2/15/03 Revival, What Would Jesus Do?
Have any of you in here today ever tried to do something that you did not really feel like doing?
Or, have you ever tried to convince someone of something you were not convinced of yourself?
Here I am, I have four Children, and My wife is Pregnant..
If I were to stand up here and try to explain to you what it was like to have a baby kicking inside the womb, I would not be very effective, I would not be very convincing because I have no idea what if feels like.
But, if my wife were to come before you today and if she were to describe what that feels like, I know that she would describe it with happiness and joy.
She could describe it and I bet that the women in here could almost feel the babies kicking inside themselves.
Because my wife could be describing a heart felt true to life experience that has happened to her.
She knows what she is talking about.
I have come to realize in my ministry that a man can read a lot of books and commentaries, a man can study the Bible, and a man can even come up with a sermon.
But,
If God has not given him the message,
If God has not put that message on his heart and given him a burden for the subject at hand,
Then the message will hold no meaning for the people that he is trying to deliver that message to.
When I get through with the Sunday services, I start asking God what he would have me bring during the next weeks services.
Now, every message in the Bible pertains to all of us to a point.
But, as each of us progresses in our service to the Lord here at Midway Baptist Church, as we see a vision of what God has in store for us to do,
I can go to Gods word and go to God in prayer and he will basically say to me…
“Here is a message that is needed this week”
And then, with his help and guidance, I will start to prepare the message.
The subject matter today has always been important to me, and I am sure it has always been important to you.
But I believe that the Lord wants us to hear a message about revival today.
I said wants us to hear,
Not wants you to hear.
I know I tell you all the time, but I don’t think I can emphasize enough the fact that before any of you ever hear a sermon that I preach, it has already been preached to me.
I have already been convicted many times before you even know the topic at hand.
The message that I want to bring today is going to be a hard message for me to bring.
Oh, it is not going to be hard because of the subject matter,
no,
It’s not going to be hard because of the people I am going to bring the message to,
No,
I am willing to say to you today that this is absolutely one of the kindest and most loving congregations of people I have ever been around.
No, the message today is going to be hard for me to bring because of what God wants me to do in my life, in regard to this message.
You see, God has put a real burden on my heart and I struggle with it at times.
A preacher is no different than you,
They have trials and tribulations and temptations, just like any one else.
I guess this really all started for me back in 1993.
I found something in the Library of the Church that would later become the first Church I would pastor….
In that Library, I found something called “Books on cassette”
What a fantastic invention…
You see, I am not a big book reader.
I study the Bible and stuff but I am not real big on taking a book and reading it.
I get frustrated while reading a book.
And I have blamed Denise for my frustrations about reading…
Denise and I can both sit down together and start reading a book, and I can look over at her and say,
Hey, what page are you on?
And she will say something like
“I am on page 48, what about you”
Well, I kind of thought I was a speed-reader because I was on page 10.
So this is frustrating to me….
But anyway, I found something out there at the church that was the best thing I had ever seen,
It is called, books on cassette!
I picked up a book on cassette and since I traveled about 80 miles a day round trip back and forth to work, I had the book on cassette finished in no time.
Now, God laid a burden on my heart some time back…
It was as if he were saying,
“Gene, You know that message that you heard on tape those years ago,
Well that message that I gave that pastor to deliver to his congregation,
the message that I allowed to travel all over the world,
the message that sparked revivals all over the world,
that message,---------that is what I intend for the Christian life to be like, and now it is time for you to respond to my message.
I have since purchased the actual paper copy of the book and read it, and I have even purchased the book in quantity and given it to many people.
I will tell you what that book is and what that message is in a few minuets,
but first, lets look at a few things about revival.
Now, many people think that a revival is where lost people come to know the lord,
That is not a revival.
That would be called a spiritual awakening.
Revival is for the Christians.
Revival is the renewing of the heart, a spiritual rejuvenation, the bringing of Christians into the joy of knowing that they are in the will of God.
When I think of revival, I think of a man who has blocked arteries going to his heart.
The man is weaker than he used to be, he cannot breathe as well as he once could. He could not do the things he could have done years before.
He seems to be ineffective at doing the things he would like to do.
But doctors can perform surgery; they can repair or replace those damaged arteries or open up the blockages….
Then, the blood starts flowing like it should, his body starts receiving the oxygen and nutrients that are so vital. His energy returns, his vigor returns, he finds himself useful and able to do things again that he is supposed to be able to do.
