Habakkuk – Finding God In Tough Times

  Join us at Walnut Street Baptist Church  on May 17, 24, and 31 at 11:00am as we begin our new teaching series, “Finding God In Tough Times.”  We are located on the corner of 3rd Street and St. Catherine in downtown Louisville. 

Deep Impact: Evangelism As A Way Of Life

New Wednesday Night Study: Join us on Wednesday Night (January 21 & 28 @ 6pm) as we dig deeper in our study of the “Great Commission.”

Key topics we will explore:

-Evangelism as a Discipline

-Is the sinner’s prayer biblical?

-What is the Gospel?

-How do I start conversations about the Gospel?

-How do I share Christ with my children?

-How do I handle hostility, questions and resistance?

-How do I pray for those who do not know Christ?

New Series

New Teaching Series:  Join us Sunday Mornings at Walnut Street Baptist Church (January 18- February 15) as Pastor Mark teaches on the “Great Commission.”  We want to be a “Great Commission” church that is filled with disciples making disciples.  In this teaching series, Pastor Mark will take us to God’s Word and challenge us to be intentional about sharing Jesus Christ with those we interact with on a daily basis.

Here is the Teaching Series Schedule:

January 18       “Goin Fishin: The Mandate”        (Mark 1:16-20)

January 25       “Goin Fishin: The Motivations”    (2 Corinthians 5:9-18)

February 1       “Goin Fishin: The Message         (Selected)

February 8       “Goin Fishin: The Method           (1 Peter 3:13-15)

February 15     “Goin Fishin: The Maturity          (Luke 14:25-35)

Joseph: Tremendous Truths For Troubled Times

Have you ever imagined being in Joseph’s shoes?  He is in a predicament.  He is a righteous man.  He is betrothed to a chaste young woman.  His future looks bright as he maps out plans to build a family with his soon-to-be bride.

But then he hears the shocking news, Mary is pregnant.  This is no small dilemma for Joseph, especially since he is not the father of the child.  What would you do? What happened in his life is worthy of note this morning. It may help you and me when our dreams are shattered.  From Joseph we learn some tremendous truths for troubled times.

1. Trust God When You Are Confused.

Matthew 1:18-19= “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.”

So, as you can imagine, Joseph has a real problem on his hands.  He has a young teenager who is pregnant.  But it is not his child.  What is he going to do?

According to the law, if a young lady was found to be unfaithful before her marriage took place, one of three things could happen.  She could be stoned to death.  The husband to be could make a public disgrace of her and a public spectacle of her or he could put her away privately.

At this point, Joseph is full of confusion.  He is full of doubt.  He doubted Mary.  He doubted her character.  He doubted her purity.  He doubted her virginity. Maybe he doubted God, because even though Mary had by now told him that God was the father of the child, he didn’t believe God could do this.  Then, he doubted himself because he didn’t know what to do. Should he break off the engagement?  Well, that is exactly what he decided to do.

Verse 19= “And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.”

Joseph now has a big decision on his hands.  Was he going to trust God’s or not?  Please don’t think this was easy for Joseph to still go along with what God wanted.

According to History there were three theories concerning Mary’s pregnancy. Some said the baby was Joseph’s and that actually he was a fornicator.  Others said the baby belonged to Mary’s secret lover. Still others said Mary had been raped by a Roman soldier. Any of these situations would have brought great shame to them.  And though we don’t read about it, we know that Joseph had to endure hostile stares and dirty criticism from people all his life.

Then we read in verses 24-25= “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”

Do you know why Joseph both married Mary and kept her a virgin until after Jesus was born?  It wasn’t just because he loved Mary, but he trusted God.  When you are confused, trust Him.

2. Trust God When You Are In A Crisis

Matthew 2:13-15= “Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”  So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.  He remained there until the death of Herod.  This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

That word “flee” is where we get our word “fugitive.” So the angel literally told Joseph, “Go now, Go quickly, Don’t look back, Don’t stop until you are in Egypt.”

Joseph is being told to take a mother and a baby 75 miles (distance from Bethlehem to Egypt) and then another 100 miles into Egypt to get to a place of safety in that country.  Traveling with a baby made the trip not only slower, but also more dangerous.

