RevClass-04: WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH AN ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED LIFE

[Music] welcome to our fourth class going through the book of Revelation we've come to the fourth lesson which is probably the single most practical of how the lessons I mean sometimes people talk about what can a city's Ephesus Smyrna Pergamum have to do with me what can the Bible the last book with all this apocalyptic imagery and it have to do with me the lesson is right here in chapter 2 the first seven verses and I'll tell you upfront all the way through and at the end we're looking at the power of a consecrated life now before I read the text and before I pray I want to ask you this if you're really a believer if you're really a Christian if you're really a follower of Jesus Christ what matters more than pleasing serving honoring glorifying God the Father the Son our Lord Jesus and the spirit a life that pleases him is a consecrated life a life that pleases him is empowered by God and that's what we're gonna look at the the essence of a life that serves honors glorifies and is empowered by God so as you can see on the slide as we explore the book of Revelation what can God do with an absolutely surrendered life this first slide reminds us of what Jesus said and remember there's nothing new in Revelation I've told you that in each class every element of Revelation is somewhere else this element is in the Sermon on the Mount this is what Jesus said seek ye what say it out loud first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else will be added to you that's the power of a consecrated life I'm going to read chapter two of Revelation you can follow along or listen the first seven verses and then I'm going to pray that that I'll be able to communicate to you this life-changing marvelous message of how to have a consecrated life empowered by God that should be the the highest priority it should be what we think about all the time I know right now in America people are thinking about getting a mass getting food what am I gonna get back to work when will I get that stimulus check those are all right here kind of down here in the mundane I'm talking about what lasts forever listen to the voice of Jesus as he said these words and John writes them down to the Angel of church in Ephesus write these things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand remember every time I read this these are all looking back at chapter one that's actually verse 11 where Jesus is the one with the seven stars in his right hand who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands that's again verse 13 of chapter one where we see Jesus as he walks around the seven churches that's how he identifies himself he said when I'm talking to you he says I want you know I've been watching you see Jesus writes this letter after he got to know them by actually being an Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamus and watching them verse two I know your works your labor your patience that you cannot bear those who are evil you have tested those who say they're apostles and are not and have found them liars and you have persevered you've had patience he says that twice you notice and have persevered Wow but he says you've tested those who say there are apostles and are not you found them liars you've persevered and had patience and labor to my name and have even not become weary this is such a long list of Jesus saying I see what's going on in your life the less verse for I have this against you that you have left your first love let's stop there verse four and pray father I pray that you would open the eyes of our understanding to your word I pray that you would turn this from just being more truths more facts more details more history more interesting insights and make it life-changing I pray for the power of a consecrated life to be the possession of every one of these students there is no limit to what you can do with someone whose heart is completely turned toward you your eyes are running to and fro you're looking throughout the whole earth for someone that will pay attention to the God of the universe and Lord right here where I stand I'm saying I'm here and I want you to work in my life and I pray right where every one of the students watching this class everybody that's just stopping in for a moment today just looking at some YouTube video I pray they be captivated by your eyes looking for them today that they have a consecrated life that you can empower teach us about that today for Jesus sake we pray amen well the first seven verses of chapter two talk about the power of consecration now the side you see in front of you is actually something I took a picture of over when Bonnie and I were serving in the United Kingdom a few months ago we were staying with veteran missionaries they have served in England as church planters across the British Isles working with young people reaching youth and planting churches remarkable couple we stayed in their home and in that week we stayed there I started noticing on the walls that they had collected memorabilia things from antique shops on some of the greatest servants of the Lord of all time they had lived in the British Isles and what you see on this slide are three separate