-
I want us to experience Christ
more than anything.
-
I want us to know His presence.
-
I want us to know His power.
-
I want us to be familiar with
the workings of His Spirit.
-
I want us to fall more deeply in love.
-
I want us to know more of the cross.
-
I want to be able to enter in
more with His heart.
-
That's why I wanted to set Christ
before you yesterday.
-
That pattern.
-
I want you to see Him.
-
I want there to be something of
-
the Spirit of God working
through what we see,
-
burning in Him and have
that etched upon us.
-
I desire that.
-
And one of the texts
in the Scriptures
-
that I keep coming back to in my mind
-
over and over and over,
-
Lord, no matter what
You give us;
-
no matter if we see conversions;
-
no matter if we're
allowed to have
-
the privilege to be able
to plant churches
-
or go to the mission field
-
or send guys out.
-
If we see these young people,
and they're coming to us
-
and they're burning
with a passion;
-
I love those things!
-
I don't want those things to go away,
-
but I realize in the end of it,
-
Lord, if You don't give us more than that,
-
if You don't give us
a sense of Yourself...
-
and I come to the Scriptures and
over and over and over again
-
I find in John 14:21
-
I find this promise:
-
Christ saying,
-
"I will manifest Myself to you."
-
"I will manifest Myself."
-
What does that speak of?
-
It speaks of an experiential
interaction with Christ.
-
Manifestation.
-
There's an appeal to the senses.
-
Christ comes near in a way
-
that we feel, we sense,
-
there's something that we're
able to lay hold of.
-
And I guarantee you this,
-
when Christ comes near
-
in a manifest expression
of glory and presence,
-
it can't do anything but
cause us to burn.
-
It can't do anything but cause passion.
-
You cannot have Christ come near
-
except it does something in you.
-
It stirs you.
-
It creates heat.
-
It creates fire.
-
But I'll tell you this,
-
Christian, I'm speaking to you
-
that have a profession.
-
It's conditional.
-
He says if you have My commandments
-
and you keep them.
-
It's amazing how the church is today.
-
Oh, we can see this shift.
-
Are you guys going to be given up
to the providence we heard about?
-
Well, providentially, you know
what's happening today.
-
Everything's moving
away from the U.S.
-
It's going to China.
It's going to Korea.
-
Ok, are you just going to settle down
-
and settle for a nice, slow death?
-
And accept that providence?
-
Man, I can tell you, when we
were taking off on that work,
-
some brethren from the
Sovereign Grace circles
-
that I love, I love to
hear them preach;
-
they'd say things to me like,
-
"The Lord's done."
-
The Lord's done.
-
The second coming
has to be at hand.
-
There's no more.
-
We don't see anymore of the
workings of God.
-
We might as well throw in the towel.
-
I mean, there's providence folks.
-
They're all moving to Korea.
-
Underground church in China.
-
Ok, do that.
-
Just settle in.
-
Allow that.
-
Take that as providence.
-
Or you can rise up and say,
-
no, I'm going to bust
through that ceiling.
-
Because I'll tell you this,
-
you say you have any desire
-
for Christ to come near?
-
You say you have any desire
to experience more of Him
-
than you've ever
experienced in your life?
-
You say that?
-
Who was it? I think
it was Lloyd-Jones
-
that said,
-
Your desire for Christ;
your desire to know Him;
-
your desire for Him to draw near,
-
it's tested by your obedience.
-
Based on texts just like that.
-
In John 14:21 - just like that.
-
We say, oh, we want
Him to draw near.
-
We say we want revival.
-
We say we want these things.
-
We're like these pathetic
hyper-Calvinists.
-
Well, these were pretty
stirring meetings,
-
and what we're going to do,
-
we're going to sit back,
-
and we're going to
hope God does something.
-
You know what the basis
of hyper-Calvinism is?
-
It's basically saying this,
-
whether you're lost or
whether you're saved,
-
it's saying this,
-
I can't do something.
-
There's something that spiritually,
-
in and of myself,
-
I don't have the ability to carry out.
-
And so, I'm going to sit back
-
and I'm going to wait for God to do it.
-
And then I'm going to
jump on the bandwagon.
-
Those weren't hyper-Calvinists
-
that busted through that ceiling that day.
-
They said be done with that.
-
We want to get to Christ.
-
We want to be in His presence.
-
We're going to press
in to the inner place.
-
We don't care if we
knock some dirt
-
on the Pharisee's foreheads.
-
Let it fall on them.
-
We're getting in there.
-
Folks, I'm going to start and
I'm going to end this
-
by hitting on some men
that stayed at home
-
and they were faithful.
-
But I'll tell you what,
-
there was fire that burned there,
-
and they wanted this.
-
They wanted it.
-
I want the missionary endeavor
for a number of reasons.
-
But one of the things, folks,
that we have to come to grips with.
-
Matthew 28:18-20
-
We have a divine imperative.
-
And if we sit here in our nice
little safe comfortable places
-
and we wonder why; we sit
back, we don't do anything,
-
we wonder why?
-
Why are people going to sleep?
-
Why is this happening?
-
This is a point of obedience, folks.
-
We want to amass the resources.
-
We don't love to send people away.
-
We don't like to separate.
-
Folks, if we really have a good
-
estimation of the coming
eternality of things,
-
so be it.
-
So what?
-
Send them away.
-
You know what?
-
I don't expect that all these young guys
-
coming in to our church right now
-
are going to stay there.
-
And so be it.