Have you ever taken a small child on a long trip.  We went on vacation a couple of years ago and  it didn’t take five minutes until some little ones in the back seat saying, “Are we there yet?  When are we going to be there?  Why is it taking so long?  I have to go to the bathroom.”

We need to understand that God’s way is not always the softest way.  God’s way is not always the safest way.  But God’s way is always the surest way to His blessing and His protection.

God’s will may sometimes lead you to a dangerous place.  But the most dangerous place you will ever be is anywhere outside the will of God.  The reason why Joseph had to go to Egypt, even though it was a dangerous journey and he was fleeing from danger, is for this simple reason:

Matthew 2:15= “This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Once again we see that God keeps His promise.  God had made a promise that out of Egypt, His Son, The Messiah and the Savior of the World would come. God provided a way out of Israel.  He provided a place to stay in Egypt and He provided for their needs while they were there. When you are in the middle of a crisis, trust Him.

3. Trust God When Things Are Complicated.

Matthew 2:19-23= “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

The time for Jesus to come home had arrived.  Herod had died and once again for the 3^rd time, in a dream an angel tells Joseph to bring the child back to Israel.

According to Bible scholars, there would have been two natural cities for Joseph to have taken Jesus.  One would have been Jerusalem.  It was Israel’s largest, most advanced city.  It was the city of David.  It was the city of royalty.  It was the center of spiritual life of the nation of Israel. But God did not allow Joseph to go to Jerusalem.

His 2^nd choice would have been Bethlehem.  And that was where Jesus was born.  It was where David was from and since Jesus was a direct descendant of David and Israel’s future king, it would have been natural for God to have sent Joseph to Bethlehem, but He did not.

Instead, He forces Joseph to go to Nazareth.  Nazareth is about 55 miles north of Jerusalem and it was inhabited by people who were noted for their cruel and violent ways. Why did He have to live in Nazareth?  The reason once again:

“This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

As you go through life you are going to find that things are not always going to go according to your plans.   The question is, “Will you trust God the way Joseph did?”

Key Concepts In Forgiveness

Below are six key concepts as part of a theology of forgiveness that I think we need to understand.  This is not an exhaustive list, but these are some key truths that we need to understand about what the Bible teaches on forgiveness.

1. The Principle Of The Sixth Commandment.  Matthew 5:21= Jesus is teaching and listen to what he says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, Raca! Shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, ‘you fool’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Jesus Christ brings up the ten commandments and more specifically, the sixth commandment.  He says, “Everybody knows, “Thou shall not murder. But if you harbor unforgiveness or bitterness or anger or rage or malice in your heart towards an individual, you are guilty of murder.”  One of the things Jesus Christ taught about the law wasn’t just about our actions, but about our thoughts.

He says, “If you come to a place in your life where you refuse to forgive somebody or you hold on to that bitterness or resentment, you are guilty of violating the sixth commandment.”  So the first principle or first element is the principle of the sixth commandment.

2. Your Offender Has Offended God Even Greater. In Psalm 51 we find King David has sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba. He’s murdered her husband and lied about it.  Yet in Psalm 51, when David is confessing and getting right with God, what does he say?

“Against You, and You alone, have I sinned.”

He says, “God, the greatest sin I have committed wasn’t against Bathsheba.  It wasn’t against Uriah.  It wasn’t against my people.  It was against You.”  Any sin or injustice committed against you or against me is committed against God.  And the offence is greater towards God because God is holy. God is perfect.  He is without error.  God has never made a mistake.  That offence toward him is even greater than the offence is toward you.  You are not the only one who has been offended in this situation.  You are not the only one who has been hurt in this situation.  This is an offence to God himself.

3. God Forgives Us As We Forgive Others. In Matthew 6 we have the Lord’s Prayer. The disciples never asked Jesus Christ to teach them anything except how to pray.  They never asked him, “Lord, teach us how to preach.”  “Lord, teach us how to sing or worship.”  But they said, “Lord, teach us how to pray.”  As Jesus Christ begins to teach them how to pray, one of the things He says is, “You pray this way…”

“Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

“God, use the same measure of forgiveness in my life when I offend you or sin against you that I use in forgiving others when they sin against me.

