Jim Cymbala: "The Missing Piece" - Full Message

everyone I'd like you to turn in your Bible with me please to the book of second Corinthians and I want to read in one passage there and then one in first Thessalonians and then I want to share what's on my heart first of all I want to thank the sponsors of this conference to invite me my wife Carol would have been here with me that was our plan but in the last half of year we had the loss of her mother and she was away from me Carol was nursing her mother in Florida for about 16 weeks which was the longest we had ever been apart of course she was back and forth and I was down there seeing her but mother pancreatic cancer and that's not an easy thing so her schedule got so discombobulated that it made her have to be in New York this week so I called her today and said Carol you can't believe how far I am from downtown New York City I looked looked outside my window then the woods I'm a long way from the hood right now I'll tell you I'm a long way from the hood I want to talk to you about revival that's would be fitting with this conference I just think but I want to talk to you about revival as it pertains to leadership and maybe my slant as I understand it on the word revival which I've been a student of and a collector of books about for a long time but my feelings about it have evolved and changed hopefully that's a good sign as we learn more get more light I want to begin reading and second Corinthians in the third chapter and I want to read verses 1 through 6 this is Paul writing a kind of defensive apostolic missile to the church in Corinth and he says are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need like some other people letters of recommendation to you or from you you yourselves our are our letter written on our hearts known and read by everybody now the imagery changes a little bit the figures speech you show that you are a letter from Christ the result of our ministry you are a letter from Christ the result of our ministry written not with ink but with the spirit of the Living God not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves but our competence comes from God he has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant look up here just for a second that must that infers you could be an incompetent minister of the New Covenant or the wrong covenant but he has made us he God has made us competent ministers of the New Covenant not of the letter not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life and then there is the by the way before we just turn to Thessalonians there's the incredible passage where he calls what Moses got written on a stone by God himself the Ministry of death which came with glory but he says how much greater glory is the Ministry of the Spirit the New Covenant imagine what God did to gave Moses on Sinai which when he came down the people made a vow and said everything God said we will do Paul calls that the Ministry of death says but God has made us competent ministers of a new covenant not of the letter which kills but of the spirit that gives life then go to 1st Thessalonians you know the commentators the scholars are not sure how long Paul was in Thessalonica some venture that as little as three weeks some say maybe six months but it can't be much more than that and amazing what God did with no written New Testament no sound systems no church buildings oh my second Thessalonians 1 vs. 4 started verse 4 for we know brothers loved by God that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction you know how we lived among you for your sake you became imitators of us and of the Lord in spite of severe suffering you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit look at that they can't heard the gospel and welcomed it with joy given by the Spirit and so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia the Lord's message rang out from you not only in macedonia Nakia your faith in god has become known everywhere therefore we do not need to say anything about it for they themselves report other people what kind of reception you gave us they tell us how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath then look up at verse chapter 2 verse 6 maybe on the same page as it is in my Bible we were not looking for praise from them men not from you or anyone else as apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you but we were gentle among you like a mother caring for her little children we loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well because you had become so dear to us surely you remember brothers our toil and hardship we work night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel of God to you now I want to talk about the term revival and I want to talk about it for us who are involved in ministry and I want to speak about it in two ways not only for we that pastor preach teach are in leadership in in in the body of Christ but also other leaders that are here who represent corporate bodies local churches revival revival I remember sitting a lot of years ago in lyndale Texas for hour upon hour Dave Wilkerson have visited our church out of nowhere it just came one night and sat in the balcony with his wife Gwen and then invited Carol and I to visit him in lyndale and while we were in lyndale I became friends with Leonard Ravenhill and ended up actually owning a house right next door to his house and when Carol and I first went into the house the first day we were there as a kind of getaway place which didn't didn't work out it was too far away but I love living next to Leonard Ravenhill and there was a knock on our door and then as I opened the door here was brother Ravenhill and his wife walking in Martha with a tray with tea and cookies he said I want to welcome you to the neighborhood and we sit by the hours and talk about Clift College samuel chadwick revivals books he had written he came and preached a couple times that our church all those years ago Brooklyn Tabernacle but I would like to address you in this way that revival has become almost a deceptive term I'm afraid with certain people because we identify it with something we've read in some account and thus instead of warning god we've already pre-programmed what we're expecting God to do so instead of just abandoning ourselves and saying God here we are come and do what you need to do in us so that through us your name can be glorified in seeing the world know more about you we are filled with ideas of the Welsh revival and Evan Roberts or the Great Awakening or this or how it was in the the prayer meeting in lower Manhattan etc and what happened with fini up in Rochester in upstate New York and I think that can almost make an idol out of the image we have of revival rather than a just abandoning ourselves to God so what we have to do is remember no historical account is our guide to revival the Bible is our only guide the Bible is our only guide we don't go by what any happen in any of the revival they can be inspirational to us but we go to the Bible the Bible is our only rule of faith amen now what's odd is the New Testament is hardly any reference to revival you have to kind of interpret and analyze a little bit different to see how revival fits in the the word revived or revival the term the concept is is more prevalently found in the Old Testament revive us O Lord