-
You say you don't love them?
-
No, I do.
-
There are some of these guys
-
I would hate to see go away,
-
but you know what, if they
go off to the mission field;
-
if they go off somewhere
-
even if they ended
up like the Stam's.
-
Just in a few short months
after arriving out there,
-
they lost their heads.
-
Glory be to God.
-
You know what happened when
those two got their heads cut off?
-
It moved among the young
people in this country.
-
I think they had like
700 people after that
-
apply to the China Inland Mission.
-
I'll tell you what,
-
if Jonathan Diaz or one
of these other guys
-
put their head on the block
-
and it costs them their head
-
to have 700 more like him to
come along behind,
-
I'll take it.
-
Where is Jonathan?
-
That's not to say you're the
expendable one, brother.
-
Matthew 28:18
-
"Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
-
'All power is given unto Me in heaven
-
and in earth.
-
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
-
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
-
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost;
-
teaching them to observe all things
-
whatsoever I have commanded you,
-
and lo, I am with you alway.'"
-
Let that sink in.
-
Lo, I am with you alway,
even to the end of the world.
-
One of the greatest indications
-
this is not for the first century
apostles only
-
is right there.
-
I am with you to the end of the world.
-
I am with you to the end of the ages.
-
Amen.
-
Now yesterday, I attempted to show you
-
and convince you that
the Lord Jesus Christ
-
was sent from heaven by the Father
-
to this earth.
-
Not as some disinterested stoic.
-
He is that great missionary.
-
The apostle. The sent one.
-
Sent of His Father.
-
Sent from heaven.
-
Sent here full of passion
for the Father's honor.
-
Full of passion for
the souls of men.
-
He came from heaven.
-
He didn't leave His passions there
-
when He came.
-
He came with them.
-
He came with His tears.
-
He came with His
bowels of compassion.
-
He came full of a zeal
-
for His Father's honor and glory.
-
He didn't leave those things behind.
-
He didn't walk around like some
-
monotone robot on this world.
-
He brought those tears.
He brought that zeal.
-
He brought those bowels of love.
-
And He went right to where sinners were.
-
And the case I'm trying to make
-
is that if we don't likewise
possess something of
-
the heart and the soul of Jesus Christ
-
burning in our own souls,
-
we can ever forget about missions.
-
It's not going to happen.
-
But the thing is
we can't forget about it.
-
Because we have what we have
-
right there in Matthew 28.
-
Folks,
-
He said this:
-
"As the Father hath sent Me,
-
even so I am sending you."
-
Here's the thing.
-
Lo, I am with you always.
-
And this is the thing I want you to see.
-
He's promised to be with us
-
even to the end of the world.
-
He walks at our side.
-
Though I can't see Him.
-
Though I can't physically lay
my fingers right now
-
where Thomas laid his.
-
He's promised.
-
Think about it.
-
He hasn't changed.
-
Does Christ change?
-
The very passions He came
to this earth with
-
burn in His heart now.
-
And He's promised,
"I'm with you."
-
He's promised to walk at our side
-
still with Him burning;
-
all this intensity, all this fervor,
-
bidding us onward in the
missionary endeavor.
-
Our Lord says go.
-
Go to the nations.
-
Go teach them.
Go disciple them.
-
Go baptize them.
-
Give the nations My commandments.
-
And I'm convinced, it's only those
-
gripped by this heart,
-
by this heat of Christ,
-
who are going to pull this off.
-
Here's Spurgeon.
-
He stayed at home.
-
But listen to the heart of
this man that stayed at home.
-
I don't even know what number,
-
what percentage of men,
-
would have been sent out of
the Metropolitan Tabernacle.
-
I didn't look into that.
-
I'll tell you another man
-
who sits at home.
-
Not doing nothing sitting;
-
Maybe I should say
he stands at home.
-
He runs at home.
-
Look at a guy like John Piper.
-
I can remember sitting in a meeting
-
over in Owensboro,
-
and having a man bring up this fact.
-
That Bethlehem sent out
-
80 missionaries in one summer.
-
More than the collective group of churches
-
being represented in that place
at that time
-
in their 35 year history.
-
What is it that burns in
a man like Piper?
-
What is it that burns in a
man like Spurgeon?
-
I'm wondering that, because
-
I'm seeking to pastor a church
-
and keep that fire alive at home.
-
Here's what he says,
-
Spurgeon meditating on
Matthew 28:18, 19
-
He says, "While I
was meditating in private
-
upon this text, I felt myself
-
carried away by its power.
-
I was quite unable calmly to
consider its terms,
-
or to investigate its argument.
-
The command with which
the text concludes
-
repeated itself again
and again and again
-
in my ears, till I found it
impossible to study,
-
for my thoughts were running
hither and thither
-
asking a thousand questions,
-
all of them intended to help me
-
in answering for myself the
solemn inquiry.
-
How am I to go and teach
all nations,
-
baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost?
-
My ears seemed to hear it as if
-
Christ were then speaking it to me.
-
I could realize His presence by my side.
-
I thought I could see Him
lifted His peirced hand,
-
and hear Him speak as
He was wont to speak
-
with authority blended with meekness.
-
Go ye, and teach all nations,
-
baptizing them in the name of
the all glorious God.
-
Oh, I would that the church
could hear the Savior
-
addressing these words to her now.
-
For the words of Christ
are living words.
-
Not having power in them
yesterday alone,
-
but today also.
