Chapter 3.
The Tempest In The Day Of The Whirlwind. (Amos 1:14)
Chapter 3. The Fight. Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often !!
[William Frederick Halsey Jr.]
The King of love, my Shepherd is. This website is dedicated to the King of kings and Lord of lords -- my Savior, and all that He stands for. All to Jesus. Amen.
We are Independent, Fundamental, Bible-believing, Gospel preaching Baptists. We adhere faithfully to the King James Bible and accept it as God‘s authorized and preserved version of His Holy Word. We stand up to say “Yes” to the things God loves, and “No” to the things God hates. We believe in personal and ecclesiastical separation, revival, and soul winning. We accept without reservation that all Christian work is an inseparable tandem of loving the brethren and speaking (and acting upon) the truth of Scripture. We believe that God the Holy Spirit leads us in arriving at truth through the Scriptures for all matters of faith, doctrine, and work.
Soldiers of Revival.
PO Box 328835
Columbus Ohio 43232
See also our website, soldiersoftheword.com, for Bible helps and discipleship encouragement.
Today, may the Holy Spirit teach us to be faithful to all of the Scriptures, and be careful to compare Scripture with Scripture. May we desire to search them daily. Lord keep us from the silly pride of believing we can interpret the Scriptures better than the Scriptures can interpret themselves. Guide us into all truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen. [All to Jesus. DR]
Want Revival?
“Jesus said unto him (a lawyer), ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ ” [Matthew 22:37-39]
Lord, Deliver Us…
… from discontent; impure thoughts, words, and actions; self-seeking motives; and careless speech -- that we may dwell on the sweet things of God, and delight in the blessed fruit of the Spirit. May we win souls and contend for the faith, may we fight with courage every foe of Christ, may we never relent until the kingdom is secured!! [DR]
[] “I had heard of a fellow who had suffered dreadful injustice from fellow brethren. His constant prayer was: ‘Lord, grant that the nails may hold.’ What he wanted to say was: ‘Lord, grant that I may not come down from the cross, take things into my own hands, and assert myself.” [William Malgo]
[] “One must move along with measured pace, neither too hasty nor too slow, but conscientiously ever onward: allowing neither man nor circumstance to turn us away.” [William Malgo]
[] “It is possible to walk with Him, the everlasting God. This means not only to stride forward, but to walk in step with Him. We must walk with the living God as though we were alone with Him in the world.” [William Malgo] [See Psalm 23:4]
[] The investment is great, the stakes high, the way hard, the perils deep, the time a wastin’, the souls many, the victory sure. [DR]
Our God Can Do Revival !!
Dear Lord, do it again, and again, and again, and again !! [Dr. Shelton Smith]
[] “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” [Ephesians 3:20]
[] Is God dead? No. He’s still alive. I just talked to Him this morning.
[] I say to you. If Christ arose from the dead, and lives at the throne of Glory, then no Christian should ever live a life of defeat !! [Tom Malone]
This New Year
Calling for Revival and Reformation
[] “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
[] “The victory has already been won; we can live in that victory.” (Rick Flanders)
[] “The consummate need at the dawn if this twenty-first century is another real revival.” [Tim Green]
[] “May God warm your heart for real revival and I pray we would be willing to pay the price.” [Tim Green]
[] “The eternal bedrock of a believer’s life can only be illuminated by the glow of a God-sent revival.” [Tim Green]
[] "He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved…My soul, wait thou only upon God: for my expectation is from Him.” [Psalm 65:2,5]
Thou Shalt Catch Men !!
“And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, ’Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (catch).
And Simon answering said unto Him, ’Master we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at Thy Word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken. And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth, thou shalt catch men.” And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.” (Luke 5:1-11)
War a Good Warfare.
A. Dr. John Hamblin mentions 2 Timothy Chapter 4 and offers this commentary:
(1) Christ is coming (v.1);
(2) Apostasy is coming and is here (vv. 2-5);
(3) Paul’s departure is coming (vv. 6-8);
(4) Help is on the way (vs. 9-22).
B. Upon his (Paul’s) coming departure, Paul writes the heart-captivating “swan song: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” [2 Timothy 4:7-8]
C. Paul wrote to his young “son in the faith” at 1 Timothy 1:18, and instructed him to learn the prophecies of the great men of God of the Old Testament and by them “war a good warfare.”
D. The only offensive weapon the soldier of Christ is permitted to take to the battlefield is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. [Ephesians 6:17]
Winning the War, Skirmish by Skirmish.
Revival is A Challenge to Christian Action.