4. Unforgiveness Undermines The Authority Of God.

Romans 12:14= “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

Romans 12:19= “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

God says, “If somebody sins against you or if somebody offends you, you bless those who curse you. You pray for those who sin against you.” He says, “I’ll take care of the revenge.  I’ll take care of making things right.  I will handle the justice.”  But when you and I say, “God, I’m going to handle this one.  I don’t trust your authority.  I don’t need your authority.”

By our actions, we can kind of say, “God you know what, I just don’t think you can handle this one.  God, you are moving too slow.  God, you are not just enough.  Give me the sword and I will handle it.”

What we do by taking revenge ourselves is we undermine the authority of God and say, “God, I’m going to take this one because you are not doing your job right.”

5. Unforgiveness Makes You Unfit For Worship. In Matthew 5 Jesus says, “If you are on your way to make a sacrifice at the altar as part of your worship and you realize your brother has something against you or they have sinned against you or there is something wrong in that relationship, leave your offering, go back and make things right, then come and give Me your offering.”  Unforgiveness hinders our ability to worship.

6. When You Are Offended, That Is An Opportunity. Matthew 5:44= “I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be the sons of your father who is in heaven.”

He says, “When somebody offends you or wrongs you that is an opportunity for you to display sonship.  It is an opportunity to display the fact that you belong to God.

We are never more like Jesus Christ than when we forgive.  When you learn to forgive and begin to display that ability to forgive people, you begin to display that fact that you are a son of the King.   I believe this ability to forgive when we’ve been hurt deeply is a supernatural process that only the power of God can do.  Trials and tribulations are an opportunity for us to grow and to manifest the fact that we do belong to God.

Now, this isn’t a comprehensive theology of forgiveness, but these are some key principles that we need to understand as we deal with conflict in our daily lives.

Consequences Of Unforgiveness

Unforgiveness can destroy our lives.  When we try to get revenge and get even with someone and we hold on to anger and bitterness, if we are not careful it can come back and destroy our life.  There are 4 consequences of unforgiveness that we need to consider.

1. Unforgiveness Can Make You A Prisoner Of Your Past. If you make up your mind, “I am not going to forgive this individual. I am not going to let go of what they did to me.  You don’t know how much that hurt.”  All the sudden, you can put yourself in bondage to what has happened in your past.  You cannot get past that and you cannot get beyond that.  And you constantly live with the hurt and pain of your past.

2. Unforgiveness Can Produce Bitterness. It can produce bitterness, not just involving you and that other person who has hurt you or that church who hurt you or that group that hurt you, but it can begin to produce bitterness in all your relationships. Have you ever met somebody who has been really hurt? They are bitter and negative about everything that goes on in life.  It can produce bitterness.

3. Unforgiveness Can Provide An Opening For Satan. If you make up your mind, “I know what God has to say about forgiveness. I know what God’s Word says, but I refuse to forgive this person.  I refuse to let this go….”  It can provide an opening for Satan or a foothold for Satan and that can lead to other sins or other areas of failure or weakness or compromise.

4. Unforgiveness Can Prevent Fellowship With God. It can hurt your fellowship with God. God says, “If you won’t forgive your brother, I won’t forgive you.”  Did you know that unforgiveness in your life and in my life can hurt our fellowship with God?

God says, “If you come to My altar and you are going to make a sacrifice to Me and you remember when you get to the altar that your brother has something against you, or there is a broken or hurt relationship, you first go make things right with your brother, then you come and make your sacrifice to Me.” It can hurt your worship.

Some of us are praying about the future.  We want to know where God is leading us or where He is taking us.  We want an answer to this and an answer to that, and we say, “Why isn’t God answering me?” Sometimes it can be that there is an area of disobedience like unforgiveness where God says, “I am not going to tell you anything else until you do what I ask you to do.”  We must forgive freely, fully, and finally.

Maintaining Your Integrity

You will never go a day in your life when someway, somehow, your integrity is not going to be put on the line. It may be in a big thing. It may be in a little thing. But every day, big and small, our integrity is tested.  You don’t have to study the Bible very long or very hard to realize that integrity is a big deal to God.   There is probably no greater need today in our nation, in our churches, in our homes, and in our personal lives than integrity.