God has given doctors the wisdom and knowledge to repair the Physical heart, but only God can repair the spiritual heart.
Only God can get the spiritual blood flowing like it should, only God can make us effective and useful, the way we are meant to be.
I think most everyone in here today would say that we want to see revival. Most of us would say that we want to see people get right with God.
Most of you probably know the most often used passage of scripture that is used to discuss revival.
2 Chronicles 7:14.
Turn with me there please.
Read 2 Chronicles 7:14
A promise from God.
Do you believe God? Do you believe that he is faithful to keep his word?
Here, we have a promise from God.
If we would realize that without God we are worthless.
If we would realize that everything we have comes from God
If we would do away with our pride and replace that with gratitude toward God for all we have and all he has done for us.
If we would recognize that this tolerance that is being preached from the media and the world today is hogwash.
Wrong is wrong, right is right,
And folks, sin is sin and God is not going to look upon sin.
God is not going to tolerate sin.
If we would consider others to be of more value than ourselves just as the Bible instructs us in Philippians 2:3
We should be willing to be humble because Christ was willing to humble Himself for our sake.
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus Said,
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In mark 10:45, Jesus Said,
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus Christ was willing to Humble himself.
We see that in john 13 Jesus Christ humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples……
And of course, the most humble act found throughout all history is described in Philippians 2:5-8
Philip. 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. [8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
So the first thing God said for us to do in 2 Chronicles 7:14, the first thing he said was if we would humble ourselves.
And we are given an example.
We don’t know how to be humble?
Just look at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
He humbled himself unto death on the cross.
The next thing God tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is to pray.
All to often prayer is thought of as telling God what we need, or asking God for something we want.
Prayer is all to often thought of as a last chance effort, a final petition when all else fails.
Bur prayer is much more than that.
Prayer is time of our complete communication with God.
We praise God,
We thank God, we adore God in our prayers.
Yes, we do tell God our wants and needs,
We do tell God our fears and our thoughts, even though he already knows it all.
Because God wants us to be in communication with him.
Prayer is also a time for God to communicate with us.
We need to be still and listen to God while we pray.
Then God said that we are to seek his face.
Folks, God is not hard to find,
You want to know how I know this?
He says so in Jeremiah 29:13-14
Don’t believe me, believe the written word of God!
Jeremiah 29:13-14
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. [14] I will be found by you," declares the Lord,…..
Here God is talking to the nation of Israel,
But the same thing applies to us today,
If we earnestly seek him, we will find him!
Then God said we are to turn from our wicked ways.
We are to turn from our sins, turn from our wickedness.
God will not look upon our sins.
Last week I gave you the illustration of the Frog in the Pot of boiling water….and the message was about the fact that we have tolerated things in this world and we have allowed things to get worse and worse… We have let the things of this world slowly get worse and worse, and we are just being eased into it a little bit at a time, and we are getting use to it a little bit at a time, until it just does not seem to bother us any more.
15 years ago if we had woke up one morning and saw all of the garbage and perverseness on television that we can see any day of the week now, We would have been outraged and appalled.
15 Years ago if we had seen our political leaders doing some of the things that are just considered normal today…. 15 years ago we would have demanded that they be put in prison…..
The point I am trying to make is that things are going straight down hill.
Folks, the water is boiling, and we are sitting here calm and happy because we have gotten used to the temperature over a period of time.
God said if you would just turn from your wickedness,
If you would just repent,
Humble yourselves in my presence,
Pray to me, communicate with me,
Seek my face, look for me, I am not hard to find,
and repent of your sins, turn from your wickedness.
If we do all of these things God has promised that he will hear from Heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land.
And friends,I believe our land needs healing, don’t you?
All through the Bible we can see where people earnestly and humbly sought God, repented and turned from their sins,
And God brought revival to their land.
Now, I am going to get back to the book that I was talking about.
The book was originally written in 1896 by a minister, and he wrote the book pretty much as a weekly Bible study for the young people of his Church.
A foreword in the book I purchased states that the book sparked revival all over the world including places like New Zealand and Wales.
It stated that in England a town council voted to ask the question that is asked in this book, before every political matter.
The original book written by Charles M. Sheldon was called
“In His Steps”
It was a fictional book written by a pastor, but like I said earlier, I believe that God gave the pastor the message; I feel God put this burden on his heart!
A few years ago and updated version of the book was authored by Mr. Sheldon’s great Grandson, Garrett W. Sheldon. I personally like the original version.