We should not think of Revival simply in terms of spiritual ecstasy in the grace of God or social stability through the spread of righteousness. Revival, instead, is a new opportunity and a new challenge for Christian witness and work in the world. There should be a new sense of urgency in declaring to other persons the truth about salvation from sin. There should be a new passion for justice in human relations. Revival means new life and new purpose to thrust oneself into the moving stream of the world’s life as a servant of the living Christ, to help many persons to come to know Him in the forgiveness of sin, and in the hope that centers in the kingdom of God. [Points of Emphasis]
[] “Encourage dreams, but value action!!” [The Baptist Bread]
[] “Let’s get God to raise up young men who will bring this country back to God, decency, and right.” [source unknown]
[] “Pussyfootin’ preachers in weak pulpits are preaching dusty and stale messages to dead people and backsliders.” [source unknown]
[] “Whatever Peter had, whatever Paul had, whatever James had in the New Testament -- we can have it today, right now. [source unknown]
[] If today you will kneel down and say, “My God, I want to walk with you. I want to be led, even where I would not go. Lead me to Calvary, to the cross,” then you, too, will learn to walk with God in newness of life in resurrection power to the glory of His name. [William Malgo]
The World, Not Your Oyster but a Tillable Vineyard.
As a Christian, you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use to cry, “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the Lord’s strength to meet the difficulty and glorify Him in it. [Charles Haddon Spurgeon]
Prescription for Revival
[R. A. Torrey]
A. I can give you a prescription that will bring a revival to any church or community or any city on earth. The prescription is a s follows:
B. First, let a few Christians (they need not be many) get thoroughly right with God themselves. This is the prime essential !! If this is not done, the rest that I am to say will come to nothing.
C. Second, let them bind themselves together to pray for a revival until God opens the heavens and comes down.
D. Third, let them put themselves at the disposal of God for Him to use as He sees fit in winning others to Christ.
E. That’s All.
F. This is sure to bring a revival to any church or community. I have given this prescription around the world; it has been taken by many churches and many communities, and in no instance has it ever failed and it cannot fail.
The Great Negative of Revival. “It Can’t Happen Here.”
A. “We have to look beyond ourselves and see what God is using us to do.” (Rick Flanders)
B. Your love can have no meaning amongst these who hunger and thirst for Revival if you are not in obedience to God. If you become cozy again with the world -- what the Bible calls the weak and beggarly elements -- out of which Christ called you when you got saved, then your love will become as a tinkling brass having no sound, no breadth, no Christ. [DR]
[] That “We’re only here to feed the sheep” is straight out of the pit of hell -- the sheep are dead, they can’t be fed. [Carl McIntire]
[] That “This is not the age of Revival” is a dirty Satanic lie.” [author unknown]
[] It can be done in my town -- now -- and we’re the ones to bring it. [DR]
Strange Fire: Consider Your Ways, Idolaters.
The idolatry around the church today has produced many prophets of Revival who speak from their own minds and spirits. They serve these idols in their hearts. They rely on spectacular revelations to boost their ministries. The draw is signs and wonders and spiritual experiences. They say "I am of Paul, I am of Apollos", but it is not the Lord. [author unknown]
Want Revival? Really Want It?
Read Isaiah Chapter 53, King James Version, over and over until you can't bear it anymore and you break down in uncontrollable sobbing and darkest horror. What God did for you in "bruising" His Son on that horrific cross is worthy of everything you have to be given to Him -- everything: nothing less !! He loved you that much !!! [DR]
Nearing More and More to Revival !!!
As you grow in Christ, don’t be surprised to find yourself sinning less and less, submitting more and more, serving more and more, sowing more and more, succoring more and more, separating more and more, sacrificing more and more, socializing less and less, and suffering for Christ more and more.
Where A Revival Goes Wrong.
“Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees.” [Isaiah 21:6]
The people:
Decided only to be undecided.
Resolved to be irresolute.
Were adamant for drift.
Were solid for fluidity.
Were all-powerful to be impotent.
[Winston Churchill, “While England Slept.”]
[] It’s been said of the haughty Christendom of our day, it has insolence 100 yards wide, imperatives a half inch high and integrity a half inch deep.
[] We need fewer to pretend, more to attend, and all to contend.
Want Revival?
“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” [James 4:8]
Doggin’ the Trail.
One of the great evangelists of the past century tried to explain to a person in another land and language the concept of door knocking -- sharing the Gospel by going out to knock on the doors of houses to gain entry. The foreigner had trouble understanding the concept, but when he did finally realized what the evangelist was talking about, he himself explained the concept of “dog holdin’ ” When you went to open doors to the Gospel, someone would have to hold the dog in the yard so you could embark upon the door safely. We go a-door-knockin’ they go a-dog-holdin’ !!