in the midst of the years revive your work and yet in the Old Testament where the word is mentioned there was never really any deep spiritual revival if you studied carefully the Old Testament in terms of the people who really knew God and love God and stuck with God no matter what you're gonna be hard-pressed to find anything in the Old Testament no wonder Stephen said when they martyred him you're stiff necked and hard-hearted just like your others have always been even the people who went through the Red Sea who witnessed Mount Sinai they were complaining the minute they went to the bitter waters of Mara they were wanting to go back to Egypt and there were men and women who met God and were used by God in the Old Testament but in terms there were more Reformation and a return back to worship but even the worship many times is you honor me with your mouth but your heart is far from me but of course that would have to be so because the law was so imperfect everything about the Old Testament isn't perfect all you have to do is read Hebrews to tell us which tells us that everything about the Old Testament in the law was imperfect the priesthood everything about it their prophets nothing compares to that which was to come in the New Covenant in that day I'll make a new covenant a better covenant with my people the law is characterized by Moses the Old Testament characterized by the law and Moses the New Testament of course characterized by Jesus Christ and the message of grace and we don't live in the Old Testament covenant we don't have to worry about wearing garments that are mixed fabrics we don't have any the food regulations honest Jesus change that for us so we have to pay very careful attention not to the Old Testament concept of reform and revival where the best they could do was make vows of new obedience which they were going to break within 24 hours we need to look and study at what the New Testament is calling us to we're not under the dispensation of the law weren't of the dispensation of grace we live in the day of the Holy Spirit we live in what Joel prophesied about but the they in the Old Testament never experienced we live with prophets and pastors and teachers and evangelists this was unknown in the Old Testament they had kings and and the ironic priesthood and and and the tabernacle and later the temple and daily sacrifices and animals being slaughtered we don't live in that era we live in a greater era amen we live in the day of Jesus and the outport spirit so the Bible tells us that instead of vows of obedience the New Testament is more focused on spirit-filled lives producing fruit ah that's what's in the New Testament that you won't find in the Old Testament there's pictures of it and portraits of it and shadows and types but in the New Testament it's fruit being born not so much an emphasis being on obedience will you obey but it's will you open your life to my spirit so that my spirit can produce fruit it's not us but Christ working through the Holy Spirit so the harder you try sometimes the worse you get and then when you quit and say god I can't do it you find out that God starts to work in you how many I've ever had an experience like that like me run into a wall making promises about I've turned over more than the leaves than Central Park but alas to no avail so that's why Ephesians 5:18 is so important literally in the continuous present tense keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit why because Christianity as Samuel Chadwick said Christianity is hopeless without the Holy Ghost it's hopeless give them all the laws warn them about how do everything you want disciple until Jesus comes in just in the flesh it'll never happen unless there's the blessing and breath of the Holy Spirit upon what we're doing only the Holy Spirit can make me like Jesus I don't care if the Apostle Paul would preach to me and be my pastor only the Holy Spirit working inside of me will ever change the ornery person named Jim symbaloo that's the truth and you might not look as honoree as me but it's the truth for you too even though you didn't say amen to that so keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is not so much about revival but it is about revival but the key is not revival the key is spirit filled nests keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit now that assumes that all Christians are not filled with the Holy Spirit otherwise why would Paul say as a command it's a very strong in the Greek language be filled with the Holy Spirit or keep on being filled or ratha two hams translation B being filled with the Holy Spirit obviously the Laodicean church was a Christian Church but please if that was if all churches are spirit filled if you're gonna tell me a church has lukewarm that Jesus is going to vomit out of his mouth his spirit fill that words don't mean anything so it's spirit filled nests which is the goal of us as ministers are our church's spirit fill remember in the New Testament Jesus is not seen walking among the nations there's prophecies after for moab and all that in the old testament in the book of revelation he's seen walking among the seven golden lampstands which are the churches we live in the church era the church is the vehicle for the message and it's the container for the presence of God so that people can see Jesus through us hear the message see a manifestation in some way of his glory this is what the angels are looking into God's not knocking on the UN trying to get in he's knocking on First Baptist and Brooklyn Tabernacle trying to get in we are the body of Christ we are his body and has been said as the church changes and lives up to its spirit filled calling as it lives in revival in the New Testament sense then our countries have a chance to be changed but nowhere do you see Paul prophesying to the Roman Empire no where do you see him talking about the you know oh what's happening in math hold Macedonia Macedonia I call unto you know he's preaching the gospel the people in Macedonia not all will believe but he's trying to win some for Christ now as we read on in the New Testament we find out that this concept of being filled with the Holy Spirit does not have twenty requirements to it as you'll read in much literature this is totally foreign to the New Testament I read I read some books and I am just stunned by this and this is unfortunately around found in much revival literature you know twenty things you have to do to be filled with the Holy Spirit where would you find that in the New Testament and the twenty things that they tell you you realize you need the Holy Spirit to ever accomplish those so how can I do him without the Holy Spirit to get the Holy Spirit how many understand my dilemma but at a Cornelius's house it wasn't that way don't tell me Cornelius was a deep Christian he didn't even know what a Christian was until Peter got there and his whole house was included so even if you say yeah but he was a man of Prayer and he gave arms which came up as a monument before God don't tell me everyone in this household was a seeker after God and yet while Peter spoke the message they were all filled with the Holy Spirit just like the apostles were in acts 2 so God's not holding on to the Holy Spirit and say I'm not going to give it to you unless you do 30 things that's nowhere found in the New Testament