Some say the book of Job is about suffering.  Some say the book of Job is about patience.  I believe the text of Job really points to the fact that the book of Job is about integrity.  It is about man’s integrity. But it is also about God’s integrity.  The book of Job seeks to answer two primary questions.  The first question is this: “Will a man serve God for nothing?”  The second question the book of Job seeks to answer is this: “Is God worthy to be served if it costs me everything?” If this year you lose your job, will you serve Him?  If this year you lose your kids, will you serve Him?  If this year your body is consumed with cancer, will you still serve Him and is He worthy to be served?

This text gives us 3 simple reminders for maintaining our integrity.

1. Your Integrity Is Precious In The Mind of God. Chapter 2 opens up with a scene in the courtroom of heaven. It is the second scene in the courtroom of heaven in the book of Job. The angels have presented themselves in the presence of the Lord and Satan comes waltzing in.

God says to Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan says, “From roaming through the earth.” And then God says an interesting thing.  Listen to what he says to Satan in verse 3.  Verse 3= “Have you considered My servant Job?  For there is no one like him on the earth.”

John Piper said this would be like a jewelry store owner walking into his jewelry store late at night and catching a thief red handed.  And the Jewelry store owner says, “By the way, did you see my most precious jewel near the front of the store? Did you see my most valued diamond?”

Satan says, “I’ve been roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”  And God says, “Have you thought about or considered My servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth.”

Then God defines this good integrity by beginning to explain what Job is like.  It is the third time in the book of Job that Job’s biography is shared.  The Bible begins to explain what Job is like.  He says, first of all, there is no one like Job.

Verse 3= “a blameless and upright man.”

The root word of the word “blameless” is the idea of an inner quality.  This word conveys the idea of completeness or wholeness.  He is not only blameless but he is “upright.” If the first word refers to the inner quality of Job, this word “upright” refers to the outer qualities or the behaviors of Job.  Job walks straight in line with God,  his inside and his outside match.  He practices what he preaches.  Not only is he blameless and upright, but he “fears God.” Fearing God is rendering unto God what which is a proper response to who He is.  Because he feared God, he “turned away from evil.”  The idea behind that word is continuous action.  It is his lifestyle.  Job ran away from evil.  He didn’t flirt with it.  Job turned away from evil.

Job was a faithful follower.  Not only was Job a faithful follower, Job was a faithful father.  Job was a man who wanted to be God’s man.  He wanted to bless his kids, his business and those around him.

Proverbs 20:7= “The righteous man leads a blameless life, blessed are his children after him.”

Job’s family was blessed because their daddy walked with God.  Job’s business was blessed because he walked with God.  The folks around Job were blessed because he walked in his integrity.  God defines integrity.  Job will demonstrate integrity.

2. Your Integrity Is Protected By The Hand Of God. In Job 2:3 God will go on to say to Satan, “although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” God guards our integrity against the accusations of Satan.

Satan’s general accusation is this: “The only reason that Job serves you God is not because of who You are.  Not because of Your majesty.  Not because of Your holiness.  Not because of how good You are or how great You are.  But he serves You because of what Job can get out of it.”

So Satan speaks up and says this in verse 4= “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

Listen what he goes on to say in verse 5= “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh.  He will curse you to your face.”

“He has lost all his stuff, but You take his health and Job will look You in the face and he will curse You!”  Satan’s two primary strategies are pain and pleasure.  But understand, the attacks of Satan are limited by your God.

When Satan first enters the room, God says, “Where have you been?”  Satan says, “From walking in the earth.”

Understand this, Satan is not omnipresent.  He can’t be everywhere at the same time.  He goes from one place to another place

Here in verse 6 God will say this, “So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”  Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.”

Satan literally brings Job to his boiling point.  But understand, he could only go as far as God would let him.  In your life and my life the New Testament reaffirms this.

Luke 22:31= Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.”

He has to get permission.  There is no tragedy or no devastation that will come into your life this year apart from God allowing it to come in!

3. Your Integrity Is Pleasing To The Heart Of God. How did Job make it? His wife says to him in verse 9= “Do you still hold fast your integrity?  Curse God and die!”

I mean, after all, that is what Satan said would happen.  “God, if it gets bad enough, they will curse you!”  Keep in mind, his wife had just lost her home and her 10 kids.