[] “…and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. … Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.” [Luke 14:21, 23]
We Are Determined to Set Things Right !!
Step (1).Personal confession and cleansing. [See 1 John 1:9.] “Have you asked the Lord to forgive your sin? Have you repented of your sin and asked God to forgive you? Have you trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior? Did you know that every human being born in this world is at enmity with God? If you are not a Christian, you are God’s enemy. There is no peace between you and God, and there is no way any human effort on your part could ever please the Lord.” [Clarence Sexton]
Step (2).“Examine yourself whether ye be in the faith.” [See 2 Corinthians 13:15.] Clarence Sexton made the statement, “Do you still have faith that God is going to make it right?”
Step (3). Faith, confidence, and prayer will move the mountain. [See Matthew 17:20.] By the grace of God, we can and will turn the world upside down (or right side up as the case may be)!![DR]
Step (4).Do not accept that anything is out of the reach of God.[See Genesis 18:14.] It took an earthquake to get the Philippian jailor saved!!! [Acts 16:23-34] We receive a full measure of God’s mercy. Getting mercy, we get blessings, and with blessings we get power. Having mercy, blessings, and power, we have everything we need. God very mercifully bestows all of that upon us. (Dr. Shelton Smith)
Step (5). (From the start.) Believe that the Holy Spirit can revive Pentecost. [See also Habakkuk 3:2.] “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” [Isaiah 59:19]
Step (6). Have a passion for the lost, deep passionate concern for the souls of men. [See Romans 9:3.]
Truth is Truth.
It seems so alien to us that so many of professing Christians have the right goal, but they adopt a way that is clearly wrong, and often bordering on apostasy or even blasphemy. Look at the lies, look at the deception, look at the murder in their hearts. They should know it to be wrong from simple conscience sake, let alone the Holy Scriptures. Yet they accept the universal law of love that the end justifies the means. That principle is totally nonexistent in Scripture. [DR] If our faith is properly placed in the Lord, we will yield to God what the Lord requires.[] “I can’t do it all, but I can do what I can, I can do what God has given me to do.”[Dr. Jack Hyles][] “I have nothing to seek but the glory of God; nothing to fear but His displeasure.”[Francis Asbury][] “O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand.”[Isaiah 64:8][]We pray to the Lord God omnipotent, but also to the Father. Power and love are His, and we are His. If we are submissive, He will make of us vessels of strength.
Our Strength Is In:
The Power From On High. (Luke 24:49)
The Word of His Power. (Hebrews 1:3)
The Glory of His Power. (1 Thessalonians 1:9)
The Power of His Christ. (Revelation 12:10)
The Power of the Holy Ghost. (Romans 15:13)
The Power of His Might. (Ephesians 6:10)
The Power in the Gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:18)
The Power of An Endless Life. (Hebrews 7:16)
The Power of His Resurrection. (Philippians 3:10)
[] “Without Me ye can do nothing.” (words of Jesus at John 15:5)
[] “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
[] “The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.” (2 Timothy 4:17)
[] “Will He plead against me with His great power? No; but he would put strength in me.” [Job 23:6]
Grow in Christ, Live Out the Word of God.
“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21) We are to be faithful not only in rendering the Word of God, but in applying it to our lives. God’s way is the only way to live out our lives. Complacency and lack of desire to grow in the likeness of Christ can never be a character of any Christian life no matter what level you have succeeded to. When you’re spending more time berating those who are growing than you labor at achieving it yourself, you probably have a problem much greater than you think. [DR]
[] They say, “It depends on the situation.” We say, “It depends on the Scriptures.” [Dr. Shelton Smith]
You Cannot Separate the Written Word From the Living Word.
There is an established Bible principle that the written Word of God, the Bible (see Romans 10:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:23) cannot be separated from the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ (see John 1:1-18, 1 John 1:1-3, Revelation 19:11-15).
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
At Hebrews 5:9, Jesus is called the Author of salvation and at Hebrews 1:3, the Bible says that He upholds all things by the Word of His power. Colossians 3;16 commands that we “Let the Word of Christ dwell in (us) richly…” Indeed He is the undisputed Author of the Word of God, qualified to be so because He IS the Word of God, and as God, He created all things - the worlds were framed by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3).
“If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will , and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7; see especially John 17:1-14)
The Bible Has Never Been Proven Wrong --
By scientists.
By mathematicians.
By linguists.
By archaeologists.
By educators.
By evolutionists.
By philosophers.
By psychiatrists.
By sociologists.
By politicians.
By doctors.
By lawyers.
By humanists.
By atheists.
By critics.