that's church culture that's revival culture that's not New Testament teaching nope if anybody's thirsty Jesus said let him come and drink oh how many are happy for the grace of God let's give God just a little hand clap of praise is amazing grace well let me get moving here now this idea of bearing fruit and remember what Jesus said by their fruit you'll know them and that's not just for people that's for churches and ministers to by their fruit you'll know them after they get through with their Calvinist position or meaning in position or they they understand the mark of the beast and all of that then just look for the fruit because I have found 30-some years now doing this ministry traveling around this country around this world doctrinal positions abound fruit is what we're looking for or as they used to say in those advertisements where's the beef in other words I'm fine you pray and you believe in this and you're a follower of that school of thought but where's the fruit the New Testament as we're find out here is full of this concept of individual and corporate fruit now individual fruit we know love joy peace meekness kindness all produced by the Holy Spirit so no matter what a person claims to be if they're not exhibiting fruit in some measure we know the Spirit of God is not working here something's wrong but it goes on another level a corporate level this is not only true for individuals it's true for a church like Paul's first missionary trip let's say he left Antioch in Pisidia with Barnabas and as he leaves acts 13 52 I think it is it says and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost what did they believe about the Millenium I don't have a clue but I know this they were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost were they really living for God where they sold out were they really hey listen we're talking New Testament now they were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost something good is gonna happen when you're filled with joy and the Holy Spirit imagine what that means Holy Spirit being the third person of the Godhead they were filled with God have we even scratched the surface of what that sentence means filled with God just like in New York City I'm confronting all the time people in the inner city who are filled with the devil I had a young lady that I called forward to pray four years ago maybe read about in one of my books they called her forward all they told me was they were bringing in a girl who was struggling with heroin she walked up she wasn't even 5 foot her name was Diane from the Bronx they brought her up and as she was about 8 feet away from me my heart began to pound and I could hear people in the front two rows of our prayer meeting begin to pray and just start to pray spontaneously oh lord help us and I didn't know what was happening she gave no physical manifestation but it was a warning from the Holy Spirit the minute she got in front of me and I said Jesus and I said the name of the Lord she went totally off she grabbed me and threw me for 11 threw me against the front of the platform like I was a doll ripped the color of my shirt right off my shirt like it was a like it was tissue and this voice start came out of her saying leave her alone you'll never have her she's mine never you never have her hold my daily goodness they I was thrown up against this the men in the front my associate pastors they went to rescue me I threw her off of me we threw her down on the floor she was down there her eyes were rolling like you'd see in some of these bizarre movies and yelling at me and cursing at me we told these spirits to shut up in Jesus name twice as I was leaning over and rebuking these evil spirits she spit dead in my face full of the devil you didn't have to like study it and different discernment in fact one of the brothers went with me as we were praying for he tap and he said brother I believe she's filled with the devil I said brother you're a prophet as God is my witness within five minutes she was on her feet not even knowing where she was put her hands up in the air and began to sing with us all the blood of Jesus that washes white as snow listen Satan's crowd has the ability to make people superhumanly strong and effective in what they're doing for Satan they're filled with the devil imagine what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit not trying to live good for God filled with God not you doing anything what in the world could I do haven't even been a seminary or Bible School what could I possibly do ah but fill with God now there's something else now corporately what does that look like well the Bible tells us as we read it's not a Baptist thing it's not a Pentecostal thing it's not a reformed thing a Calvinists Arminian thing which those words would just disappear but it's fruit bearing life filled ministry like we saw in 2nd Corinthians 3 notice you are look at me please you are letters from Christ look how Paul looks at the church I got a bunch of letters from Christ letters that Jesus sent himself written not with ink you weren't programmed like a Mormon or a Jehovah Witness those are brainwashed people you've been had the Holy Spirit right on your heart your new creations through our ministry he's not bragging he's humble man but he's challenging challenging us through our ministry God wrote on your heart that's what I want and not what you want how many want to see churches and ministries well while you're ministering God is writing on people's hearts come on come on you're not convincing them with clever arguments do the best you can with that but that God would bear witness with me and Carol and the rest of us and right in people's hearts not with ink but with the spirit of the Living God God has made us competent ministers of the New Testament not of the letter but of the spirit that gives life notice in first Thessalonians where we read not simply with words but with power with the Holy Spirit with conviction our gospel came to you not just with words how many churches on Sunday are just words words nothing more you know Katherine booth I don't know what year what decade dr. Roberts would know I I he would know that and his books have been a great blessing to me not only the books I've bought from him but the books he's reprinted on revival have been a blessing to me but Katherine booth somewhere said somewhere I think 1890 she said burning words that's what I'm looking for I travel all around I hear puppeteers I hear oratory I hear clever preaching but what I'm what I'm searching for is something that will burn my heart like the men on the road to Emmaus the gospel came to came to you not just with words but with power with the Holy Spirit with deep conviction and he did all of this with no written New Testament no sound system no printing presses no public buildings owned the Jews against them and the Roman Empire for the most part founded a church in what a couple months in Thessalonica and we're complaining about no prayer in schools what a joke that is what an absolute travesty of a joke we're complaining about no prayer in the public schools what do you think Paul had in Thessalonica at that time who knows who was was it Caesar Nero then or one of these Caligula these people who claim to be God you don't see Paul complaining about it because the word came not just the