pictures that that I took a picture of from their wall that's why they're a little fuzzy the upper left is a Hut in the heart of the rainforest of the jungle of Africa on the right is a picture of the missionary one of my heroes we all have heroes I don't know who your heroes are maybe their financial maybe they're entertainers maybe they're musicians maybe they're business people maybe they're athletes politicians I don't know but this is one of mine I hope you have heroes look at what your hero stands for today and forever and pick heroes that aren't just something today but that are living for forever this guy did his name was Charles Thomas stud you can read that on the slide he's often known as CT that's Charles Thomas stud born in December of 1862 heaven the middle of July of 1931 he was a British missionary so he's from the UK and his home by the way is the bottom right corner of that slide Bonnie and I stood outside that home it is today it's become a British medical facility of some kind I think it looks like a hospital that was CT Studds home he grew up in his father owned areas the size of a state of the United States in India where he used to grow all kinds of products that he sold across the British Commonwealth the United Kingdom he was a mega wealthy successful businessman in the 1860s his father when CT was born the upper-left corner is the house CT lived until his death it was a handmade hut in the jungle and and CT wrote see the center of that slide only one life will soon be passed only what's done for Christ will last I know you've probably heard that it's a hymn we sing in church it's a saying many people know in the back of their mind it was the power of a consecrated life that Ct study experienced I'll just read to you because as my one of my heroes I have several biographies of this man CT stud served 15 years in China six in India and invested his final 21 years in the heart of Africa's vast dark jungles he moved among the fiercest cannibal head hunting pygmies that he could find he went to an unreached people group all alone moved in only under the power of the holy spirit no one in the right mind would have gone there no one in the right mind would have survived there these people hunted humans and ate them that's what a cannibal is he he stayed there until his breaths became shallow and labored and his skin turned black because he was dying and he lived to his last breath for twenty-one years reaching those demonized savages who never had heard the name of Christ do what happened at his death his son-in-law came down his name was Norman see grub and here was cetys little hot and Ct had a little fire in front of his Hut and the week of his death July of 1931 the word came out in the jungle and surrounding his Hut slowly formed over 5000 former head hunting savages that had been cannibals that had been murderers that had been demonized they had been under the influence of the local drugs that they could carve out of the the flora of the jungle and become intoxicated on the influence of now born again and they sat in circles for the last week of his life singing hymns that he had taught them about the Savior who had transformed their lives there were 20,000 that wanted to come there was only room for 5,000 of them to sit and sing CT stud into glory formally he was a lean fit athlete at his death he was gaunt and emaciated all of his gleaming white teeth were broken they were brown or long gone he was stooped over he halted with each step but he's surrounded by those thousands of glistening black bodies wearing banana leaves by the way when he met them before they were saved they wore no clothes when they were born again they began clothing themselves with the only things they could wear they came to hear their beloved Juana for the last time he spoke to them after only two hours of singing songs that he had lovingly taught them they would sing wounded for me wounded for me there on the cross he was wounded for me gone my transgressions and now I am free all because Jesus was wounded for me in front of him said five thousand former headhunters their bodies are oiled formerly the habitation of dark foul fiends demons from the pit now temples of the Living God now I won't read the rest you should read the biography CT stud cricket ear pioneer is what it's called one of the most moving life-changing biographies I've ever read do you know what the secret of his life was his consecrated life he got up every morning 4:00 a.m. read the scriptures for two hours sitting by his little fire there by that Hut and the natives would come and watch him and then ask him to tell them what the God of the universe had taught him does anybody know you're in touch with the God of the universe does anybody ever see you communicating with him do you read his word that's what this whole lesson is about well let's get to the next slide revelation 1 222 s most important message for us as believers is were to be living for God in a very dangerous world the most dangerous thing for us is anything that neutralizes God's influence on our life anything it can be a hobby it can be an activity it can be our health it can be our diet it can be our athletics it can be the most distracting device in our current world right now but whatever it is God says I want you