[] Except by..... There is only one group who has been able to prove the Bible to be wrong: he hypocritical Christians who refuse to read it. They’ve proven it to be wrong to themselves. [DR]
[] People for the most part are not interested in a Bible that makes rules, they are more interested in a Bible that gives guidelines, so they will neither have to read it nor be held accountable to it. And there are many who will provide just such a bible and make a little profit on the side at the same time. [DR]
The Word of God, a Bible Help.
[Psalm 19:7-11]
God’s Word is the first and last Word in All Things, At All Times.
(1) The law of the Lord (the word of God) is perfect, converting the soul.
(2) The testimony of the Lord (the Word of God) is sure, making wise the simple.
(3) The statutes of the Lord (the Word of God) are right, rejoicing the heart.
(4) The commandment of the Lord (Word of God) is pure, enlightening the eyes.
(5) The fear of the Lord (respect for the Word of God) is clean, enduring forever.
(6) The judgments of the Lord (the Word of God) are true and righteous altogether.
Holy Bible, Book Divine;
Precious treasures, thou art mine.
There is A Biblical Way of Uprightness.
“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh forward (perverse) things; who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked.” [Proverbs 2:10-14]
’Tis the Book of God, the Bible Is Its Name.
Ignoring Scripture does not make it go away, does not make it any less true, does not make it less incriminating toward you concerning your disobedience. [DR]
“We find that in the pulpits of our land today they find 60 theological reasons for why Jesus’ words don’t mean what they say. People hide behind a hedge when they want to know what the word means in the Greek.” [William MacDonald]
“Jesus showed us that the surest road to wisdom is not speculation, reasoning or reading human books, but by meditating on the Word of God.” [C H Spurgeon]
Christian bookstores have an awful lot of pretty books on the shelves, with many pretty smiles on the faces of the many pretty authors, but too few broken hearts n the altar, too few eyes on the Savior. [DR]
Want Revival?
Too many Christians think that once they got saved, or thought they did, that Jesus said, “OK, just sit back and relax until Elijah comes again, and whatever you do, don’t touch anything until I come back.” [adapted, author unknown]
“A true Christian will pour out his heart for Revival. How can you be right with God and not pray for revival every day? Are you ignorant of what Christ did for you?” [Rick Flanders]
“And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14]
[] “If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much.” [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll of Alice in Wonderland, English author, 1832- 1898]
Christians Have NO RIGHTS.
“Anyone would have known that immorality was wrong; but no one apart from Jesus Christ would believe that “my right to myself” is the very essence of sin. When we realize what Jesus means when He says, “If you would be My disciple, give up your right to yourself to Me,” we begin to understand that “the carnal mind is enmity with God.” I will not give up my right to myself; I will serve God as I choose.” Jesus Christ came to remove this disposition of self-realization.” [Oswald Chambers]
Ask not for whom the Revival fires burn… they burn for thee.
“As a Christian, you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use to cry, “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what He did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the Lord’s strength to meet the difficulty and glorify Him in it.” [Charles Haddon Spurgeon.]
Christians learn early that we ought to be as careful as we can so as not to evaluate motives, not attempt to peer into another’s heart. It can be very difficult, especially in this world where motivation seems obvious most of the time. The discerning Christian is always struggling amid the deception and dishonesty. Jesus was God and He could perceive the motivations and He did give us a good idea of the things that drive people to sin, simple pride for starters. Nonetheless, we do the best we can. Yet with the enemy, their whole armory is inventoried with nothing but their twisted notions about what’s in your heart (the fundamentalist’s), and are bent on conveying those wholly unworthy notions to any variety of their own gullible followers. [DR]
[] Most peoples’ lives revolve around getting the upper hand, but the Christian should want the Upper Room and the lower hand. [DR]
[] On matters of personal conflict, nothing you do in life is ever about who’s right and who’s wrong. The only question there ever is, is “What is God’s will?” God’s will is always right and yours is always wrong (unless it’s God’s also).
Revival.
Is Your All on the Altar?
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blessed and have peace and sweet rest
As you yield Him your body and soul.
The Revival Begins at Calvary.
Though He was Almighty and could have asserted Himself in majesty and power, He remained on the cross !! He did so even when they challenged Him, saying: “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Could He have come down? Of course. The Lamb won the victory !! He walked with God unto the uttermost. And His walk with God expressed itself in His tireless obedience unto death, the death of the cross. If you are going to walk with God, then Calvary is the starting point. Calvary is where our prideful selves come to an end. (William Malgo)
Want Revival?
Take a decided stand for Revival, let the consequences be what they may.
Every day I need the Lord to deliver me from the roaring lion. A man is a fool who doesn’t pray every day, “Deliver me from evil.”