-
The injunctions of the Savior
-
are perpetual in their obligation.
-
They were not binding
on apostles merely,
-
but upon us also.
-
And upon every Christian does
this yoke fall.
-
We're not exempt today from the
-
service of the first followers
of the Lamb.
-
Our marching orders are the
same as theirs.
-
And our Captain requires from
us obedience,
-
as prompt and perfect
-
as from them.
-
Oh, that His message may not
fall upon..."
-
now listen to this!
-
"Oh, that His message
-
may not fall upon deaf ears,
-
or be heard by stolid souls."
-
Do you know what that word is?
-
Indifferent, stupid, dense,
dry, dull.
-
Spurgeon continuing,
-
"Brethren, the heathen are perishing.
-
Shall we let them perish?
-
His name is blasphemed.
-
Shall we be quiet and still?
-
The honor of Christ is cast into the dust.
-
His foes revile His person
and resist His throne.
-
Shall we, His soldiers, suffer this
-
and not find our hands feeling
for the hilt of our sword?
-
The Sword of the Spirit,
-
which is the Word of God.
-
Our Lord delayeth His coming.
-
Shall we begin to sleep?
-
To eat?
-
To be drunken?
-
Shall we not rather gird up
the loins of our mind
-
and cry unto Him,
-
'Come, Lord Jesus,
come quickly!'
-
The scoffing skeptics of these last days
-
have said that the anticipated conquest
-
of the world for Christ is but a dream.
-
It is asserted by some
-
that the superstitions of the heathens
-
are too strong to be battered down
-
by our teachings.
-
And that the strongholds of Satan
-
are utterly impregnable
against our attacks.
-
Shall it be so?
-
Shall we be content
foolishly to sit still?"
-
And he continues,
-
"Oh, that there were might
-
in some human lip
-
to move the thousands of our Isreal
-
to advance at once,
-
unanimously and irresistably
-
to the world's conquest.
-
Like one tremendous tide rising
-
from the depths of the ocean
-
to sweep over the sands,
the barren sands,
-
which are now given up to
desolation and death.
-
Oh that once again the voice
of thunder could be heard."
-
And right here - this is
the point I'm driving at.
-
"And that the lightning spirit
could penetrate each heart.
-
And as one man the entire church
-
might take the marching orders
-
of her Lord and go teach all nations,
-
baptizing them in the
name of Israel's God.
-
Oh, Lord, if we fail to speak,
-
fail not Thou to speak.
-
And if we know not how to
bear Thy burden,
-
or express Thine awful thoughts,
-
yet speak that with Thou
all-constraining silent voice
-
which well trained ears can hear.
-
And make Thy servants obedient
-
to Thee now for Christ's sake.
-
Folks, that's it.
-
It's the lightning spirit
penetrating each heart.
-
And my point is this,
-
you can try to evade this if you want.
-
But you show me an individual,
-
you show me a church,
a collective group of churches
-
that is raising up men and women
-
for far away places,
-
sending them forth, planting churches,
-
experiencing the saving power of God,
-
and I'll tell you what,
-
somebody there has lightning spirit.
-
Someone's excited.
Someone's impassioned.
-
You show me your great resources.
-
Show me all your money.
-
Show me your brilliant scholars
with their high IQ's.
-
And you know what?
-
I'll in turn show you the guy
-
who has the gut level,
unstoppable lightning and desire.
-
I remember some years ago,
-
I think it was right after I
was first saved.
-
I listened to a lot of John
MacArthur in those days.
-
I can remember a message that
he did in 2 Thessalonians.
-
And I looked that up because
-
I thought it had something particularly
-
applicable to what I wanted to say today.
-
Here's MacArthur speaking,
and I quote to you,
-
"I remember standing with Russ Hodge
-
on the infield at the
University of Oregon
-
watching the triangular decathlon meet
-
between the USSR, Poland, and
The United States.
-
Russ was the coach of the
American team.
-
He was the former world record holder
-
in the decathlon.
-
And I was standing
there with him
-
watching the greatest
athletes in the world
-
preparing to begin the meet."
-
MacArthur says, "there were
some great Russian athletes.
-
There was one who was
a massive giant of a man.
-
Just an awesome human specimen.
-
There was a great Polish athlete.
-
There were some tremendous Americans.
-
I said to Russ,
-
'Who is the greatest athlete here?'
-
He pointed to a rather
slender live young man.
-
He said, 'he's the greatest athlete here.'
-
He, by the way, is an
outstanding Christian.
-
I said, 'that's wonderful
to know. Will he win?'
-
He said, 'No, he won't win.'
-
I said, 'What do you mean
he won't win?
-
If he's the greatest athlete here,
-
who will win?'
-
He said, 'See that guy running
around the track?
-
That rather short guy over there
with the blonde wife?
-
You've never heard of him.
-
His name is Bruce Jenner.
-
He'll win.'
-
I said, 'Well, why will he win it
if he's not the greatest athlete?'
-
He says, 'Because though he doesn't
have the greatest sheer talent,
-
he's the most mentally tough competitor
-
I've ever seen in my life.'
-
Sure enough, the second day
in the twilight
-
as he finished the distance event,
-
number 10 event in the decathlon,
-
he came through the winner.
-
And two years later, the whole world
-
knew who he was as he
circled the track in Montreal
-
with a flag in his hand.
-
He had won the gold
medal in the Olympics.
-
He was named the greatest
athlete in the world."
-
I'll tell you what - here's the thing.