to consecrate your life to me and seek me before everything else that's the only way that we will see God demonstrate his attributes that's the power to God keeping his word that's the reality of Christ in us well to a group of people living on this map do you see the map there we're on the first stop on the left side Ephesus these were literal people living in literal places with literal problems with struggles going on their life just like we have that Jesus transformed now the outline of this book which is so important which is going to be for those of you taking this for credit a part of all your quizzes and your tests there are seven distinct parts of the book of Revelation we're in the first part chapter 1 through 3 in which this section is is Christ Church on earth by the way revelation is just if you read it as this plain as day you see Church Church church Church 21 times that ends in verse through chapter 3 then we go to the second section Christ Church in heaven we see the same people talked about in chapter 1 2 3 up in heaven sitting around the throne and so that's Christ Church in heaven chapter 4 chapter 5 in the beginning of chapter 19 then we see all that awful stuff you've heard about the tribulation events that's from chapter 6 through the end of chapter 18 chapter 19 the fourth event is the return of Jesus Christ to the earth it's called his second coming then chapter 20 is about Christ's earthly rule now you might have heard the term Millenium that's a latin word malay Onam malay a thousand annum years thousand years it says it six times in chapter 20 the Jesus will reign a thousand years a thousand years a thousand years a thousand years a thousand years years a thousand years that's the millennium then we see the final rebellion second half of chapter 20 and the great white throne that judgment seat of all who have ever lived and then dwelling in eternity in heaven that's an overview of the whole book this section we're entering into in this class in the next couple of classes is about this unique section of Jesus writing seven little postcard messages letters to seven specific churches each as you see on the slide in front of you each of these letters has seven elements you see seven here's a term there is a hep Tadek structure to revelation and a hep tad is a group of seven it's a unit of seven there are so many 7s in Revelation I don't have time to rat them all off right now but here's the first one seven churches seven letters to the seven churches within each letter seven elements what are the elements the church is in a city by the way the message is tied to the city where they're living it's it's very you just constructed a magnificent powerful way to communicate there is Christ chosen name remember I told you he he goes back to those titles in chapter one there's Christ commendation he says something about the church Christ concern I have something against you fifthly his exhortation where he says remember yesterday no matter how many steps would take away from the Lord it's always one step back that's that exhortation to repent that the Lord gives then there's his promise to the overcomer every letter has it if you look at verse 7 of chapter 2 it says to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God overcomers that's a code for a truly born again Christian whoever is born of God overcomes the world and so these are promises to us as believers every one the letters has one then finally a challenge and this is so beautiful the seventh element is always introduced by the same little structural sentence framework he the hath an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches what's that born again people have our ears open that we now hear the voice of God you know this morning when it's still dark I was listening to the voice of God actually heard him talking how do you hear him talking you read the Bible when I read the Bible I'm listening to the voice of God well each of these seven churches also portray what we call an era a period of time of church history Ephesus is kind of like the early apostolic time 30 to 60 AD Smyrna is like the suffering time when Nero started cranking up to persecutions all the way through Diocletian Pergamus is is kind of like the the Middle Ages Dark Ages period as Rome was declining and the church was rising Thyatira is at that time where the Roman Catholic Church basically dominated Western society Sardis is the Reformation time and beyond when it did Church was dead and then life comes to it Philadelphia is the great missionary era kind of when CT stud was out there working in the heart of Africa and Laodicea basically is modern times also the church is not only portray eras of church history they portray the medical condition of believers in the first century and in every century since wherever you go to church wherever you have attended church there are seven types of people that attend that church that's what Jesus said this is what the church looks like there are Ephesian people see on the chart they have crowded hearts yeah they're saved but boy there's a lot of other stuff going on in their lives and it's kind of like they're balancing it all instead of letting Christ be the one they seek most they just kind of try and keep all the balls in the air they're also Smyrna type