Forward, Ye Faithful
Think not of retreat!
Death for Christ is triumph,
Life for self defeat.
[old hymn, by Fletcher and Towner]
Fire From Heaven. May The Fire Fall !!
“Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” [1 Kings 18:38]
In verse 39, the people were converted (backsliders were restored).
In verse 40, the false prophets were sent packing, eventually destroyed.
In verse 41, there was the sound of an abundant rain in the land.
A Moving of the Holy Spirit.
“Revival is not just a special service or a crusade or an evangelistic campaign. A revival is a refreshing from God, a reviving of existing spiritual life, a fire from Heaven, a moving of God‘s Holy Ghost in and upon the lives of born-again people. Revival is for the saved, but the hopes of all the saints are heaped upon sinners coming to the Lord Jesus Christ in humble saving faith. The sins of believers must therefore be dealt with first, through confession and cleansing.” [author unknown]
Fire and Ice.
“Fire is sometimes associated with God’s working of miracles, as in 1 Kings 18. In 1 Chronicles chapter 21, David prayed, and the Lord answered by fire. In 2 Chronicles chapter 7, Solomon prayed, and the Lord answered by fire. In Exodus 9, in a contest with the Egyptian Pharaoh, the Lord in support of His people, sent a plague of hail mingled with fire. When God sends fire and ice upon the enemy, it burns them out, and cools them off. God was eager to display Himself in great power to a wicked king.” [Dr. Shelton Smith]
We Want To Be Treated Fairly.
“When treated unfairly, you may think you have reason to be bitter; but no matter how harsh the day nor how intense the persecution, we are under orders and mandate. We have example and precept. We have everything needed to maintain our hearts, to keep plodding onward and do it with courageous hearts and souls and joyful spirits.” (Dr. Shelton Smith)
“It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that.” [G. H. Hardy.] If you follow Christ in the way He insisted we must, you won’t be anything remotely close to any majority. [DR]
The Private Agenda.
Every single agenda that does not place Jesus Christ squarely at the center, in the light, at the head, and on the throne is a personal agenda -- a false agenda. It has no place next to the agenda of God. Get it out of your hair immediately. It will kill revival. [DR]
“If he does really think that there is no distinction between vice and virtue, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.” [Johnson]
“When you really see who God is and taste His true goodness, you don’t run from Him, you run to Him.” [Dr. Paul Chappell]
[] Don’t let alien agendas get a foothold.
[] I personally don’t want to make mistakes in the service of the King. I know I will, but I will do my level best not to: the Bible will always buoy me up, correct me and stand me upright. [DR]
The Blessed and Final Well Done.
Oh, when I come to the end of my journey,
Weary of life and the battle is won;
Carrying the staff and cross of redemption,
He’ll understand, and say, “Well done.”
[Old hymn, Negro spiritual, by Lucy E. Campbell]
Want Revival?
Plead with God, prevail upon God, to pour out His Holy Spirit.
“The writer asked ‘Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?’ [Psalm 85:6]
If God did it again, what would we have? When revival comes, our holy God, the great God of creation, will be at work in our midst. What do you reckon that would mean? In a lot of cases, it would mean purging. People would come to the altar, fall on their faces and tell God they had things in their lives that needed to be cleaned up and thrown out.” [Dr. Shelton Smith]
[] “And this is the confidence we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us; And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
Three Absolute Truths About God.
If we are to trust Him completely, we must accept these:
(1) God is perfect in His love.
(2) There is no end to His wisdom.
(3) He is altogether sovereign (and just) in every one of His actions.
Want Revival?
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” [Matthew 22:37,39]
Hearts Afire For Revival !!
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto our prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” [1 Peter 3:12]
An Unction from God.
[See 1 John 2:20.]
“A true anointing will assure … when church time comes, church time will be like church ought to be -- that we’ll get Christians to be like Christians are supposed to be, and we’ll get us to raising families like families are meant to be.” [adapted slightly, Shelton Smith]
“We hear about all this training the churches are doing. This class and that, this school and that, this group and that. This degree and that. Anything at all to keep from going out and working for the Lord. We’ve trained long enough -- don’t you think it’s about time to go to war?” [adapted, B R Lakin]
We need to call upon God to raise our spiritual temperature so that He can do things for us, so that He can do things to us, so He can do things through us. [adapted, author unknown.]
“God, send a man of God to New York, to Los Angeles, to Chicago, to Atlanta, to Columbus, to the church up the street. Give him a great work, save thousands, win the whole city, the whole state, for Jesus Christ.” [adapted, Dr. Jack Hyles]
“When revival comes to the people of God, it affects the preacher, it affects the preaching of the preacher, and it impacts the people.” [adapted, Robert C. Gray Jr.]