So Job responds to his wife by saying this in verse 10= “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”  He was grateful for the control of God in his life.  Job’s rock and refuge when everything else seemed to be crumbling was the absolute sovereignty of God.  Job says, “I know God is at work. I don’t understand it and I can’t explain it. But God is at work and when this thing is all said and done, I will come forth as gold.”

Battle Ready

Life is filled with battles.  One of three things is true about you: you are coming out of a battle, you are headed into a battle, or you are right in the middle of a battle.  In Joshua 5, Joshua has an encounter with God where God prepares Joshua for the battle of his life.  If we are going to be ready for the battles, three things must be true of us.

1. We Must Be Courageous When Facing Conflict. Why is it that we are not fully following Jesus Christ? Why are we not sold out for Christ in our schools, our ball teams, our workplace, or in our conversations?  If we were honest I think we would say, “I am honestly afraid.  I am afraid of what it might cost me.”

Did you know that when God calls Joshua to follow Him in Joshua 1 that fear was a real possibility in the heart of Joshua.  The most repeated phrase in Joshua 1 is this: “Be strong and courageous.”  If you are a follower of Christ, you have the same three promises that Joshua had.  You have the promises of God’s Word, the principles of God’s Word, and you have the presence of God living inside you.

In Joshua 5 we see Joshua taking God at His word and showing some courage.  I think that is what we need in the body of Christ today, courage.  If we are going to be battle ready in our homes, our churches and our communities, we must be courageous when facing conflict.

2. We Must Be Devoted To Following Christ. Joshua 5:13 says, “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand.”  The idea in the text is that there is a surprise or an unexpected guest as Joshua is surveying Jericho. Joshua looks up and here is this guy standing with his sword drawn.

Joshua goes up to him and says, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

Joshua says, “Whose side are you on?” Joshua immediately draws a line in the sand and says, “Are you on Israel’s side or Jericho’s side?” In Joshua’s mind there are only two sides to the battle, Israel’s side and Jericho’s side.  He is right in this, there were only two sides to the battle but it was not Israel’s side and Jericho’s side, it was God’s side and the enemy’s side.

The man responds this way, “No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.”

Joshua is in the presence of God. And because he is in the presence of God the question is not whose side is God on, the question is Joshua, whose side are you on?

By Joshua’s actions he will immediately answer the allegiance question and he will fall to his face and worship and by his actions he declares his allegiance and says, “God, I’m on your side.”  If we are going to be battle ready we must be courageous when facing conflict and we must be devoted to following Christ.

3. We Must Be Committed To Faithful Obedience. Joshua 5:14 says, “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant? The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”

If we were to get some soldiers overseas right now and say, “Are your shoes important during battle?” They would say, “You better believe they are.” God tells Joshua to take off his shoes.

Do you know what the sandals represent in scripture? They represent a lot of what our shoes represent today. As we live life the shoes pick up the dirt and the junk as you live.  In Scripture the sandals symbolize any ungodliness, uncleanliness, sin, and filthiness that we pick up as we live life.

The Bible says, “And Joshua did so.”

When Joshua took off his sandals he was doing two things:  Joshua was acknowledging the holiness and perfection of the God in whose presence he was in and Joshua was acknowledging his own unholiness and uncleanliness and his need for the God in whose presence he was in.

For some of us today, if we are going to be battle ready, the most significant thing that will take place will be for us to lay some dirty sandals on the ground, to turn from our sin and acknowledge our need and dependence upon God.

From Rubble To Revival

God has made us to be a singing people.

Martin Luther made this statement, “Next after theology, I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor.  I would not change what little I know of music for something great.”

In Ezra 3, the Children of God have come back to Jerusalem. It is a time of rebuilding the temple. Not only is it a time of physical rebuilding, it is a time of spiritual revival.  God is reviving His people and doing a rebuilding work in the life of His people and they are singing about it.  So what should be our attitude when God begins to do this rebuilding work in our lives?

1. Have A Heart Of Thankfulness.

The Bible says in Ezra 3:10, “Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asap, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of King David of Israel.”

The message of Ezra is the faithfulness of God even when we are unfaithful.  The Bible says in Ezra 3:11, “They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord.” When God does a rebuilding work in your life and in my life there should be an overwhelming sense of thankfulness where we realize this second chance in life is only because of the goodness of God. We don’t deserve it! God does not owe it to us.  It is only because of His goodness. Have a heart of Thankfulness.

