Revival Message
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Pastor Brian Matherlee
Key verse: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”—1 Peter 2:2-3
[Play video intro, “Spoiled Milk” from Sermonspice video.]
Who in the world would rather drink spoiled milk? Peter admonishes the people to crave pure spiritual milk realizing that there are other things that they could crave that will not help them grow!
I believe there are 3 primary reasons the church will settle for less than pure spiritual milk—often without realizing it:
1. Un-forgiveness
a. From God
i. Not because He doesn’t want to forgive but because an individual has never really come to faith in Jesus Christ.
ii. Matthew 15:8—Jesus says, “`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
iii. Salvation comes when we confess, believe, repent, and receive. We confess and believe (intellectual assent) but we don’t repent (turn from sin). God’s grace is a gift—totally unmerited favor but comes with conditions He has set.
b. Towards others
i. A woman testified to the transformation in her life that had resulted through her experience in conversion. She declared, "I’m so glad I got religion. I have an uncle I used to hate so much I vowed I’d never go to his funeral. But now, why, I’d be happy to go to it any time."
ii. Matthew 18:21, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’"
iii. Peter demonstrates the attitude many people fall into...I have forgiven enough. Rationalizing un-forgiveness is common practice.
c. Towards ourselves
i. I hurt for those who punish themselves for things God has forgotten.
ii. The human memory is a powerful thing and yet powerless in its own strength to reconcile God’s forgiveness and His total disregard for things forgiven.
iii. How can you forgive yourself?
1. Name your sin.
2. Repentance (make it hard to go back)
3. Restitution
4. Ask God to wipe the memory from your mind.
a. Have you heard about the three absent-minded sisters - Wanda, Martha & Wilma - who lived together in the same house? One day, when Wanda decided to take a bath, she drew the bath water & began undressing.
But suddenly she stopped & said, "I don’t remember. Am I getting into the tub or am I getting out?" She yelled to her sister Martha, "Martha, help me. Am I getting into the tub, or am I getting out?"
Martha hollered back from downstairs & said, "That’s a crazy question. I can’t believe you’re so absent minded. You were going up." And she started up the stairs, but stopped about half way up & said. "Why am I on the stairs? Am I going up, or going down?"
So she cried for Wilma. "Wilma, come here. I can’t remember if I’m going up the stairs or going down."
Wilma replied, "You silly woman. You were going up. I can’t believe you’re so absent minded. I’m glad I’m not like that. Knock on wood." (Knock on pulpit) Then she stopped, looked around & hollered out, "Is that someone knocking at the front door or the back door?"
b. God can and will wipe your mind clean from the constant or even easy recall of the past.
Another thing that the church settles for that is nothing but spoiled milk is greed. Now who could believe that the church is greedy? Isn’t the church simply filled with the most generous people on planet earth?
2. Greed
a. Greed impacts everything in life—relationships are weighed in light of the things we want and how we can get them. People become pawns to further my desires.
b. Richard Foster (1985,p.13) noted: “The demon in money is greed. Nothing can destroy human beings like the passion to possess.”
c. Greed is evident in our desire for money, things, notoriety, and a pat on the back (1 Thessalonians 2:5, “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.”)
d. It is displayed by a lack of generosity, especially towards the things of God. People will give just enough to appease their dulled consciences.
e. It is displayed by working at the expense of relationships-to spouse, children, friends, church, and community.
f. Greed breeds greed. Greedy people cannot be generous no matter how much they give. Generosity is a spirit of sacrifice not an amount.
g. Greed’s basic operational philosophy is this, “There is nothing more than this life.”
Un-forgiveness and greed are not as subtle as the third glass of spoiled milk. Diversion is the single-most used tool of the Devil among the faithful.
3. Diversion
a. Single-minded devotion to Christ is the only way to grow into the Christians God intends us to be.
b. But we stretch ourselves thin, believe that earthly achievement and making sure our children “have life experiences and are well-rounded” that we sacrifice them on the altar of human success.
c. Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
d. The church gets diverted by making structure and programs more important that the purpose of God—leading people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ’s payment for our sin through his death on the cross and helping those who begin to follow Christ to know how to do it!
e. We can easily get wrapped up in personal agendas. Whatever we do must be centered upon the Lord’s agenda. If we do something it must help people come to know Him or learn to live like Him.
f. The story is told of a prince and his family who were captured by an enemy king.
When brought before the enemy king, the prisoner was asked, "What will you give me if I release you?"
"Half of my wealth," was the prince’s reply.
"And if I release your children?"
"Everything I possess."
And if I release your wife?"
Your Majesty, for her I would give myself," said the prince.
The king was so moved by the prince’s devotion to his family that he freed them all.
As they returned home the prince said to his wife, "Wasn’t the king a handsome man?"
With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn’t notice. I could keep my eyes only on the one who was willing to give himself for my sake."
Conclusion
Someone once wrote and asked Emily Post, the etiquette expert of another generation, "What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House but has a previous engagement?"
Replied Post, "An invitation to dine at the White House is a command, and it automatically cancels any other engagement."
(Excerpt from the Vardaman’s October prayer email):
There is a greater invitation than this...
Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30).
Commenting on this passage, Oswald Chambers speaks of the humiliation of coming to Christ. We generally want to drag along all the things we are proud of or we ask where it is that God wants us to go and the great things He wants us to do. But he simply says, “Come.”
I quote: “When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.”