[] “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” [Matthew 7:7-11; 21:22]
[] The Gospel’s greatest enemy today, and revival’s greatest impediment, is token fundamentalism. You who subscribe to it do so consciously and will know perfectly well what it means. You can repent, you can get behind revival, you can get back to winning souls -- real soul winning. It’s up to you. [DR]
Fundamentalism -- Friend to Revival.
“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” [Romans 1:16] The Gospel trumpets the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” (2 Corinthians 5:11) What does this verse mean? It means that we need to tell sinners (and the rest of mankind) that without Christ they’ll spend eternity with the Devil. There’s a terror coming, there’s a judgment waiting, there’s an accounting day to be reckoned with. We need to preach again on Hell, damnation, and sin -- to put the fear of the terror of the Lord back in people’s hearts, back in the national conscience.
I can scarcely imagine that so few Christians find this a compelling Biblical reality while so many go about their lives as if this is an unimportant aspect of the Christian life and work, virtually ignored as they well prefer going round about showing acts of human kindness. That they seem oblivious to their own escape from Hell can’t help but make us wonder what it was they themselves did to get saved, what did they trust Christ for?
That word “terror” in our text puts terror in my heart, and I‘ve consciously made the decision to be a soul-winner. The picture at Luke 16:20-25 of Lazarus in Heaven and the rich man in Hell -- I simply can’t stomach it.
Fundamentalism -- Friend to the Gospel.
“Don’t you see that if the Gospel could reach and save such men in Bible times, it can reach them now? Noting in the nature of wicked men can prevent great revivals, The Gospel of Jesus Christ is enough for the hardest sinner now as it was when some of those who crucified Christ were converted and when Paul the persecutor found Christ on the Road to Damascus. The Gospel that could save Mary Magdalene, possessed of seven devils, and chief priests who mocked Jesus while He died, is today the Gospel that can reach the hardest human heart, if that Gospel be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit by men who will pay God’s price for revival.” [John R. Rice]
“One sad proof that the church needs revival is the absence of that deathlike, solemn earnestness which was (once) seen in Christian pulpits.” [Charles Haddon Spurgeon]
I Want To Die On The Battlefield !!
Some say, “Give me silver,”
Some say, “Give me Gold.”
I say, “Give me Jesus,”
He satisfies my soul.
I’ll take this Gospel trumpet,
And I’ll begin to blow.
O Lord, if you will help me,
I’ll sound it wherever I go.
I want to die on the battlefield,
I want to die in the war,
I want to die on the battlefield,
With glory in my soul.
A Fundamentalist Testimony.
I belong to Jesus Christ, I’m not my own. I am a servant of the most high God, to please Him, serve Him, and honor Him all the days of my life. Every penny is His, all my life is His, all my time is His, whatever else I have is His, I have no one else to suffer for, no one else but his wonderful Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not ashamed of the Gospel, I share it and rejoice. I love what God loves and hate what God hates. There is no greater pleasure in life but to walk in His commandments, to stand on His behalf, to warn of the coming wrath. I do it because it pleases Him, I need no other reason. [Based loosely on a piece by Carl McIntire]
[] B R Lakin told of a worldly Christian lady who proclaimed to him that she didn’t go anywhere if she couldn’t take Jesus with her. He rebuked her saying, “I’m surprised you take Him anywhere, and He doesn’t follow you, you follow Him.”
[] Think on these things: whence you came, where you are going, and to Whom you must account. [DR]
[] Spread out your petition before God and then say,” Thy will, not mine, be done.” The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me. [D L Moody]
Don’t Give In To Pressures.
Don’t give in when things don’t go the way they should. “Well, it’s unfair,” you say. I know but you show what kind of a Christian you are when something is unfair, when something comes at you that is so hard, so difficult, so unjust that there is no rhyme, reason, or explanation. [author unknown]
Revival Needs Overcomers.
The “norm” and the “in vogue” are not the movers and shakers of Revival. Those who rejoice, seek his face, and believe God is going to do a very special thing -- busting at the seams to get it moving -- these are those who will light the fuse. We’re converted, born again, redeemed, justified, sanctified, washed in the blood of the Lamb -- ready to upset the applecart. Excited, focused -- He did something special in me by His grace and He will do something in this city, in this nation, on this planet. [Based on a piece by Dr. Shelton Smith]
Overcoming, Jesus Has Promised Us Rewards.
[Revelation 1-3]
To you who overcome,
1. “I (Jesus) will give you to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. “ You will live with Jesus eternally in heaven.
2. “You shall not be hurt of the second death.” You will no longer have any fear of hell.