The newer version was entitled
“What Would Jesus Do?”
This sparked the making of all of those wristbands, necklaces and other items with the initials on them W.W.J.D.
And that is the question that is asked in the book.
What would Jesus Do?
But hey, can we really expect to be able to ask ourselves the question,
What Would Jesus Do?
I mean, is that not an old fashion notion that would not relate to us in our time?
You know, it is kind of interesting how the same question was asked in the book, written in 1896.
It is also kind of interesting considering the fact that in 1896 they were dealing with some of the same problems we are dealing with today.
Some of the problems are a little different but some are much the same.
But the main question is still the same.
What Would Jesus Do?
Now, I don’t mean that we can ask what would Jesus do in someone else’s situation.
we must ask what Jesus would do in our situation.
We can not try to fix someone else…….
Now, The book may have been fictional friends, but the message is not.
And that has been my problem.
Am I really ready to make such a commitment?
Can I really ask myself in all situations What Would Jesus Do in my situation?
Of course I can.
As I said earlier, I feel like that question can lead us into the true Christian life that God has in store for us.
If Jesus were among us today in the physical form, what would he do?
Would Jesus manage business affairs like I have done in the past?
Would Jesus treat employees like I have done?
Would Jesus have me treat my kids the way I do?
Would Jesus fill his taxes out like I do mine?
Would Jesus drive 60 miles an hour in a 55 mile per hour speed limit?
Would Jesus legalize drinking,…
Would Jesus fail to witness,
Would Jesus Fail to help those in need,….
Would Jesus go to the casinos,
Even if it was only for the inexpensive buffets.
Tell of the Baptist Church in Biloxi MS--- sold property to a casino.
Would Jesus’ prayer life be like mine?
Would Jesus study the word the same way that I do, or would he study much more?
Hey, I am not condemning anyone I am not even fussing at anyone, I have failed in much of the things I am referring to today.
I am just asking the question., what would Jesus Do?
Every decision we make in life, everything we do, we could be asking ourselves,
What would Jesus Do.
Now, I know some people would say,
“I can’t run a business like that, I mean, I would loose money, I have a family to take care of.”
I know I use this passage of scripture a lot, but it applies a lot….Jesus Christ said in John 10:10
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus Christ came to give us life to the full….life to us abundantly, some translations say abundantly….
He came to give us abundant life.
God has promised he will take care of us.
“well, I don’t want people thinking I am weird”
Jesus Christ came to give us abundant life.
“well, you can not function, your life will not work if you try to do things today like Jesus would because these are modern times”
Jesus Christ came to give us abundant life.
Our goal as Christians should be to conform to the likeness of Jesus Christ, and if we do not think we can do this,
Then we are in essence, calling Jesus Christ a liar.
He said he came to give us abundant life.
Are we willing to go to our Brother or Sister in Christ and either forgive them or ask for forgiveness when there is a riff between us?
Are we willing to call sin sin?
Or are we just letting the religion of tolerance creep into our lives.
I would like to say a lot more, I have gotten to the point where I feel like there is never good place to end a sermon, but it must end sometime.
I have said a lot of things, but here me now please,
All to often we ask the question,
“Is God ready to bring revival to our nation”
Friends, we do not have to ask that question, Because God has already answered that all through his word.
So what is the problem?
Well, lets ask this question,
Are we willing to accept the revival that God so wants to send our way?
Are we really ready to do our part?
Are we willing to accept the fullness and abundance of life that Jesus Christ himself promised us?
Are we willing to walk the Christian walk, run the race, finish the course?
Are we willing to ask ourselves the question,
“What Would Jesus Do”?
Until we are my friends.., I am afraid that we are not going to see that blessed revival, that we are all longing for.
In early May, we are going to have revival services with a fantastic evangelist… you will know what its like to hear a real preacher for a change…..
As we lead up to the time of these services, I will probably look at our need for revival many more times… and we will probably look at the things that are hindering revival from coming our way….
But, I promise you, one thing that can bring revival is for us to be willing to ask ourselves in every situation, in every circumstance…. What would Jesus do….
Are we willing today, to live our lives like Jesus Christ would…
Now, I do not think that this is a decision that should be made on a whim or on emotions.
But if God has given you the same burden for revival, if God has given you the same ideas of the Christian life,
Would you join me today, in making this commitment?
As we sing a hymn of invitation, ask God how he would have you respond.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ, you can come this morning and you also can receive that abundant life that Jesus Christ has in store for you.