gospel came not just in word but in power and the Holy Spirit deep conviction with none of the advantages we have but I'll tell you what God's made real to me in the last six months I've been sharing with Carol and we've been praying about it you know Nancy the battle now for I don't know where you all but I think it's for you maybe more even more than me because a lot of you come from the Bible Belt and trust me I'm not in the Bible Belt when Paul went out to preach and Peter and John no one had ever heard the name of Jesus in Thessalonica they had never heard Jesus so when you presented Jesus you presented something to 'virgin mind in terms of the word Jesus they had never heard am i right they had never heard that name now I have a more difficult problem because I talked to these young african-american kids and Latinos and whites and whoever in in downtown Brooklyn and in New York City when you say Jesus and you say the church they've already got 30 false images in their mind you got to cut through oh I know what you mean you want me to come to the church oh the church my grandma went to the church and the bishop robbed all her money and then tried to get in bed with her on top of that don't tell me about the church pastor don't tell me about Jesus so we're facing a challenge we need more of the Holy Spirit yes they had their idols but we have a hardness now we have like a burned over feeling like they had an upstate New York there with all those revivals and then they would backslide but God is able to overcome all of that and the Bible tells us that this was not mere numbers in thessalonica not superficial numbers notice the converse turned from idols to serve the Living God and to wait for his son from heaven in other words that the church the model that we get in the New Testament the fruit of our churches that we should be aiming for forget revival accounts for a second let's stick with the Bible what we should be aiming for is this kind of church like acts 2 verse 42 they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine those shallow numbers now this user seeker-sensitive user-friendly nonsense this was this was steadfastly to the Apostles doctrine and to fellowship and the breaking of bread and prayers prayer meetings waiting on God seeking God and God was heading to the church daily those that were getting saved evangelism discipleship prayer worship on all God dwelling among his people spirit filled believers oh listen there was an Ananias and Sapphira there'll always be there's always going to be some trouble but this is the golden age of the church this is our model not what you saw growing up most people I have found as I've been doing this are merely trying to propagate the accident of their church culture they were born into a Baptist Church and now their goal in life is for the rest of their life this is the way we Baptist do it praise God yeah but nobody's getting saved but nobody will pray did you know I got an email some months ago from a minister in just Church nothing in the Baptist it can be said for any denomination got a email from a Baptist pastor who said read your book fresh wind fresh fire got stirred about how prayerless our church was I called a prayer meeting and I'm waiting with bated breath as I'm reading to see what great thing happened he said it split the church said the board had a meeting and they say they call me in front of the thing in front of them and said what are you doing what are you innovating honey listen it's not funny it's it's it's crying oh honey honey listen honey have we ever did we when we were growing up did we ever go to all-night prayer meetings on a night no we didn't know listen brother what are you innovating yeah but the Bible forget the Bible we're Baptists we're born Baptist we're going to die Baptists and you can say the same for the Assemblies of God or Nazarenes or Presbyterians they want to propagate the accident of what they get into nobody wants to change everybody's saying God do a new thing but I'm not changing I'm not changing my doctrinal position I'm not changing how I like to pray and I'm not changing how I like to worship I hear people do that sometimes I ask people you know God says I want men and women everywhere to lift up holy hands no we don't do that other folks do that we're not we're not used to that what do we didn't matter what you're used to God said he likes it it wait a minute wait wait wait wait wait his worship about making me feel comfortable or adoring God I have no idea why lifting my hands up means anything to God but if it does I will do it and I'll give him the fruit of my lips a sacrifice of Thanksgiving but we are we all are so cultural eyes Christianity is no longer New Testament spiritual it's cultural it's I got to keep up the the tradition that I inherited from my forefathers but that was by accident look I was born Ukrainian polish father Ukrainian polish mother in Brooklyn I came out of my mother's body scream like every other kid I didn't ask to be born white I didn't be asked to be born in America I never asked in some prior life or existence to be born in New York City to make a big deal about being white or American or from New York City that's a sign of ignorance and pride don't you get it people are born in Canada a waving the Canadian flag people in Nigeria are saying black is the best is that what this is going to just all come down to the accident of our spiritual birth we were accidentally born into Baptist Methodist whatever and we'll never move you notice people don't change their views in 30 years and they think it's a sign of maturity what if children were like that what if you met a 19 year old who is still practicing a B C listen that's how I started that's how I'm gonna end I don't want to know about anything else a B we say the boys insane so it's God do a new thing but I'm not changing it has to be in the parameters that I've already pictured in my mind and God says I'll pass I'll find someone who's really open and the noisy folks who it's not a service unless there's noise they can't take quiet and the quiet the quietest they can't take any noise but both are in the Bible make a joyful noise unto the Lord oh we don't do that well the Bible says to do it it's so silly isn't it so wonder anybody gets saved sometimes when I think of it well in in looking at revival ministry we see that the missing piece is something that we read about is what we have to be revived back to a component of the spirit filled life that we've missed I'm gonna speak some very direct things now so I want you to you know listen Paul's message everyone has studied he preached the gospel for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ the secret to how Paul the greatest preacher he's our model as a preacher this is why so much is given about his life in acts and most of the epistles written by him the Lord wants us to study him his message was the gospel he didn't preached the law he preached the gospel he preached the law to bring conviction but immediately he gave the balm the medicine of the gospel because the law alone just kills might bring conviction but it just leaves people lying in their misery and weakness his methodology was he was guided by the Holy Spirit he had no twenty-four month plan and no computers you never know where he would be he was a lot like Jesus you