3. “I will give you to eat of the hidden manna and will give you a new name in heaven.” I will lead you day by day and I will give you a white stone with your new name on it and it will be good for admission into heaven.
4. “I will give you power over nations and I will give you the morning star.” You will reign with me over all peoples and I will give you the brightest star in the sky to lead you into the kingdom of My God.”
5. “I will clothe you in white raiment and I will confess your name before My Father and His angels.” You will be my virgin Bride and I will stand with you in truth and grace before My Heavenly Father and the host of heaven.
6. “I will make you a pillar in the temple of My God.” You will be a strong and lovely column in My Father’s house and you will dwell in ivory palaces for ever.
7. “I will grant for you to sit with Me on My throne.” I will wipe all the tears from your eyes we will dwell together in bliss and perfect fellowship.
Forward Everyone.
Forward men and brothers, hear the Savior’s call.
Countless souls are waiting, there is work for all.
Shall we linger idly while the days pass on?
God and angels beckon; forward everyone.
[from an old hymn]
[] “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God.” [Philippians 4:4.]
No Excuse For Fumbling.
True, we live in a world of darkness, and sometimes in the darkness we trip and fall. we stumble on things that bruise. Invariably, we lose our way, thinking we are on the right path when we are not.
However, the light of God shines in the dark, and this light never goes out. There is never a time when our batteries are low, never a time when we can say, “I can’t get the light to work,” because God’s light is shining in our hearts. We never have an excuse for fumbling in the dark because the light of God is shining in us. With God’s resources -- so rich, so full, so powerful, so sufficient, -- we are kept from fainting.
[Read Do It Again, Lord by Dr. Sheldon Smith, Editor of the Sword of the Lord.]
[] That is where we all started (in the darkness). That’s the reason we have scars and scabs all over us -- we stumble in the darkness. But if we come to the light, it does make a difference. [Dr. Sheldon Smith]
To God, the Nobodies Are The Somebodies.
Writing to the boastful Corinthians, Paul encourages them to look around their assembly: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” [1 Corinthians 1:26-27]
They should notice that not many Christians are the world’s greatest minds, it’s most powerful people, or its most influential aristocracy. In fact, God has saved people who are foolish, weak, and of low standing in the world’s eyes. God has done this so “no flesh should glory in His presence.” [1 Corinthians 1:29] Being a part of the Body of Christ does not depend on one’s IQ, net financial worth, or family ties. In fact, God chooses people who are “nobodies” in the world’s eyes to demonstrate His grace to the world’s “somebodies.”
For the Christian this is a sobering and humbling thought: as “nobodies” in the world’s eyes, we have been granted a place in the Church -- not on our own merits, but on the merits of Jesus Christ “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” [1 Corinthians 1:30]
Any Christian who desires to boast has nothing in which to boast except God and His grace. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:31]
[Source unknown]
We Wrestle with Wickedness in High Places.
“One of the most popular texts today for Christian authors is this “armor” of Ephesians 6:10-19. It is not exegetical (explanatory) sleight of hand to see that the child of God is literally in a battle with Satan. The author of Scripture is pointedly warning the believers of the Devil’s wiles and informing them of their wrestling against him. The passage then lists the pieces of the armor of God for the battle: the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of Gospel preparation, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Psirit, the power of prayer. These are provided for every believer in order that “having done all, [he might] stand.” [Jeff Farnham]
Forward is the Order.
Forward is the order,
men of God, away!
Leave the camp behind you,
seek the field and fray,
See the line extending
From the humblest door
To the throne of monarchs
On the furthest shore.
Twenty Years And No Converts.
In Genesis Chapter 18, Abraham and Lot were striving over the land they needed for their livestock, and Abraham said Lot could choose the land that he wanted, while Abraham would take what was left. Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Lot was a selfish, easily drawn, materialistic trickster of a fella. Abraham was more of a sober, godly, and pensive quality.
After Lot lived in Sodom for 20 years, God came to Abraham and told him that He was going to bring His wrath in judgment against Sodom. You and I might have said, “Well, Lot is finally going to get his just deserts, and Sodom is finally going down, alleluia !!” But Abraham thought much differently. He pleaded with God, “I love my nephew Lot, Lord, if only I could find 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 righteous people in Sodom - could You relent?” He looked and looked and looked and he couldn’t find them. Each time God said, “Yes, if you find them, I’ll repent (not bring the judgment).”
Lot had 8 people in his family. Only 3 out of the 8 were Christians (saved). That’s all that would be saved from the wrath of God against Sodom. In 20 years, Lot did not win a single soul that was alive at the time of this coming wrath, he won only 2 in his own family. His other 5 members scoffed at him as he left.
