Refining Boldness for Revival (2)

Good morning, Tennessee Valley Community Church family. My name is Ben Malone and I have the honor and privilege to teach you today about how God works in your life even when you do not realize it. First off, I would like to thank Steve for trusting in me and giving me this opportunity to speak to you today. So just a quick intro of who I am: I have been living in Paris for 8 years now. God has blessed me with a beautiful loving wife that has supported me and been with me through every wild and crazy idea that I have conjured up. We have two wonderful children, or most of the time anyway, that are sitting below us right now in our top-notch children’s ministry. Can we all give Tracy and the staff down stairs a hand for the excellent job they do in teaching our children. They are the future of not only our church but the world. Most importantly I am a man who spent 30 years lost in the world, but by God’s Grace and His consistent pursuit of me was found and I am now a follower and servant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So enough about me, lets did into God’s word this morning and see what we all can learn together.

If you have your bibles this morning, we are going to be in Acts chapter 4. Just a side bar: I love technology and will be the first to admit of using it as a crutch more times than not, but there is no substitute for having the word of God before you and seeing where you have been and where your going while reading His word.

Let us begin our time this morning before the Lord in Prayer: Father, I thank you for this day and I thank you for this time to be able to teach and grow closer to you. I Pray that your Spirit will come into this place this morning and take hold of all our hearts. That you will use me and guide my thoughts and actions today so that everyone will not see me, but see your everlasting Love and Grace. Be with us this morning as we open your living word. In your Son’s powerful name of Jesus Christ, we pray and God’s people said, Amen.

So, for as long as I can remember I have been one who loves disciplines, order, procedures, and a sucker for a great To-Do list. Maybe because of my father and grandfather never stopped disciplining and teaching me through various aspects of life. Even today if you were to talk to people that really know me, they would tell that I enjoy disciplines and the tougher the task the more I am on board. I know what you’re all thinking right now, who is this weirdo and when is Steve coming back? Really though I know there are some other Type A personalities out there that can relate. That’s why one of the hardest things for me to do as I continue to grow in Christ is to let Him make my disciplines and failures for me.

Today that’s exactly what we are all going to be learning. As we dig into Peter’s life, we will be learning how disciplines, trials, and failures shaped him into being the spark that started revival in the Church. And how one man’s boldness can generate thousands of changed lives.

One of the things I love the most is getting up early and sitting at our kitchen table to simply be alone with God. Alone at that table is where I built a relationship with my Father through his scriptures. The same table my family and friends gather around to break bread and fellowship. The same table that my son helped me build in our garage. Also, the same table that every stain, scratch, and food caked into the seams could tell a story. It is where the disciplines that God teaches me through the coming day begin through his Word.

One morning a few months ago as I was reading for some reason I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder, and I went before God and asked him some serious questions. I began to press into God and Him ‘Why’? Why can other churches and schools be on fire with Revival and the presence of God but ‘We’ don’t seem to be? Why do other people seem to have it all figured out but ‘We’ don’t? When will ‘We’ experience this? Why can’t TVCC make the news for a lasting revival? And then the worse one was ‘Why can’t everyone know and love you Lord like I do?

After my pity party with God was over with it was like he just sighed heavy and told me to sit down and listen son. The next hour or so sitting at that kitchen table it was like the Holy Spirit just picked me up and wrung me out like a dish rag. He began to slowly break my pride down. He led me to begin reading where the “Revival” that I asked him about began in the book of Acts.

What I quickly began to realize as I read is that a “Church” on fire for God did not begin with a congregation. It did not begin with a mega church with a sprawling campus that was built on laws, structure, summer programs, sermon series, children services, budget boards, deacons, class programs, or a swanky coffee bar. A Church on fire with Revival began with one man who was refined, tested, and disciplined by Jesus and Jesus alone. That one man’s name was Peter son of Jonah.

This realization led me to the title of our message today, “Refining Boldness for Revival.” As I continued into Acts I came to Chapter 4 verse 13. The verse reads “When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.” That verse absolutely wrecked me that morning as I sat alone. When I first read that verse the word boldness just jumped off the page and slapped me across the face. But as I re-read, re-read, and re-read that verse over and over again I realized there was so much more there to unpack.

There were so many questions running through my head. Who is they? How did they observe boldness? How did Peter and John become bold? Why were Peter and John perceived as uneducated and untrained? What amazed the Sanhedrin? How did they recognize that they had been with Jesus? But most importantly how does this all result in Revival?

These all led me to our 3 main questions that I am going to be answering today. The first of these being: How was Peter Refined?

As we look at Peter’s life, I am sure that we all have a different picture or thought about who Peter was. We do all know that Peter was one of Jesus’s closest and most trusted disciples. But the fact is that even as one of Jesus’s most loved disciples Peter still denied Jesus in that courtyard. So, the question is ‘How did the same Peter who denied Jesus in the courtyard become the same Peter we just read about in Acts?’

The answer is Love. Jesus’s love towards Peter is the only reason for the change. However, there are many forms of love and different seasons of love. There is the type of love we all think about with our spouses, children, and family. Or most family any way. But there is also the type of love that involves learning through disciplines and failures. Just as I was describing earlier about my father and grandfather disciplining me. I never understood why they were so hard on me, but now that they are gone, I know exactly why they were. Just like all of you we can look back and see those moments in our mind. One of my dad’s favorite sayings to me when I would go to him was, ‘Well I guess you better figure it out.’ The one that really sticks out to me was when I had moved out and was in my ‘bachelor pad’ living it up. Or so I thought anyway. All of my money I made got put into my boat and fishing tackle. I was broke and did not have enough money to make the bills that month so I called dad to ask for some money. This was the first time I had ever made that type of call. To this day I don’t know why I thought the answer he gave me surprised me. He simply said you’re the man of that house so I guess you better figure it out. So, I did. I hated him at the time for that, but that fatherly love in the form of discipline was exactly what I needed.