never knew where Jesus would go or be or do because he was led by the father's direction so you never knew how long Paul would be in any city Paul didn't know how long he didn't know where he'd be arrested where he'd be thrown in jail where he might be stoned where he would be kicked out and and he told and the you know Jesus did tell the disciples they would be kicked out of some places even though they were anointed even though they were doing God's work you can be in the center of God's will and still get kicked out of certain places but his methodology was he wanted to go into Asia to preach the gospel but the Spirit of Jesus verbatim and he tried to go to Bethany but the spirit would not permit him and then he got the Macedonian call he couldn't even go where he wanted to preach the gospel Pasteur's you know if you seek god what he wants you to preach this Sunday it'd be a lot better than by sticking to some mechanical preaching plan because only God knows what your congregation needs and only God knows what the devil is trying to already while I'm speaking trying to bring in to your church and once it breaks out when you preach against it everyone will say oh he's preaching because there's this problem of gossip or whatever but God can give you a message even before the devil delivers his blow how many believe it's say Amen so so make your plans but be spirit-led brother weird Warren where's me and I talked a lot about that you know Spurgeon he jumped around in he and his sermons you didn't know where he would be and now there's almost a slavish worship to the idea of I'm preaching through a book and that's I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that Bible doesn't forbid that but but I tell you what the Holy Spirit is very smart it's very smart and I'm afraid that's why people ministers don't pray more about what God wants them to speak on because one Minister boasted to me he said I know what I'm preaching for the next 12 months every Sunday three points a conclusion little help from a Greek year study book you know you could but the missing element that made Paul so effective was not just his message in his methodology and was his motive listen as I close and leave some observations with you he said you remember when I was with you and remember that the church at thessalonica was mostly Gentile remember verses chapter 1 you turned from idols those wouldn't be Jews although there were Jewish converts I'm sure in the church Paul we started with the synagogue you remember when I was with you how much we loved you but like a mother we gently nursed you and the picture in the Greek is a woman taking down her dress and taking a baby to her breast and feeding the baby and then he goes on to say something that I haven't met in five ministers probably in my life for I was determined not only we loved you so much not to just give you the gospel we were ready to give you our lives as well you know most ministers are you know they send a contract ahead now I want to tree preach at the Brooklyn Tabernacle here's my minimum honorarium Paul said no we work day and night not to take anything from you not that we didn't couldn't claim it as apostles but know when you love people you go the extra mile it's like with your kids I wonder why I wonder how it was to sit under saw Paul's sermons not only had truth not only was directed and anointed by the Holy Spirit but he was madly in love with the agape love of God's Holy Spirit passionately driving him on this is how he felt about not people that he grew up with with gross heathen this is why Jesus was a friend of sinners most ministers in certain circles would never let it be said they they had a sinner who was their friend oh my thought you were sold out to God yeah Jesus was a friend of sinners how else you gonna win them people need mostly is love so Paul says tenderly I cared for you and you know how it is with you and then you read them you read the rest of the letter it's it's it's wild for in the day of Christ I wanted to get to you but Satan hindered me because in the day of Christ what is my joy what is my crown what is my reward is it not you now Timothy has come back and told me about your faith that it's strong now I really live because you're standing firm in the Lord he's in Corinth facing all kinds of problems when he writes first Thessalonians the Lord had to appear to him to hold him steady in his ministry there in Corinth but he's saying now I really live now I can rejoice just to know you're hanging on to Jesus not that my book is doing well or my ministry is getting ahead compared with my peers no just it's like a mother you know a mother when she gets up in the middle of the night and the young the young like Chrissy my are you first baby I learned that you could sleep and be listening for your baby if she was sick coughing at the same time you're sleeping and yet she would COFF with that raspy nasty cough and I would be out of my bed going toward her room and wake up after a few steps and realize that my one year when I was sleeping was listening for her like a mother nursing her baby that's how I was with you as you weren't just like the people you talk to ministers are the people there's such a pain nobody wants to work Jim nobody wants to come to the prayer meeting what a bunch of dead heads I inherited just get the salary check and put in the meetings and get the love offering and move on and then so then we wonder why do we don't get the results that Paul God I mean we're studying his message and we give lip service the holy spirit at least but how about this umbilical cord this connection of love that he had with his audience that only God could give you could no more teach this then you could jump over the moon this comes by the Holy Spirit producing a way of looking at people and feeling about people listen the way God does Paul looked at people and saw people and felt about people the way God did and that will make you preach that will make you pray that will make you impassion you don't need to put a tear in your voice and do all those other dramatic stuff that the preachers do with the microphone at all oh no when you're in love with someone and desperate you will get through to them remember years ago when Chrissy was away from the Lord my wife and I were tears rolling down her eyes you think anybody had to tell me to pray for Chrissy oh come on get real you think somebody had to tell me now talk to her Jim are you kidding with tears in my eyes Chrissy don't do it Paul felt that way about everybody oh how I've been praying before I go in the pulpit now yes God I quote need your anointing yes and help me to preach the truth but Oh God help me feel about the people would you feel help me see the people the way you see them because otherwise I'll turn away because I see so much so some observations in closing so we can pray these are just for your consideration how ridiculous is it to think that we can successfully preach the gospel I don't care how good your doctrine is listen to me how ridiculous it is to try to preach the gospel without the Spirit and the love of the gospel we think it's some mechanical thing you just speak the word and the word goes out no no this an umbilical cord it has a lot to do with the messenger what was that great definition of preaching his truth coming through personality Paul