Fun and games in the Sodomite culture will keep you from winning people to Christ. Lot was saved but he lived most of his life -- even after escaping the Sodom holocaust -- as if he had never been saved.
You say, oh how can that be? It couldn’t have been that wicked -- just ten saved people and God would have stayed the whole city from the holocaust. Just 10, he couldn’t get 10 out of the entire city? Not even 10 people?
Alright, how many people have you led to Christ in the last 20 years? It’s backsliders like you and Lot that caused Sodom to be buried in the fire and brimstone. Had there been ten saved, God would have repented, would have withheld his judgment against its wickedness.
The salt that should have salted Sodom came not from the Christian testimony of Lot as Jesus has mandated for Christians to be -- the salt of the earth -- but in the form of the divinely apportioned wrath of brimstone reigned down with fire, Lot’s own wife being consumed by it as she sought (looked back) to relive the good times of Sodom in its heyday.
[Based loosely on a piece by Dr. Jack Hyles]
Like Pentecost.
“I plead not for a modern revival. I don’t know anything about your modern stuff, mine is as old as the cross of Jesus, as old as the nails that were driven through His hands. I plead for an old Pentecostal revival that will make drunkards sober; that will cause thieves to steal no more; that will make blasphemers pray; that will make men who are keeping someone on the side and disgracing their wives and children, go home and be decent; that will make deadbeats pay their debts; that will transform this old God-forsaken, whiskey-soaked, Christ-hating, Lord-damning, harlot-ridden world into a paradise of peace, benediction and blessing.”
[Billy Sunday]
[] Bring the winds and fire of revival to this place, to this city, to this people, to this heart !!!
Real Faith. Faith That Makes a Difference.
We Make A Difference By Being Different. We’re Different Because.. We Have Biblical Convictions.. And Trust Christ Without Reservation. “We would see Jesus.” [John 12:21]
Never Be Angered Over the State of Things:
Get Ready for the Next Battle !!
Bring Wisdom, Sweet Spirit.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” [Zechariah 4:6b]
“Then what do we mean by the Holy Sprit and Revival? We mean a great turning to Christ on the part of Christians. We mean the separation of the Christian from the world and the dedication of the Christian to the holy business of serving Christ.” [Lee Roberson]
Want Revival?
Take a decided stand for revival, let the consequences be what they may. “There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.” [Franklin D. Roosevelt]
Want Revival?
“Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy and valor our only shield. We must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible.” [Winston Churchill]
Want Revival?
Plead with God, prevail upon God, to pour out His Holy Spirit.
Want Revival?
“Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” [James 4:8]
Want Revival?
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” [Matthew 22:37,39]
The Sufferings of Christ:
The Encouraging, Strengthening Fellowship.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy you be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” [Romans 8:18]
The older I get, the more I realize the incredible significance of our fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. [DR] [See Philippians 3:10.]
No matter my own suffering, and it seems unbearable at times, they will never begin to remotely compare with those of our Savior. I think of His sufferings at times, and my constitution can’t take it for very long --- the sheer horror of a death of crucifixion, the brutality, the inhumanity, the depth of the hatred, the width of the conspiracy, the height of the arrogance, the range of the hypocrisy. And many of His enemies were the Christians of the day, the religious leaders. [DR]
My mind can’t begin to contemplate how He took the indignation with such dignity, how He towered above the pain and the anguish, how he embraced those brute men with love and forgiveness, how He took care of His own mother in the savagery of the moment, how He took a man to paradise when He himself was vastly and intensely suffering the equivalent eternal punishment for all the sins ever to be committed by the human race. I am in disgust that the Christianity today passes over that gravest of Christ’s time on earth with so little regard for it, pleased instead to make milquetoast and puffery the order of the day. [DR]
The sufferings of Christ ought be scrawled -- every one of them -- on every blood bathed banner raised in every battle arrayed against the hatreds of sinful men. [DR]
“Thou Art My Portion, O Lord…
I have said that I would keep Thy words.”
(The words of King David at Psalm 119:57.)
Faith Is A Productive Force.
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” [Revelation 4:8] If worship comes first with the heavenly beings, why should it not come first for the persons of earth?
The Scripture gives several names for true Christians: saints, believers, brethren, disciples, and children of God. The Christian’s first priority is to love and obey God, and second, to tell others about Jesus. The first is not complete until the second is accomplished. Essentially, in fulfilling these divinely mandated priorities, the Christian will possess character [Job 2:9,10], contentment [Philippians 4:11], and Christ-likeness [Galatians 2:20]
It’s Revival for Survival !!
[Lester Roloff]