Just as my father disciplined me out of love, so did Jesus towards Peter. Jesus continually refined Peter through 3 different ways:

The First of these coming in the form of obedience. The very first time the Gospel writers introduce Peter to us is in the form of obedience. (Read Matthew 4:18-20) When we read this, we realize the importance of “Follow Me”. But for Peter and Andrew this was just a normal day of fishing and providing for their family. No different than a normal Tuesday at the office for all of us. They were just going through their day-to-day stresses like anyone else. Then Jesus comes by and simply says “Follow Me”. However this was not a simple ‘Hey come follow me to another fishing hole because I have found the honey hole’. This was a “Follow Me” by leaving all that you once knew and your livelihood and now live your life by giving your life to me.

So, before Jesus will ever teach us and guide us, we first must be obedient and follow Jesus and know him as Lord. Then once we are obedient the real fun of being tested begins.

We will be Tested. Peter was tested by Jesus more than any of the other disciples.

There are two main tests that I would like to point out that forever shaped Peter. The first coming that stormy night in a boat out on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had just witnessed the day before Jesus feeding the 5,000 with no more than just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. So moral amongst them is pretty high. As they are sailing across, they see Jesus walking on the water by them. Jesus tests Peter by saying “Come”. Peter steps out and walks, but then doubts and begins to sink. Even though Peter failed scripture tells us Jesus immediately reached out and caught hold of Peter.

The next test came while they were heading to Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks the disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Peter is tested once again and this time he passes with flying colors. Saying that ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.’ Jesus then goes onto to bless Peter and tell him that “on this rock I will build my church,”.

I believe that one of the biggest ways we are refined is through failure. None of us in here enjoy failing at anything. The bigger the failure the more we learn from it though. Peter was no exception to this. During Jesus’s ministry I would say that Peter’s failures outweighed the victories by far.

On the eve of Jesus’s crucifixion Peter proclaims “I will never fall away” and “I will never deny you.” Then not hours later Peter is asleep in the garden, and even after Jesus asks Peter the second time to stay awake and pray Peter falls asleep again.

Then the final failure that I believe was the turning point for Peter happened in the early morning hours at the courtyard around the fire where Jesus was being held awaiting death. Peter stood beside that fire and denied Jesus that third and final time and hearing that rooster crow he knew. As scripture tells us that Peter locked eyes with a beaten and bloody Savior that he had professed as the Messiah before and he knew at that moment what he must do.

So, the ultimate question is “How do we Replace that Fear with Boldness?”

For Peter to be able to make a complete 180 from where he was in that courtyard to where we read about him as the “Rock” that the church will be built upon it had to take something only God can do. Even though Peter who just like us was tested and failed many times God’s love is still there. Fear can only be replaced when we have the utmost Faith in that Jesus’s love for us is greater than any fear.

Peter was able to replace that fear with a boldness that only Jesus knew he was capable of. The moment Peter stood up at Pentecost and boldy professed Jesus as the Messiah that fear was gone. That one-day Peter led 3,000 people to Christ that day. Later on, Peter was speaking boldy to people after they had healed a lame man in the temple. The temple police had Peter arrested, but the damage had already been done. The scripture tells us that those who heard their message believed and 5,000 more people came to Christ.

This my friends is what Revival looks like:

Revival first begins with the restoration to life within yourself. It is through our trials and failures that we learn to trust in Jesus.

Secondly it is an Awakening within the Church. It was not until the people observed the boldness of Peter that they were awakened.

Revival will happen when ordinary men and women begin doing Extraordinary Acts. The high and mighty realized that Peter and John were not just uneducated and untrained men. They realized that they were educated and trained men of God.

Lastly Revival is when you are walking and talking like you have been with Jesus. The Sanhedrin were amazed and realized that the only way for these events to have taken place was because of Peter not only being with Jesus but giving his life for Jesus. That same principle goes for all of us. An Awakening Revival can not happen until you yourself have been with Jesus.

See a diamond is formed by years and years of pressure and refining. What begins as a lump of coal is then transformed through trials and pressure will turn into the most precious stone we value on earth. Just as a diamond is formed in the deep dark chasms with no value, but when it is brought to the light it is truly appreciated and accepted for its beauty and splendor. It is no coincidence that Jesus disciplined Peter and refined him through pressures and trials, so that at the perfect time he may be brought out to the light for all to see. And Peter whose name literally means “Rock” will be the very rock that the Revival of the Church will be built upon.

So the question I want you to answer for yourself today is this: When people see you can they recognize that you have been with Jesus?

Pray with me: Father, I thank you for this time today to share your word. I pray that for anyone out there that has not followed in that first act of obedience in following you that they would turn and follow you. I pray for those that may have followed you long ago, but have since turned from you and people can no longer see that they have been with you. Lord I pray that we all will look at our own lives through different lenses and realize that all trials are there for a reason. We trust in you Father and know you are God. We love you Lord with all our heart and we come before you this morning as your humble servants. Use us today, Father. It’s in your Son’s mighty name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen