitting there revving their engines, they’re always getting ready! They have been planning on it:
• Meaning to
• Wanting to
• Trying to
• Going to
• Aiming to
• Hoping to
• But they never have left the ground.
Today, let us get off the ground in the area of commitment of our lives.
--No Passion in our Service—no Latter Rain. As for the early rain, it is necessary. Without Christ’s body and blood, and without the Holy Spirit, we have no possibility of there being anything for God to bring to maturity. We need all of God’s provision. No more can we talk of the latter rain without the early rain than we can of the early rain without the latter.
--To plead for the latter rain while being destitute of the early rain, cannot be spiritually productive. And that which underlay the whole process, is obedience and Passion. If we are not responsive to God in terms of obedience, there will be no rain, No Showers of Blessing. And all our toiling to obtain it will be as fruitless as we are dry.
--If your spiritual life is on again off again, you need to refocus on your commitment to Christ, check out your Personal Relationship. When we have the indwelling of the Spirit, We are Able to Feel The Rain. He will stabilize the direction of our lives. We will not feel that we are no longer sinners because the Spirit does an on-going housecleaning in us! His presence is a consumable fire. When the Spirit is dwelling in us we are more conscious of sin than we ever were before and we are aware that without Him we cannot be victorious.
--The life in the Spirit is the process where the chains of sin which have so long held us are broken off. The indwelling of Spirit makes habitual sin impossible. The Holy Spirit is the one who through the life and death of Jesus really "gives us a break" from the power of sin.
--So we see that we should be constantly advancing in our Christian Walk, but should not expect the latter rain to make up for a lack of wholehearted effort to prepare ourselves to receive. The present hour is our opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit. What should we do?
• Ask for the former and latter rain
• Seek with intensity of desire to experience constant advancement
• Open the heart to God wider than ever before
• Sense with greater clarity our personal need
• Cooperate with God such that the heart is cleansed of every defilement
• Receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