of people that are purring there are also Peugeot might people there over exposed to sin there they're entertained by sin or they listen too soon or they watch sin or they they're just entertained they're comfortable around sin seiyya tyrants they're not just exposed they're infected there are Sardis type Christians they appear tacked and saved every Church I've ever pastored for 40 years there were people in the church and I would ask the elders of the Deacons I say is that person a Christian they go yeah they've gone there the whole life I said no if they've been born-again and when I really pressed it they say I don't know they were baptized they joined you know they come they give but there's no evidence there's no evidence that their eyes have been opened that they've been turned by the Spirit of God from darkness to light there's no evidence that they have spiritual hunger there's no evidence of the Holy Spirit in their life there are philadelphians in every church praise the Lord as a pastor you always gravitate to these because they're the ones who are just live in the Christian life I mean they love to read the Bible they love to share the gospel they love to pray you ask them do something they want to serve you ask them to to be a part of anything and their only problems they want to do everything and usually there's a core of these in every Church they're the backbone of the church not the rich not the famous not even usually the most educated they're just well they have a consecrated life they're like Philadelphia and then there are the Laodiceans they're spiritually blind and distracted they're the ones that say I don't get anything out of the Bible I don't like to read the Bible it's kind of heavy it's kind of hard to understand and and boy are they distracted they have every gizmo they have every pursuit and God is just one of them so therefore the seven types of believers that even I would say every one of you watching this if every one of you who are born-again Christians are either distracted or refined or compromised or deceived or stupefied or dedicated or uncommitted God says you're one of those seven and if you're one of the seven that's not pleasing to God it's always just one step back repent and come to the life of consecration well let's look at what first love for Jesus looks like in the first seven verses you notice what it says in verse two I know your works your patience you can't bear those who are evil you've tested that whole list Ephesus was Jesus most successful church that's why they're listed first no church receive more commendations than Ephesus in all of these letters this is at the top the most commended church Ephesus was in top spiritual condition optimal health except for they were slowly having heart disease coronary disease cardiac problems but outwardly they didn't look sick at all they were operating this is the church that we see what loving Jesus most looks like and that's why I want to go through in our little time we have Ephesus talks to us about the three choices of a surrendered or consecrated life the Saints in Ephesus were heirs to the Apostle Paul's longest and most powerful ministry Paul spent three years ministering there he stayed here longer than any other city when he left he passed the pastoring to his spiritual son Timothy and he sent back not one but three letters Ephesians first Timothy second Timothy remember first second Timothy were sent to Timothy when he pastored that church this is where Jesus mother Mary lived and where she died it was from Ephesus John was arrested by Domitian and exiled to Patmos notable Christian leaders Apollo tikka cos Priscilla Aquila and others ministered there it was a an incredible church the Saints of Ephesus overcame the same pressures facing us as believers today what was Ephesus like it was a pleasure seeking culture and a mind assaulting edia and a materialism dominated way of life that sounds like 21st century life in Western culture USA Western Europe you know the Commonwealth over in Asia and the wealthy parts of Asia that's what I'm describing the pleasure-seeking culture I mean that's what people seem to live for the concerts and everything else the gaming the mind assaulting media and materialism dominated living for 40 years Ephesus had stood as a beacon in the shadow of the next slide do you see what's there might not look like anything to you that was the largest building ever built in the ancient world now you say some of you are saying huh what about the pyramids the pyramids are not buildings this was a building the size of a city block I mean you go to New York City and look at the size of a city block that's this building this building had 60 to 100 foot tall columns a hundred and twenty-seven of them covered with gold this is one of the wonders of the ancient world there were seven wonders this was one of them Jesus writes a list of Kandam commendations and he gave also one serious warning and a promise and he sent it by messenger from Patmos or John wrote it down on a boat tasses as that letter came to Ephesus had arrived in the port and the moment the messenger walked off the boat and toward the city holding this letter from Jesus the first thing you would have seen would have not have been the bustling Harbor teeming with boats not