-
It wasn't the greatest sheer talent
that took the day.
-
It was the greatest passion.
-
The greatest gut-level intensity.
-
That's where the drive;
that's where the determination;
-
that's where the obsession
grabs hold of a man.
-
That's what takes the day.
-
That's how it is in the
Christian missionary endeavor.
-
It's the raw passion that tends
to take the day.
-
It's not always the greatest gifts,
the greatest talents,
-
the greatest wealth,
the greatest intellect
-
that comes through in the end.
-
You know what?
-
I thought as I was preparing this
-
about Peter.
-
I can imagine this.
-
The Lord sends away the disciples.
-
They jump in the boat.
-
You know, we find them on
various occasions in the Gospels.
-
They're out there on the waters;
-
Sea of Galilee.
-
And was wont to happen,
-
the wind whips up,
the waves get big.
-
They get out there in the middle.
-
Sometimes they had
the Lord with them;
-
sometimes they didn't.
-
On this one occasion, they're out there.
-
The Lord had stayed behind.
-
And you know they're out
there on the water.
-
And they saw something you
typically don't see.
-
There's a guy walking
across the water.
-
And they were terrified.
-
They thought they saw a ghost.
-
But here's the thing.
-
Think with me about Peter.
-
Because I think what happened right there,
-
it's the perfect picture
-
of the missionary endeavor.
-
It's the perfect picture
of what I want to see
-
in our church.
-
And I think would probably want to be seen
-
here as well.
-
And in the other churches.
-
You know, the thing about
people with passion,
-
all you've got to do is give it
an opportunity to run loose,
-
and it goes.
-
And the one thing you
can't say about Peter
-
is that he lacked passion.
-
He's in the boat.
-
They're out there,
terrified at first.
-
The Lord identifies Himself.
-
The King James says it was a ship.
-
It was probably not so much
what we think of as a ship.
-
You've probably seen
some of the pictures
-
of some of the fishing crafts
-
that they had over there
in the Sea of Galilee.
-
I don't know what it would take
-
to have gotten out of that.
-
I don't know if a
hand on the side
-
and a jump over the side?
-
But here's the Lord.
-
"Come."
-
I'll tell you what,
Peter's out of there!
-
That's what passion does.
-
It's looking for opportunity.
-
And somebody's going
to come along and say,
-
yeah, but Peter sunk.
-
Hey, Peter also walked
on the water.
-
The people who jump out of the boat,
-
typically do sink at times.
-
But they're the ones that jump
out of the boat.
-
And that's what passion does.
-
His affection.
-
Why do you think he
was out of the boat?
-
Not because it was such a
neat thing to walk on the water.
-
He had his eyes
set on Christ - at first.
-
Yeah, he got sidetracked a
little bit there,
-
but there's passion.
-
There's passion for Christ.
-
"Come!"
-
He's out of there!
-
Isn't that "come" a
whole lot like "go?"
-
He's out of there!
-
Give him a chance - he's out of there.
-
What've you got the other
guys doing?
-
They're sitting tight where it's safe.
-
You know, we've got to
analyze this thing.
-
We might step out of that boat,
-
and we may not
have the resources.
-
We may go to the bottom.
-
That's what the overanalyzers are doing.
-
They're over there.
-
They're trying to
figure this out.
-
Hm... we're not really certain
if this is going to work out.
-
People with passion,
they're out there.
-
They at times will definitely sink.
-
But it's people with the passion,
-
it's people with the daring,
-
it's people with the believing.
-
Yes, they do tend to fail at times.
-
But they're the ones doing something.
-
We need that.
-
The ones with passion;
the ones that run;
-
The ones that step out on faith;
-
they're the ones typically
that see the miracles.
-
We have come to the point in this country
-
especially among the Calvinistic brethren,
-
where even the sound of miracles
-
just grates in the ears of people.
-
But I guarantee you people like
-
Lloyd-Jones saw them;
-
people like Tozer saw them;
-
people like Duncan Campbell saw them.
-
Why?
-
It may have a lot more to do with faith
-
than the fact that they were wild-eyed
charismatics who didn't know their Bibles.
-
And I'll tell you what,
-
it's typically the people with passion;
-
it's people that are willing
to jump out of the boat;
-
it's people willing to trust the Lord;
-
it's people that are willing to
go when they're beckoned.
-
You know what?
-
Every one of them could have jumped
-
out of that boat in faith,
-
and they would have walked on that water.
-
It takes just a little faith.
-
Folks, you can cast a whole
mountain into the ocean.
-
That goes for everybody.
-
We have this problem today.
-
Everybody's so worried about
being presumptuous.
-
Everybody wants to be cautious.
-
Overanalyzing.
-
But I'll tell you what,
-
the overly cautious,
the overly analyzing;
-
they're back in the boat.
-
In fact, a whole lot of those folks
-
are back on the shore.
-
They're not even in the boat.
-
They didn't even come that far.
-
There's old William Carey.
-
We've heard about him;
talked about him.
-
Some of his contemporaries
told him, sit down!
-
They told him he was an enthusiast.
-
Those nice high Calvinists;
-
they told him he was certain to fail.
-
Those are the guys
sitting back in the boat.
-
And you don't even know
most of their names.
-
And you won't find them unless you
-
go read about Carey
-
and find about the guys who resisted him.
-
They're forgotten.
-
The boat sitters are forgotten.
-
I'm not saying this to make
yourself popular.
-
I'm saying it because it's reality.