not only was giving them the truth it was coming from a heart filled with bowels of mercy compassion love weeping over them I don't done anything for you I mean how many pastors do you know that would say I not only want to preach to you I'll die for you if I have to the rest of it can become so mechanical ministry can be just like an industry just an industry and don't write this off as emotionalism this is not a motional ism this is the Bible this is why you know no one had to tell Jesus time to weep over Jerusalem he wept over Jerusalem he wept over Jerusalem the city that had rejected him all Jerusalem Jerusalem you can't teach that that only comes by the Holy Spirit so possessing me in in areas that I need to be possessed but we're not gonna have success just parroting the gospel without the spirit of the gospel by the way don't you think this is part of the reason why the prayer meeting is dead go to go to any major city in the in the country and just ask them what churches have a major night dedicated to the prayer meeting ministers are these pastors it's so funny there talk about God answers prayer and all that well if he does why don't we try it it's so it's so hip hypocritical but it's like an industry now it's a culture I should say it's a culture that we give lip service to these things but how many churches do you know take a May night with the leadership there and say listen we're gonna call on God there's a time to teach yes time to worship time for the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir to sing time to evangelize there's a time for everything but if we don't pray what's going to happen to this whole thing but how you gonna get people to pray if they don't care about anybody intercessory prayer means you feel for someone else I've noticed this you can't get people to pray for hardly anyone else but let their daughter get in trouble let their son get in trouble and you see copious tears why because they love without love you can't get people to pray tell them they ought to tell him to get the disciplines of the spiritual life it's to no avail as brother Blackaby said so well love is the discipline when you love you're driven I used to be preaching when Chrissy was away from God I used to be preaching and in the middle of my message as God as my witness my heart used to begin to intercede for Chrissy in the middle of a sermon and I used to say to God Oh God help me I'm gonna lose my train of thought that people deserve something better you couldn't stop me because I was in love with her I'm in love with her so we're working on prayer and God saying but I am love I am NOT Prayer I am love let me go further how about the horrible scandal to me it's the number one sin in the church today nothing close to it I was in Japan ministering a couple months ago and God reveals something to me and I just started to weep and weep because I realized why did I see this of course this is true how about the horrible scandal of closed-door churches churches whose doors are not open aggressively to everyone I did my own little survey I asked six men of God if I gave them their names you know everyone well known men I said tell me the truth don't lie to me I want to know your feeling on this how many ministers how many pastors went on Saturday night there hopefully praying for their message on Sunday morning and praying for the services and praying that God will bless how many ministers do you believe can pray this way and mean it from their heart dear God I know that you died for everyone in my community I know you suffered and bled for every human being walking outside the Brooklyn Tabernacle so Lord tomorrow I pray in the name of Jesus by the power of the Spirit draw them in black white brown yellow red homeless poor bring them in we will love them we will be your hand extended him we will nurse them we will bless them we will weep over them but send them in Oh God in Jesus name the high number the high number that I got from any of these ministers I talked to the high number was five percent they said oh no then we got this these church growth characters talking about target groups everyone knows what that's a code word for come on just like that the church growth principle homogeneous churches grow faster everyone knows what that means if you have any brains in your head it's keep the blacks and the poor people out I talked to well-known ministers well-known ministers who write books that you read who told me if I follow what you're saying Jim half my church will get up and leave so here's what I'm saying what kind of church do you have that human beings that Christ died for they come in and your people are going to leave don't tell me how much you teach them the Bible and how and how good they are at coming to church Unser on Sunday and serve the body they don't love other human being things that Christ died for that's Christianity but we're so used to this it doesn't even shock us I could tell by your reaction doesn't even shock us we're used to it racism is so embedded in cultural Christianity that we're not even shocked by it and we recoil but this is the greatest sin pornography slaves their thousands carelessness and like to study the Bible fanaticism ocean ilysm I'm against all of that stuff I'm right with you but come on brothers and sisters God is love listen to this the Angels must weep they know what Christ did for all humanity and here are Christian churches that are less integrated than the world they're less integrated than the world in New York City people do crack cocaine interracially they go to jail interracially they go to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees Mariano Rivera the relief pitcher for the Yankees has become a dear friend of mine he's a wonderful Christian he's going to become a preacher the minute he gets through at his baseball career he's asked me to help disciple him he told me one time he's a poor kid from Panama he said to me pastor the Yankees are more accepting than the church they're not even Christians but nobody cares what color you are to the Yankees the only one question they have is can you play if you can play we don't have your purple you're on our team not the church when Martin Luther King said is still true and don't don't let's not fudge around it with some spiritual talk about there you know it's cultural and you have to understand it's a lack of love and here's my question we talked about God coming coming for what why would he come if you don't want the people in that he died for III I'll prophesy he cannot come he cannot come any place that rejects the people he died for impossible the Holy Spirit would have to deny his own loving nature and it really is comical how people will quote Finney and his revival lectures and his hindrances to the prayer and is by the way that chapter on how to conduct a prayer meeting is very excellent my judgment some good insight there but people quote fini and they don't know that it that fini in 1831 20 1832 29 years before the beginning of the civil war the tappan brothers those rich silk merchants who love God in in in New York called Finney to Pastor the Chatham Street chapel right across the bridge from where my church is right now in downtown Brooklyn and Finney came listen in 1831 picture this had just become famous for what happened in Rochester and Utica and