the roads lined with exotic goods from trade routes all over the world but the largest building in the world on your screen the great temple to Diana Artemis of the Ephesians standing ten stories high taking up an entire city block the Temple of Diana or Artemis in Greek was completely covered and overlaid with gold it gleamed the Sun directly into the center of the city it became third of the seven wonders of the ancient world but in and around Diana's temple prostitutes both men and women lured people for unbridled immorality in the worship of Diana the goddess of sex and fertility can you imagine a temple dedicated to sex and fertility with free prostitutes male and female that's what Ephesus was it was a magnet not just for the sexually enslaved it was the center of black arts of witchcraft of superstition of the power of Satan and that place it's the place where God chose to plant the greatest church of the ancient world Ephesus as you see in the next slide was a city on a hill now let's do a quick biography of Ephesus take your Bible turn back with me to the book of Acts chapter 19 there's a whole chapter of the Bible devoted to the founding of this church this was an incredible church this was a vibrant Church but most of all as I was just telling you it was a city set on a hill Ephesus was the magnet for travelers it was a magnet for all types of people that were involved in commerce or involved in the arts it was kind of like a combination of New York City Los Angeles and Shanghai all put together and through the harbor and through all the trade routes that went through Ephesus flowed the world and this is what it says in chapter 19 of X and verse 10 and this continued for two years so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus both Jews and Greeks what continued well it says in verse 9 that Paul taught every day and reasoned with the people how could everybody hear about it because Ephesus was kind of like the hub it was a place here's Ephesus and through it the trade routes like the Ignatian way and to its harbor came the boats so it had all of the boat traffic and all of the land caravan traffic going through so this hub if you could get a product into Ephesus it would either go back out on a boat or it would go down the trade routes if you could get an idea a truth a concept something new it would go out with all of the the Mariners and it would go around both east and west with all the land traffic and so as God's Word says all who dwelt in Asia heard about the Lord God planted Ephesus in the shadow of that largest building of the ancient world to be a light for him it wasn't just a major seaport it was known as the Gateway to the entire continent of Asia do you see why God planted the church there God picked this as his biggest church so the gospel would go global and that happened just like I shared in the life of CT stud because Paul was willing to go into the shadow of the blackness of Satan's territory and shine the light of the gospel Wow quick biography of Ephesus it was the longest ministry investment of Paul it was the greatest revival of the New Testament era it was the largest church in church history it was the first love Church of Revelation 2 and 3 it has the most detailed words on spiritual living see Ephesus has the Epistle to the Ephesians the little epistle 6 chapters 2 to those living in Ephesus form for us the clearest description how to live the Christian life and be that city set on the hill for the Lord wherever we are well the amazing biography is in all 41 verses of the nineteenth chapter many notable offer authors have written books in fact when I was in in seminary bible school in the 70s they were just a shelf of books on how to have a successful church there are many books on and manuals on how to make the church successful but if God was to write one what would he say the secret is of a successful church well he did write one that's what X 19 is X 19 is the authorized biography of the powerful Church in Ephesus and it's a biography God wrote see look at acts a little differently God is showing us in Acts how he uses consecrated people empowered by a spirit to do unbelievable things in acts 19 we find the timeless keys to what makes a church God can use great lead by the way what is the church it's a bunch of living stones a bunch of individual people that are consecrated and empowered that together form a temple of God that lights the area where they serve so how does God do that well throughout history and every culture no matter what century you live in what does a powerful church look like three keys first one chapter 11 arming chapter 19 verse 11 God's son is magnified listen to acts 19 11 and it says now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons brought - from his body to the sick and the disease's left them and evil spirits went out of them Wow and look at 17 verse 17 of chapter 19 and this became known both to all the Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus and fear fell on them all and look at this and the name of the Lord Jesus was what what does your Bible say magnified number one in a successful church and I might add in a successful life that's consecrated to God God's son is magnified what does that mean it means that Jesus is a part of my life he's what I talk about he's what I think about he's what I live for and if you're around me very long you'll find that out that means it's magnified all of us magnify something some will magnify themselves some people magnify their problems or their hurts or their you know troubles and woes other people magnify you know their company or whatever they're pursuing but someone who's useful to God magnifies got the son by the way this city experienced something unlike any other time in Paul's ministry God didn't do miracles like this all the time in fact what went on in Ephesus never went on anywhere else it was unprecedented in Ephesus because Paul's only goal was to magnify Christ because he didn't care about magnifying his own ministry or his own name or his own status God unusually blessed Paul's ministry like no other time in his life but like always the power of God attracted counterfeits and a clever group of opportunists wanted to get in on the action so they started selling God's power this group this seven sons of Siva they would go around they'd say hey we can do it Paul did it we can cast out demons we can do all this and that's the setting look look at what happens it says in verse 14 of chapter 19 there were seven sons of Siva Jewish chief priests who did so and the evil spirit answered and said Jesus we know and Paul I know but who are you see they were trying to market the power of God that Paul had and they said they had it and then the man verse 16 whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overpowered them and prevailed against them so that they fled out the house naked and wounded and this became known all over Ephesus the lesson God looks for men and women who are willing to work unhindered by the sacrifice labouring with an undivided heart proclaiming the undiluted message investing in a humble occupation to make the gospel Christ known and God will do the work the fakes said they had the power they didn't and the demons showed them to be charlatans when I told you about CT stud CT stud my hero move to the heart of Africa and it says in his diary he brought his main equipment is he brought two Bibles here at both of them in oil cloth that was kind of like a ziplock bag a hundred and fifty years ago so they wouldn't get wet in all the canoe rides and if they ever tipped over and he had two of them be case he lost one because he was going to be there he knew the rest of his life and his entire ministry was based on him getting to know God so well through his word that whenever he got to talk to someone he told them what God said that's what it means when God's son is magnified I want to know him I want to know his power Paul said I want to speak his word because it's the Word of God that's living and powerful and changes lives okay number two not only is God's Son magnified number two look at verse 18 it says after Christ was magnified chapter 19 verse 17 and many who believe came confessing and telling their deeds also many of those who had practice magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted up the value of them and it was totaling fifty thousand pieces of silver God's people are consecrated hey what is consecrated can you say today if I asked you if we had a quiz bowed your head and raise your hands or wrote on a piece of paper do you think your life is consecrated to Christ what would you what would that mean well what does it mean here when God's Son is magnified choice number two as God's people are consecrated when Paul originally began spread in the gospel in Ephesus he was not talking to commendable God honoring Saints he already described in the book of Ephesians what these people when he got here what were they like this is what he says they walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air seasons to Paul continues we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh fulfilling the desires of our flesh and we're by nature the children of Wrath just as others so who were the congregation of Ephesians Paul ministered to let me describe him they were Diana worshiping sex addicted materialism controlled occult practicing sinners let's just be specific that's what they were so what happened to him well God saved him but God doesn't just leave us where he finds us Paul began to teach about what pleases God what doesn't please God and all of a sudden these recently dead now made alive in Christ Saints heard God saying don't go that way anymore repent and they did and the result was they started cleaning house look at verse 18 and many who believed these Ephesians that were formerly in the darkness came confessing and telling their deeds and many who practice magic brought their books dance what consecrated living looks like they had been living in the lusts of flesh so when they felt the rebuke of the Lord they went through their homes and found everything that promoted sensuality everything that promoted the lust of the flesh and they cleaned it out they used to walk that direction and now God is having them walk a new direction and they started getting rid of and itching and burning the things that were of their old world everything God's enemies the Evil One and his angels were promoting an ethicist the Saints at Ephesus had decided they wouldn't have anything to do with those things anymore what does all that mean they chose not to give Satan a foothold in their lives that's what's chronicled in chapter 4 of the Epistle to the Ephesians Paul says don't don't leave an open door to the devil and he lists off all the things in chapter 4 that gives Satan a foothold in our life a beachhead well the last point is annex chapter 19 and I want to just read three of the verses because you'll see as these three verses come verse 9 verse 10 verse 20 that when God's Sun is magnified and God's people are consecrated God's Word begins to prevail and and sweep through a town and change it this is what it says in verse 9 but some were hardened it did not believe x99 but spoke evil of the way before the multitude he departed from them and withdrew the disciples reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus what is that well Paul was teaching publicly but people started heckling and and and trying to confuse people so he says hey all of you that believe join me and we're gonna go over our lunch hour and I'm gonna start kind of dialoguing with you I'm gonna teach you the Bible answer your questions and disciple you he did that in this place he rented called the school of Tyrannus verse 10 and this continued for two years now look at verse 20 so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed God's Word prevails when God's son is magnified when God's people are consecrated God's Word prevails secret number three of a powerful church God's Word prevails here in Ephesus Paul didn't just plan a church move on he taught daily he reasoned he persuaded after three months he started disciple for two years every single day Paul came from his leather workshop on his lunch break and explained the scriptures to them every afternoon what a commitment he didn't just read the word he explained it he he helped them connect what the Bible said what God said was where they were for two years every single day when the whole city was taking afternoon siesta people would gather to hear Paul teach counting the time he had on Sundays and every day for two years Paul preached a total of 3000 hours to that one church over a two-year period three thousand hours that's equivalent to attending Sunday morning service Sunday evening service and Wednesday night service for 30 years Wow Paul compressed a lifetime of training into one short very intense concentrated time of discipleship when God's Word prevails the church has power that lasts for generations the short lesson of what this means love what God loves hate what God hates that's what Paul told them that's what Paul showed them that's what Paul taught them so Jesus admonished them to go back you see 60 years of time from Christ's death bear and resurrection to this letter 30 years since Paul wrote his epistles to them a whole generation had everything God wanted them to know and they had slowly drifted away from it and Jesus said I want you to go back to loving what God loves and hating what God hates now I wonder what would be burned today if the Holy Spirit's conviction swept our lives have you ever thought about that it says in in in verse 19 many of those who practice magic brought their books together and burn them what would be burned today if the Holy Spirit's conviction swept your life are there some DVDs that you have or that are on your computer or you've downloaded or that you know right where they are or any other things what would be quietly removed and perhaps some shows some movies some websites some music some video games that God that are about things God hates not about things God loves but those be brought to be burned do you see why we don't have power most Christians today I've been teaching for 40 years most young people today not seem to have a holy boldness about their lives why the Bible says this the righteous are as bold as a lion but the wicked run when no one's pursuing them there seems to be a lack of boldness because there are hidden sins in the lives of many believers acts tells us when God's people were consecrated the result was God's Word grew mighty and prevailed when people get into the word when they allow the Spirit of God to use the word of God to transform their lives they start getting rid of things things that displease God here's a summary the power of the early church was simply genuine holiness they didn't have books they didn't have DVDs they didn't have websites they didn't have you know bracelets they all wore they just had genuine holiness they were energized by God's grace now remember I told you that it says in Titus 2 verses 11 through 13 that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us energizes us to say no to sin number one they they were energized by grace so they magnified Christ their lives were consecrated and God's word began to prevail the Spirit of God moved unhindered see that's what the power is when you get consecrated the Holy Spirit can move unhindered can flow unquenched you see when we love things that God hates the Holy Spirit inside of us is grieved and quenched but when we hate what God hates and love what God loves then he flows unquenched through us God gets all the glory and God will reign in our life and the Spirit will move in our life and Christ will be magnified in our life and basically the secret of a powerful life is so simple love God