-
History forgets those guys.
-
They don't have anything to offer us.
-
Carey does.
-
There was some faith there.
-
There was some fire there.
-
There's something to learn.
-
Carey jumped out of that boat.
-
Or rather, down into the well,
-
as we would say.
-
Did he make mistakes?
-
Certainly he did.
-
Did he receive criticism from others?
-
You better believe it.
-
Even Calvinistic Baptists, absolutely.
-
But who is it that turned the
world upside down?
-
It was the enthusiast!
-
That's exactly who it was.
-
And his enthusiastic
friends who stayed at home.
-
The critics are forgotten.
-
Peter's such an excellent
example of all this.
-
It's passion, brethren.
-
It really is that.
-
It's just that raw power of God
-
let loose in people's lives.
-
And you can read about it.
-
It burned in the men like
-
the Hudson Taylors and the
Adoniram Judson's,
-
the William Carey's.
-
We need that, brethren,
we need that.
-
As I thought about this,
-
I thought about, ok,
let's come around at this
-
from the other end.
-
Let's supposed you're out there,
-
and you don't like passion.
-
In fact, my message has just
been grating on you.
-
Ok, what I'm going to do
is I'm going to help you now.
-
I'd like to show you how to
-
kill passion in your people,
in your churches,
-
and in yourself.
-
If you don't like it;
-
if you see it to be dangerous,
-
upsetting, unhealthy.
-
I'm going to give you a
four-step remedy
-
to the infectious disease of
-
passionate radicals in your church.
-
And this will take care of
all the enthusiasts.
-
Here it is.
-
First,
-
just hate passion.
-
In other words,
-
whenever anybody in
the church gets excited;
-
any unusual fervor,
any extraordinary weeping,
-
and indication of some
Spirit-blown, God-endued intensity,
-
make certain that you always
-
and forever question the sincerity of it.
-
Always.
-
I mean they've got
to be hypocrites, right?
-
Nobody can be like that.
-
If somebody raises a hand,
-
somebody shouts a hallelujah,
-
be sure to stare at them
-
with that dooming
glare of disapproval.
-
A pastor friend of mine,
-
Bob Jennings.
-
The guy gets worked up.
-
He was at a Banner of Truth conference.
-
Halfway through it, he shouted
out a hallelujah.
-
They called him down on that!
-
They told him, enough.
-
You close your mouth.
-
You're going to be here,
we don't want any of that.
-
Yeah, make sure you do that.
-
Anytime that kind of thing breaks out,
you better shut it down.
-
Anytime some uncontrolled weeping
breaks out,
-
you better have somebody stand up
in the church and say enough!
-
We don't want anymore of that.
-
We need to shut this thing down.
-
Second,
-
you want to get the passion out?
-
Just regulate the worship so tightly,
-
be so ordered, so mechanical
-
in the church that any spontaneous
-
outworking of the Spirit of God
-
can never be entertained.
-
Avoid at all costs any opportunity
-
for something supernatural or unusual.
-
Try every imaginable way to
quench the Spirit.
-
You certainly don't want the living,
-
fiery influences of the Spirit of God
blowing through the place.
-
He and passion live together.
-
If you want the zealots
and fanatics gone,
-
you better really grieve the Spirit.
-
Third,
-
overanalyze everything.
-
Make certain that whenever some
-
opportunity for outreach or missions
-
or radical, sacrificial
giving comes along.
-
Make certain you examine it,
-
re-examine it,
-
and when you've done,
-
you've got to start
that all over again.
-
Make certain to delay, draw out,
-
pray for things indefinitely.
-
Just disregard the command
that says, "Go."
-
That's not enough.
-
You've got to look for at least
-
30 or 40 other reasons first.
-
Make sure you do that.
-
That's where the guys are left
back in the boat.
-
Where Peter walked on the water.
-
Christ said, "Come!"
-
He was out of there.
-
But you've got to do that.
-
You've got to
overanalyze everything.
-
You've got to look at it;
you've got to question it.
-
Till everybody in the church
-
that had any passion are asleep.
-
See, if we do that, we're
likely to make some mistakes.
-
Some bad mistakes.
-
You know what?
You're going to.
-
Get over that.
-
People with passion do
make mistakes.
-
So what?
-
They also walk on water.
-
Fourth,
-
You want to kill it?
-
Just keep on laying a good soil
-
for hyper-Calvinism.
-
Oh, we would never admit to it.
-
But, I'll tell you what,
-
all you've got to do
is look at Matthew 25.
-
What is it?
-
Faith working through love.
-
I expressed to you out of Galatians 5.
-
And you see it worked out in
Matthew 25.
-
You know what?
-
There you have people who are
-
giving themselves to the needs of others.
-
Just be content in your church
-
to have people be on time on Sundays,
-
be on time on Wednesdays;
-
get to where the prayer meetings
-
are about Aunt Tilda's toe,
-
and everything is about all of our
-
physical needs and breakdowns
and sicknesses and illness.
-
Nobody ever prays for souls anymore.
-
Just be content.
-
Yeah, they're at church twice a week.
-
They're faithful to do that.
-
They're on time.
-
They have their little
daily devotional deal.
-
Just be content with that.
-
They never reach out.
-
They never really touch sinners.
-
They never do any of that.
-
Be content with that.
-
You may call it what you want.
-
But there's practical
hyper-Calvinism there.
-
Just let that breed;
let that live;
-
be content with that.
-
Never get in somebody's face and
-
really expect them, encourage them,
-
stir them up to faith, to good works,
-
to zeal, to love.
-
Just leave them alone.
-
Tell them it's ok.
-
I'm happy you're on time.
-
That's good.
-
I'm happy your life is all
well-ordered,
-
and you don't run around in
the brothels anymore.
-
Just be content with that.
-
You've missed the heart.
-
Get out there.
-
Visit the widow.
Visit the orphan.
-
Do some things.
-
Radically give.
-
What is this?
-
We've got too many
today in the churches
-
that are all about this
legalistic tithing.
-
You guys, we're one of the richest nations
-
ever lived in the history of mankind.
-
And you know what makes me sick?
-
And I don't know if
I've ever even seen this,
-
but the thought of it is sick to me.
-
That someone would even write out
-
a check in an off dollar amount
-
just to get the percentage right.
-
What are you doing?
-
Is your heart really for people?
-
It is for zeal for God?
-
What are you living your life for?
-
To give the minimal amount?
-
You guys have more than you
know what to do with.
-
You say, well, it's an
economic hard time.
-
Oh yeah, how many
cars do you have?
-
Look at your house.
-
Look at what you're doing
with your money.
-
Look at your savings accounts.
-
Look at the things
you're saving up for.
-
When Christ said not to lay up
-
treasure on this earth.
-
Just plant that good seed for
hyper-Calvinism.
-
Be content with it.
-
We need to get in people's faces
-
and say live the real thing!
-
Live the heart of the matter.
-
Go out and visit the widow.
-
Live your life this way.
-
Visit the stranger.
-
Give yourself radically.
-
If it's to stay
here in this country,
-
then work your life away,
-
to give the most that you possibly can.
-
Live not equal with your means,
-
above your means,
-
if you've got neck-deep
in credit card debt,
-
what are you doing?
-
What are you living for?
-
You're living for this world.
-
Just allow that to go on
unstopped, unchecked in the church.
-
We'll all be dead.
-
Hyper-Calvinism
-
Let me tell you this.
-
I'm aware,
-
most of us are going to be at home.
-
I think, ok, what is it to really
-
pull through at home?
-
Keep that missionary cause
before our churches.
-
Not just our own
church, but others.
-
Keep our people with
some intensity.
-
We want our people
praying for the right things.
-
Broken over souls.
-
You know how it is.
-
Brother Joe's got the sniffles.
-
Wasn't able to be here tonight.
-
Got to pray for him.
-
I'm not out there in left field.
-
Aunt Tilda's sore toe folks.
-
Are we praying for the things
that really matter?
-
And praying with some intensity
-
like they really matter to us?
-
If we had any aliveness to us,
-
it would just make us shout and scream.
-
Are we fasting?
-
You guys find it even
within your lifestyle,
-
even within your willingness
-
to set aside times to fast?
-
And give yourself to particular prayer
-
towards the needs of
those in other places?
-
What is it that's going to fuel
-
an atmosphere like this at home?
-
I ask myself that.
-
I look at who has sent missionaries forth
-
and done it well.
-
Who's been faithful on the home front
-
all the way to the end?
-
What men, what churches,
stand out as having
-
that sort of reputation?
-
Because whoever they are,
wherever they are,
-
I want to see what it is that makes
people like that tick.
-
As I thought about this,
-
it occurred to me that
-
I don't know that there
are any more famous -
-
there may have been some
that have done it better,
-
but I don't know that there are
-
any more famous rope holders.
-
Men who stayed at home,
-
serving the missionary cause,
-
than those men who did support Carey.
-
Now, let me tell you about these guys.
-
You may know the names of some of these.
-
Andrew Fuller.
-
John Sutcliffe.
-
Samuel Pierce.
-
John Ryland, Jr.
-
These are some of the guys.
-
Let me tell you about these guys.
-
They were a whole lot like us.
-
They pastored little Baptist churches.
-
It doesn't take a big
church to be faithful.
-
It doesn't take enormous
resources to be faithful.
-
I started thinking about these guys.
-
They were faithful.
-
Listen to Fuller's quote,
-
"Our undertaking to India
-
really appeared to me on its commencement,
-
to be somewhat like a few men
-
who were deliberating about the importance
-
of penetrating into a deep mine,
-
which had never before been explored.
-
We had no one to guide us,
-
and while we were thus deliberating,
-
Carey, as it were, said,
-
'Well, I will go down,
if you will hold the rope.'
-
But before we went down,
-
continued Fuller,
-
he as it seemed to me
-
took an oath from each of us
-
at the mouth of the pit to this effect,
-
that we, while we lived,
-
should never let go of the rope.
-
You understand me?
-
There was great responsibility
-
attached to us who began the business."
-
And as one has said,
-
whether we stay at home or
whether we go,
-
we should all have our hands burned
-
by that rope.
-
And folks, these men had the burn marks
-
and the scars.
-
I'm talking the guys
that stayed at home.
-
Not the Marshman's, not
the Carey's, not the Ward's.
-
I'm talking these guys: the Pierce,
-
the Ryland, the Sutcliffe, the Fuller;
-
the men that stayed at home.
-
They had the burn marks on their hand.
-
And I'm thinking, ok,
what is it about these guys?
-
I began to dig.
-
I began to look through
some of my books,
-
and look on the
Internet for some things.
-
I discovered something very interesting.
-
Before Carey went to India,
-
listen to this,
-
on Wednesday, April 27, 1791
-
a special meeting was held
-
by the ministers of the
Northamptonshire Baptist Association.
-
Hear this,
-
in which both Sutcliffe and Fuller
-
preached back-to-back.
-
Now listen.
-
25 years later, the pastor of the church,
-
there in Clipston, where
the special meeting was held,
-
he recalled the deep
solemnity that covered the place
-
and how the entire
congregation was overwhelmed
-
by what it had heard.
-
Now listen to this.
-
John Ryland - he wasn't one of the
guys that preached,
-
but he was one of the
rope holders as well.
-
Being there that day
-
having listened to these
two moving sermons,
-
said that he and all with
whom he talked afterwards
-
felt a profound conviction
of their great need for zeal.
-
That's what they were impacted by.
-
They realized that's what they needed.
-
Zeal.
-
And they were persuaded of the evil
-
of negligence and procrastination.
-
I read that. I began thinking to myself,
-
ok, wait, I've got to
find these two sermons.
-
They met together
back-to-back that day.
-
I began to look.
Is it even possible
-
to find that message by Sutcliffe;
that message by Fuller?
-
I found out that that indeed is the only
-
full surviving sermon
of Sutcliffe available.
-
I had it in the appendix
of one of my books.
-
I was able to find Fuller's sermon online.
-
Let me tell you a little bit about these.
-
Fuller's sermon is called,
-
"The Pernicious Influence of Delay
in Religious Concerns."
-
Fuller took his text that day from
Haggai 1:2.
-
The Jews, you remember this,
-
had returned from Babylonian exile
-
and they refused to get to work
-
on the rebuilding of the temple.
-
The Lord accused His people of saying
-
the time is not come.
-
The time that the Lord's
house should be built.
-
And here's the thing.
-
Fuller, seeing the
procrastination of the Jews
-
in delaying to rebuild the temple,
-
thinking the time has not come,
-
makes this point.
-
Now hear this well.
-
"To put off things to another time,
-
like the task of missions,
-
implies a lurking dislike
to the things themselves.
-
We do not ordinarily do so,
-
except in things wherein
we have no delight.
-
Whatever our hearts are set upon,
-
we're for losing no time
till it is accomplished."
-
Do you guys hear what he's saying?
-
You don't procrastinate
about what you love.
-
You only put off and
are slow to accomplish
-
the things you have no passion for.
-
You know why the guys didn't put off
-
getting to Christ?
-
When they had the palsied man?
-
Because there was a passion there.
-
We've got to get to Christ!
-
Then, there's Sutcliffe's sermon.
-
His was actually first.
-
I hold it to last here
-
because boy, he hit this thing
on the mark.
-
Now remember, folks,
-
these are the guys who stayed faithful.
-
And they're aware of their need of zeal.
-
And they're aware that you don't
-
procrastinate about what you
-
have a zeal for.
-
Sutcliffe
-
His message was called,
-
"Jealousy for the Lord of Hosts."
-
As Sutcliffe closed out his sermon,
-
he sees each Christian as a light
-
in this world.
-
He sees each of these
individual lights,
-
though somewhat small in themselves,
-
all put together collectively
-
and scattered in the missionary cause
-
around the world
-
so that like the sun,
-
they might endeavor to enlighten
-
the whole earth.
-
Let them be disbursed
-
so that the whole globe
might be illuminated.
-
And then he says this
-
"Nothing. Nothing will prompt you
-
on in this way, so to act,
-
like the divine passion;
the celestial fire
-
that burned in the bosom and
blazed in the life of Elijah.
-
What love! What zeal!
-
What activity become you when
-
thus employed.
-
Animated with jealousy for the
Lord God of Hosts,
-
you will be like the Son when
He goeth forth in His strength,
-
or like an army terrible with banners.
-
Under the divine smile,
Satan will fall before you
-
like lightning from heaven.
-
His power be broken.
-
His policy confounded.
-
While the empire of
Jesus shall advance.
-
His Kingdom arise and
the crown flourish upon His head."
-
Brethren, I'm telling you,
-
these men rose up out of the
-
dead hyper-Calvinism of their day
-
They sent men into the mine.
-
They held the rope
and they knew,
-
nothing short of God-given desire,
-
heart, divine passion, celestial fire,
-
love, zeal, jealousy for
the Lord God of Hosts.
-
That's it, brethren.
-
That's what I've been trying
to say, to prove, to show.
-
May God help us.
-
Our time is short.
-
As I wanted to stress.
-
Look, where do you get this?
-
You've got to go up on the holy mountain.
-
That's where the fire comes from.
-
You've got to go there.
-
If you're going to be content
to spend the rest of your life
-
in front of the television,
and waste it away,
-
and chasing money,
-
it's not happening.
-
Look.
-
You want to get away from
the hyper-Calvinism?
-
You don't say, well, what we
really need here
-
is for God to move.
-
You know what we find
through the Scriptures?
-
Through history?
-
It's like Tozer said.
-
God moved when and where
His people moved.
-
Move!
-
That's what faith does.
-
Faith moves.
-
And it trusts, as I move,
-
the resources are coming.
-
I'm going to step out.
-
Brethren, I can tell you
in these seven years,
-
the folks in our church can tell you,
-
how many times we
haven't been able to see.
-
It's been black out there.
-
And we've felt like certainly
-
this is in line with the Great Commission.
-
Let's step.
-
We don't see where we're stepping.
-
We can't see anything.
-
And sometimes I've wondered.