Western and all those places up in upstate New York and he had a free church even the Methodists had gone back on their early pledge that their churches would be free you wouldn't have to pay for the pews and rent them had a free church every Church was like that in other words kicked the poor people keep the rabble in the back the people with money pay and sit in the front contradicting everything James tells us Finney said no it'll be a free church the tap and brother said no a free Church come one come all no nothing for it for sale even the Methodists by then we're back to following that horrible custom but on top of that that's happened brothers and Finney said no the church will be integrated the mobs formed outside finish Finney would never serve communion to a slaveholder Finney wouldn't have fellowship with a slaveholder Finney said we've sold to the wind we're gonna reap the whirlwind he prophesied the civil war he said you can't love God and turn away a person because of the color of their skin it's impossible did you know that the publishers of the revival lectures there revisionists among the evangelical publishers in his chapter on hindrances to revival they took out two of them and remembered them so nobody would know because the two hindrances were not politically correct for them because it was the the Spirit of God will be grieved and hindered if you have anything with discrimination of another person based on color imagine to take out two of his hindrances I just learned that in the last two months and not tell us no footnote change the numbers around why because it doesn't fit in with this white middle-class cultural Christianity that people are fighting to preserve but God won't have anything to do with it you can reject everything I'm saying but I'm confident one thing God loves everybody he is no respecter of persons and I don't care if you're from the south the north I've heard all those sad excuses my my dr. Roberts I've had ministers talking to me about God and five minutes later they're telling a racial joke and then they're gonna talk about what God's Spirit is gonna do are you kidding me that's a joke the churches are not open to everyone they are not people know where they're loved even though it's open they know they come in we don't want you know why because we have this concept that the church is supposed to be a nice place for the family would you please show me that someplace in the scripture the church is supposed to be a holy ghost Hospital listen on 9/11 we lost four people the most of any Church in New York and in this book break through prayer there's the story of marvelous story about the girl who is visiting our church living in sin who was on the 63rd floor when the jet went through 25 floors above her she only made it down to the 13th floor and on the landing when she went to kick off her high heels that were killing her the building came down on top of her but she fell into a one-in-a-billion air pocket with a beam one inch above her head and pinned to the ground her feet crushed her leg right arm pinned she lay there for 27 hours and Janelle 27 hours later she prayed and found the Lord I mean who would not find the Lord at the bottom of the World Trade Center I mean this is not a this is not a difficult decision but not only did she find the Lord God got her out only four people got out alive she was the last one 27 hours later she lay in the rubble 27 hours this past Sunday just 48 hours ago I dedicated her and her husband's first baby and as she got walked up on the stage we wept we clapped we didn't know what to do her story's in there it'll it'll inspire you we lost four people and Mayor Giuliani I think did two funerals at our church because one no he did just one he's been there twice was there twice but one of the Waldron Stewart was a cop and mayor Giuliani said something that really moved me because the world is the world is wiser on these things in the church the churches I don't know it's like it's like a game it's a culture it's not it's not passionate radical like Jesus Giuliana mayor Giuliani said this he looked down at Warren's parents he was from Jamaica Warren and what was strange isn't it something when God wants you to come home he had been an undercover narcotics cop for five years in New York City now if there's any way if there's one quick way to get your head blown off it's be an undercover narcotics cop where if your cover is blown you're gone in a second when he got married to this girl he met in our church beautiful girl throw they got married Thelma got pregnant and when he realized he'd be a father he said Thelma I can't do this job anymore it's too dangerous I'm gonna be a father I've investigated I'm gonna switch with the Port Authority I'm gonna transfer over there and I'm gonna have an easy job down at the world trade center and he was one of the first ones to report well mayor Julie Julie Ani looked down at his family and said you know what your son was a great guy and whatnot and Mayor Giuliani stopped and he was very emotional during this time because he was doing four or five funerals a day and he said you know the way the cops and the firemen and the EMS people were that day he said that's the way we all should live but we don't including me and everybody got quiet like where you going with this you know and he said what I mean is this when the EMS and the firefighters and the cops were going up into that smoking building gonna give their life none of them said wonder how many Jews work up here when how many black people are up here wonder how many Hispanics are up here wonder how much they earn wonder how many just cleaning ladies and he said no when you're saving lives everybody's important and he said we all should live like that but we don't now I've learned I'll close with this I learned many times I've been rebuked by the Lord because what I'm preaching to I'm you know I have to learn this otherwise I become a preacher you know a two-bit sermon maker I don't want to be that god knows that I don't want to be there and even if you've read about this I got to just tell you about this last account here and then we'll pray how God corrected me one day maybe it'll help somebody here it's Easter Sunday why I'm thinking about this is because of an ordination service I just was part of I laid hands on a new minister I'll tell you about him in one minute just listen it was Easter some years ago and we had an outreach in the last service and a girl in Carol's choir who Italian girl very unusual situation her parents divorced and she just went nuts and started going from marijuana to mainline heroin used to prostituting to running around in Harlem and the Lower East Side and I mean just bizarre this girl was out there then she got involved in the after-hours Greenwich Village scene which is unspeakable and she found the Lord lived next door to the church would hear the choir singing and something drew her from that and she's living with a boyfriend who broke her nose in a fight one day and just horrific she gave her testimony in between some of the songs no big production and then I preached the gospel you know preaching the gospel is not brain surgery it's very simple the message so people come forward and at that time we were having three services a day long each two hours long then for six years we had four services