most real quickly I have three minutes I want to tell you what God can do with an Ephesian first love surrendered light I met a man in 1978 I'll never forget him I don't know his name I couldn't pick him out of a crowd today I only saw him for about five minutes of my life but he deeply impacted me he lived in a city in Morocco that's the northwest corner of Africa I had driven a car from Germany with 6000 Arabic Bibles in the car with a team of others and we had taken turns driving 6000 kilometers to northern Africa we had seen God unusually get us into that country the guards at the border didn't even see the Bibles and we were told we were delivering him to one of the only six known believers in the whole country of Morocco what we had were 6,000 Bibles where people in all 21 Arab speaking Muslim nations had written letters to transworld radio and said tell us about Jesus Christ we want a copy of the scriptures so this mission hand addressed with all those people's addresses that wanted a Bible 6,000 little packages sent us eight college kids into Africa to mail them and deliver them half of them to be mailed half delivered to only one of six believers I said sure I'll take the trip I'll lead this team where do I take him they said oh we can't tell you I said I would deliver 6,000 Bibles to a country and you don't have an address they said yeah the Lord will show you and I said I was in seminary I went mm-hmm really well I sure was taught a lesson we got into the country we weren't across the border after we saw the Lord blind the eyes of the guards we got into the country I was driving along the first person the backseat said I know where we're supposed to go I said really the signs were all this is what the signs look like there that's that's how well I can read Arabic that's what a sign look like a street sign with that kind of writing on it they said don't worry about the signs go down that road one by one all seven other occupants of the car kept saying I know we're supposed to go that way I know we're supposed to go that way and one by one they until I was the last one and we had with a trailer behind us with his great big kind of camper bus I was driving along and I was I was the driver and we were getting deeper and deeper into this city in Morocco where the roads were narrowing and finally it was like we were inside of a tunnel and we came out of the tunnel into what would be the courtyard of a Moroccan city and a gigantic mosque was right in front of us and I said well I'm the last one and I have no glimmer of what we're supposed to do so I'm pulling over we're gonna pray and I pulled the van over to the curb with the trailer behind us and I said everybody pray and as we bowed our heads whoa the call to prayer and if you've never seen a call to prayer in a 100 percent Muslim country everyone goes and there they were wearing their burkas and all their outfits totally black head to toe covered they were crawling around in between our trailer and there and they all went into the mosque while we were praying and I said don't let that bother you keep praying so we all had her head spout while all the when in the mosque and while we were praying on my window and that's when I met him the man from Morocco the man who when I talked to him for about five to ten minutes told me that he had surrendered his life one of only six believers in this Muslim country to be whatever God want him to be and he said he prayed that if God would bring those Bibles to Morocco that he would make it during a time when everyone was in the mosque and that they would park in front of his house he was in the third storey on his knees looking out as the call to prayer came and he said this gigantic van and trailer from Germany pulled up and parked in front of my window three stories up looking down and he said everybody inside bowed their head and he said I knew that was my answer to prayer what can God do with an Ephesian first love surrendered life well deliver 6,000 Bibles get them across so many borders and get them into the hands of thousands of people seeking Christ what does God want to do with your life what can God do with an absolutely surrendered life there's no limit that's the message of the book of Revelation and that's what I pray we'll be in your life let's bow father I pray that you take your word and wing it to our hearts convict us of what we need to repent up so that God's son can be magnified so that we as believers will be consecrated and so that your word will prevail through us in the precious name of Jesus we pray and all God's people said amen [Music]

Channel: DTBM

Views: 51,123

Rating: 4.9182005 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, God, Jesus, Christian, teaching, biblical, teach, sermon, trinity, church, lesson, traditional, truth, true, divine, theology, freedom, guilt, testament, pure, interpret, spirit, holy, John, Barnett, christ, father, heaven, hell, doctrine, doctrinal, sinful, forgive, forgiveness, history, teachings, chapters, verses, discover, the book, ministries, dtbm, Dr. Barnett, controversial, repent, helpful, sin, the, book, dr, john, doctor, barnett, training, videos, series, resources, savior, god, jesus

Id: 1E5mxRbDLso

Length: 52min 13sec (3133 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 10 2020