-
And I've always thought,
-
Lord, if You let us fall on our face,
-
it's going to come back to You.
-
But every time, you know what?
-
Not once.
Not once!
-
We have stepped out there.
-
He's held us up.
-
We've got to have these
passions of Christ
-
etched upon us.
-
We've got to have faith.
-
We've got to take this step.
-
Don't wait.
-
If you folks here at Community realized,
-
yes, it's true.
-
There's been a slide off in a direction
-
we don't like.
-
We want to see something.
-
You can not live on the past.
-
You've got to live today.
-
You've got a responsibility today.
-
What are you going to do?
-
I'm going to sit here an wait
until God does something.
-
Then you're going to wait a long time.
-
No, what you've got to do is
-
you've got to step out.
-
You say, ok, if you
come to the place,
-
you say something's wrong.
-
Something's wrong in my own life.
-
Yes, there's a coldness.
-
Then go get on the holy mount.
-
And go there and keep going there.
-
And stay there.
-
And give yourself some time.
-
I heard Paul Washer say before
-
that you know he has churches
-
that come to him and they've got problems
-
or there's weaknesses or
something's lacking,
-
and he tells them,
-
what you need to
do is you need to
-
gather the whole
church together
-
and you guys need
to go to fasting
-
until God breaks through.
-
And he says they
don't listen to him.
-
And then they wonder
why it doesn't work out.
-
What's our lives taken up with?
-
We have a battle to fight here.
-
And the power we need.
-
This passion isn't something
derived in ourselves.
-
It comes from the Spirit of God.
-
Till you have that image
-
etched upon us, we need that fire
from the altar.
-
We need this coming together.
-
We've got a mission.
-
But we've got to have passion
-
to bring together with this thing.
-
They knew it.
-
25 years later, they knew it.
-
After they heard these sermons.
-
We've got to have zeal.
-
And I'll tell you what,
-
they were faithful.
-
Sutcliffe was faithful to the end.
-
Fuller. He was faithful to the end.
-
These guys went the whole distance.
-
What are we doing?
-
Are we falling out of the ranks?
-
It's not time to fall out yet.
-
Our journey's not done.
-
For some of us, we're just
at the beginning.
-
We don't know how much time we've left.
-
Eternity hastens.
-
Look, it's not how I say this.
-
It's not how our
brother earlier says this.
-
You've got to have something
-
that only comes from God.
-
And unless you're
determined to have it
-
at all costs,
-
or die trying to get it,
-
I'll tell you what,
-
there's got to be a resignation.
-
If you want to experience the
manifest presence of Christ,
-
you want to experience that power,
-
you want to ungrieve
the Spirit of God,
-
if that's what's happened;
-
there's got to be obedience,
-
there's got to be
resignation in your life.
-
You've got to lay it all down.
-
You've got to lay it out
there on the altar.
-
We heard Matt say last week,
-
what things did you give up early on
-
in your Christian life that now
-
you're kind of drifting back to.
-
What idols did you put away,
-
that now, you're just
kind of comfortably
-
crawling in there with?
-
What are the things in your life
that are eating up your time?
-
What are your excuses for not
-
spending the time that you
ought to be spending?
-
You cannot just pray these little,
-
flippant prayers and read Psalm 117
-
and think, yeah, we're going to find
-
the fire that way.
-
We're going to do our little thing.
-
And then we're just going to
get on with our life.
-
We're going to tag it on there.
-
It's going to be this nice little thing.
-
Somehow, it's all going
to work out in the end.
-
Look.
-
I'm not satisfied with that.
-
I don't want to be in a
church that's dead like that.
-
If our church dies,
if that happens sometime,
-
I want to go.
-
Or have God kill me.
-
I don't want to be there.
-
I don't want to walk through this life
-
useless and burned out.
-
We want to be the bright and shining
-
and burning lights like John the Baptist.
-
I realize problems come.
-
Some of you may have
fallen out of ranks
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because life got too hard.
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Let me tell you about Fuller.
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He lost 8 of his 11 children,
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and then his wife.
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You think that's harder than
what you've gone through?
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And he stayed true to the end.
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In fact, maybe that's what we need.
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I don't want to call down suffering on us,
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but maybe that is what we need.
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Our lives have just been too soft,
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too cushy.
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We've had too much.
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May God bring us whatever we need,
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whether it's poverty,
whether it's persecution.
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Just to light us on fire.
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Don't. Don't be content
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to let the missionary fires move away.
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Yes, let them go to China.
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But don't let them depart here.
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And even if good
brethren come along
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and say to you, I think it's all over.
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I think we're done in this country.
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Don't buy it.
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Don't accept it.
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If you're ok with that,
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well then go into your monastery,
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lay down in your nice, sterile
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reformed environment,
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and just let the world
go on its way to hell.
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But you're not going to be the
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people that will be used.
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It's going to be the ones that burn
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with Christlikeness;
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that take it off the altar of God
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and go forth in obedience
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to what we've been told to do.
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We've got a responsibility.
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If you're not going in the mine,
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you've got a responsibility to hold it.
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That commission is to the church.
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It's to us.
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And it's to the end of this age.
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We cannot go to sleep.
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We cannot slumber.
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Brethren, God forbid
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that we drop the baton.
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Spurgeon's dead.
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Carey's dead.
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Sutcliffe, Fuller, Pierce, Ryland.
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Folks, they're gone.
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This is our day.
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This is our generation.
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May God help us to be faithful.
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Amen.