2. Have A Heart Of Praise.

Ezra 3:11, “And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.”

As you study scripture and the history of the nation of Israel before they go into exile, God says through the prophet Isaiah, “These people do honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” 

They had a worship issue before they go into exile. Their issue was not that they did not show up for church on Sunday. The issue wasn’t even that they didn’t know the words of the song. They knew the words, they just did not mean the words.  There was a lack of sincerity in their words.  God says, “They are saying the right stuff, but I don’t have their hearts.” When God sends revival a sincerity returns to our songs of praise and I mean the words I say and the songs I sing.  Have a heart of Praise.

3. Have A Heart Of Remembrance.

Ezra 3:12, “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy.”

Scholars disagree as to why these old men weep.  Keep in mind, at this point they are about fifty years removed from when the first temple is burned down.   There were some old folks there who had been there and they saw King Solomon’s temple.

Why do they weep? Some say they weep because “You always have a handful of folks around who say, “We ain’t never done it that way before and it just ain’t as good as it used to be.” There are always a handful of complainers and everybody has some.

But I imagine these old men, as they make their way to this new foundation and as they walk past the old ruins and the old ashes, their mind goes back to how it used to be. I imagine them beginning to ask this question, “How did we ever get so perverted in our worship and in our living that God had to do this to get our attention?  How did I ever get so far from him in my walk with Him and my love for Him and my relationship with Him that in order for Him to get our attention He had to do this?”

When God sends revival there are tears because sometimes it reminds us of just how far we have come and that we are not where we should be. Have a heart of remembrance.

4. Have A Heart of Change.

Imagine the setting. You have some people who are shouting and then you have some people who are weeping!  That should be the way it is in every church.  If there is any place in all of Louisville that I ought to be able to come and to be real when I hurt or real when I have blown it or real when I have been disappointed or real when I have experienced loss, it ought to be with the people of God.  If there is any place where I ought to be able to come and shout, it ought to be with the people of God.

When God does His rebuilding work in our lives, may we have hearts of thankfulness, hearts of praise, hearts of remembrance, and hearts of change.

Revive

Is your Christian life a blazing fire or is it a dull routine?  If the average Christ-follower lived their Christian life in such a way that it was a blazing fire rather than a dull routine, I think the church would look different than it does today.  I honestly don’t think we would have to beg people to give money to their church.  I don’t think we would have to beg people to share the Gospel with other people.  I don’t think we would have to beg people to be engaged in missions.  I don’t think we would have to beg people to serve.  I believe we really would look a lot different. My prayer is that we will be on fire for Christ.  My prayer is that God will revive and wake up His people in such a way that we will have an eternal impact on our city and our world for His glory.

G. Campbell Morgan said, “Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 is perhaps one of the greatest texts we use for talking about “revival.”  The Bible says, “And My people who are called by My name.” 

Revival is for the people of God.  Revival is for those who claim the name of Christ.  Revival is not for the lost world.  Revival is for believers.  It is for Christ-followers.

“And My people who are called by My name humble themselves…”

There must be brokenness.  All over this passage you see images of humility before God and getting on your face before God.  Revival only comes when we are humble.  It is not a sense of pride.  It is when people get honest about their need for God and are humble before God.  It happens when God’s people are broken.

“And My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray.”

Revival comes when there is prayer.  This is not a friendly conversation.  This praying is a pleading.  It is a begging for mercy.  It is a crying out for mercy.  God says, “I am only going to send revival when My people pray, when they cry out to me.”

“seek My face.”

Revival only comes when there is seeking.  It is the idea of longing for God.  Do you long for Him? 

“and turn from their wicked ways.”

Revival comes when there is repentance. 

“And 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

In the New Testament revival is perhaps best described by the phrase, “awaken from sleep.”  It is the idea that a Christian has fallen asleep in his devotion and commitment to the Lord and God intervenes in his life and wakes him up.  Have you fallen asleep?  Have you lost your passion?  Have you lost your hunger?  Have you lost your gratitude for the greatness and mercy of God?  The message of the Gospel is that we serve a gracious God, a merciful God and today His streams of mercy want to flow into your heart and into your life and bring healing to your school, your marriage, and to your church.