every Sunday for services every Sunday for six years I did two hours long each service that's why I look so old I'm really fourteen years old well I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the thing they were praying with the people who I had invited to receive Christ the prayer workers were working with them and I was just sitting there bone tired bone tired have been lines outside the block we had turned hundreds of people away and as I was sitting there I looked up at this middle aisle and there's this black guy looked about 50 disheveled filthy about the third row and he just kind of looked up at me sheepishly I think he had a hat in his hand Mike could I talk to you and we have homeless people coming in all the time bumming money whatever so as i sat there I said to myself I have to admit it I'm ashamed but I said what a bummer what a way to end this Sunday some guys gonna hit me up for money I've had such a good time preaching and ministering and here's a guy probably wanting money for some more wine this guy walked up when he got within 5 feet of me as God is my holy witness he smelled a combination of Street sweat urine and manure like I had never smelled human feces like I had never smelled in my life it was so horrible that when he got close I would inhale by looking away and then I would talk to him and then I look back to inhale because I couldn't inhale facing him I just go what's your name and then we're how long you been in the street six years what's your name David how old are you I couldn't believe it 32 he looked 50 hair matted no teeth here in the front - why no I slightly glazed where'd you sleep last night David abandoned truck okay I'm tired I'm tired it's late I keep in my back ride pocket a money clip that also holds credit cards I picked it out give him some money in fact I won't even get a worker they're all busy praying usually we don't give money to people we say we'll take you to get something to eat hey I'm tired I put the money out and I was trying to fumble for it pushed his finger in front of me he said I don't want your money I want this Jesus that the girl was talking about he said the one you were talking about because he said I'm not gonna make it I'm gonna die in the street as God is my holy witness I totally forgot about David and I just started to weep for myself I was going to give a couple dollars to someone God had sent him see how easy it is it's easy for us I could make the excuse I was tired there's no excuse I was not filled with the spirit I was not singing the way God sees him I was not feeling what God feels but oh did it change I totally forgot about him I didn't care he just stood there he didn't know what was happening and I pleaded with God God forgive me forgive me Oh God please forgive me I am so sorry to represent you this way I am so sorry Here I am with my message and my points and here here you send somebody and I don't I I I'm not ready for it Oh God and God baptized me afresh with a love I'll tell you what it was like something came over me and in me I'm not talking about fanaticism emotionalism Iona started twitching like an animal or anything like that suddenly I started to weep deeper and he began to weep because he could feel what was happening in me and he fell against my chest because I'm sitting there and I put my arms around him and there we just wept on each other and as God is my witness the smell of his person became the most beautiful aroma I had ever smelled in my whole life and here's what I felt the Lord made real to me if you and Carol don't love this smell I can't use you because this is why I called you where you are this is what you're about you're about this smell smell it but it's beautiful David got changed around Christ changed his life but he was unusual dr. Roberts he started memorizing portions of Scripture that was incredible that Thanksgiving he spent it at my home we got him a place to live we hired him in the church to do maintenance got his teeth fixed handsome guy when he came out at the hospital heat they detoxed him in about 6 days he was at Thanksgiving at my house then he spent Christmas at my house and while we were all exchanging presents he pulled out this little thing and he said but this is for you and I looked at it and I said David you know because we had all got presents all my kids got presents they were so happy for David and he gave me this package and inside was a little white hanky it's the only thing he could afford he gave me a little hanky but listen a year later I hadn't give his testimony and the minute he took the mic and began to speak I said this guy's a preacher I told you I just told you I ordered ain't someone it was him he's an associate pet listen he's an associate pastor of a church in Elizabeth New Jersey and I was this close to say here just you know I'm busy I'm a busy preacher I want I wrote freshman treasurer by the way you know book of the year oh we can get so full of ourselves let's pray our brother's going to come how many pastors are here I want to get up out of your seat and join me at the front pastors or leaders who say brother I need a baptism of that love just get out of your seat and come here to the front you can kneel you can stand don't care what you do [Music] you [Music] god we want sound doctrine God we want to be men of women of Prayer and and of discipline but all God if we don't have love what does it matter we want to preach Paul's message we want to be led by the Spirit as he was but God I want to be able to say I nursed you like a mother wanted to give you not only the gospel by my own life as well God that is impossible for me I'm too selfish we're too selfish but God you can change us you can fill us with the Holy Spirit Lord let your love just come out of our pores Lord so that when people are in our presence they're gonna sense your love change our churches save us some racism culturalism we don't want cultural churches we want New Testament Holy Spirit filled Christian churches Lord we want to represent you Jesus not some segment of the country or some thing that we were born into God I don't want to be what I was born into I want to be what you want me to be Lord would you change us Lord oh lord help us tonight I thank you for my brothers and sisters god I pray that you give them understanding that I haven't said anything I wasn't preaching to myself lord I didn't say to preach down to anybody I don't want to condemn anyone Lord but God you set us such a great example because you are loved Lord Jesus you are loved change the way we preach change the way we pray change our churches change our staffs that there be brokenness and love and tenderness and compassion and mercy and patience and long-suffering Lord [Music]

Channel: HeartCryForRevival

Views: 18,460

Rating: 4.738318 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Christ, Christian, Church, Truth, Teaching, Bible, Bible study, Bible Teaching, Apostle Paul, Billy Graham, Paul Washer, Matt Chandler, John Piper, Diy, old school, HeartCry, Heart Cry, Heart-Cry, Heart Cry for Revival, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, Baptist, Catholic, Apostolic, Charismatic, Joel Osteen, Sammy Tippit, Ravi Zacharias, Steven Furtic, Leonard Ravenhill

Id: Jq4QRV1wSLU

Length: 75min 49sec (4549 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 02 2018