Revive
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Revive.
Revive.
Today is the first of four messages, in our Reviving Raleigh series.
Today’s message is simply put. “Revive.”
I want to express a few statements we have to agree on before we move forward.
In order for us to experience true revival, we must acknowledge our sinfulness.
If we acknowledge we are full of sin, we also acknowledge our need for help.
Its not much different from being sick. When you are sick you need a healer.
When we are filled with sin, we need need forgiveness. We need grace.
So a logical progression to follow here is: “To experience revival, you need to experience God’s saving grace.”
Grace acknowledges who and what we are. It plays no favoritism. There is no partiality given (re-read the book of James) It is clear as day. We need it, Jesus has it.
When I got my first car, and I made many mistakes with my first vehicle(s). My Dad always told me, before you set out on a long trip, inspect your vehicle. Good oil, clean engine, check the air and tread on your tires.
Church family its my desire that in 2024 our church sets out on a journey, a journey with an emphasis on mission. We’re going serve our neighbors in the community, through school, health, clothes, service projects and more. We’re going to offer community seminars on finance, healthy marriages, and of course the Gospel. But before we head down this journey, lets put some air in our tires and put the good gasoline in our tanks, the good oil in our engines.
Prayer
If you have your Bibles I would encourage you to turn to Luke 23, verse 39. While Jesus was hanging on the cross, the criminals to his left and right began to interact with Jesus.
It says in verse change slide
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The 2nd criminal says a lot by first rebuking the other criminal’s words and then a plea for Jesus to remember him!
He openly admits that justice was being enacted upon he and his criminal mate, but the one who was the embodiment of goodness, and merit, Jesus, had done nothing wrong, and yet he was suffering their fate.
Jesus hears more than the words recorded in Luke. He hears a man verbally approaching him with nothing to hide. He has accepted his sentence as remorse for his actions. He doesn’t approach Jesus for fear of what was to become of him. Jesus looks into the heart and sees God’s light has exposed in the man’s heart where his sin exists, and in these final moments has chosen to repent. Remember me in your kingdom.
Jesus still holding love for humanity in fact still interceding for them, asking the father to give them forgiveness and mercy for their crimes against their maker, tells the man He will be with Him again in paradise. Wow, bringing hope to a sin filled criminal while hanging on a cross. Maybe thats hope for you and me! If Jesus can assure salvation to a criminal sentenced to death, whats stopping him from doing the same for me?
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In the book Steps to Christ, chapter 3 opens with 2 questions. How shall a man be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous?
The answer given which was revealed to her by God through scripture and deep faithful relationship to God, was so simple.
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The author Mrs. Ellen White says, “Its only through Christ...” If I could share that revelation to you, and everyone here would walk away understanding fully, there would really be no reason for me to continue preaching. The answer has been given. Many will claim understanding in hearing this answer, maybe falling into extremes of Eccl. 7:15-18 of overly wise or overly foolish. We hear, through Christ alone and then focus only on self, by self cleansing, and personally trying to rid ourselves of sin. Others get uncomfortable perceiving there is somehow an attitude that we might be saying it is pointless to uphold the law because we just claim God’s grace and there be no moral accountability to God’s statutes. Those that are uncomfortable with grace are really actually worried about permissiveness--about the way the sharing of grace seems to say it's okay to do all kinds of terrible things as long as you just walk in afterward and take the free gift of God's forgiveness. . .While we may be worried about seeming to give permission, Jesus wasn't. He wasn't afraid of giving the prodigal son a kiss instead of a lecture, a party instead of probation; and he proved that by bringing in the elder brother at the end of the story and having him raise pretty much the same objections we might have. He's angry about the party. He complains that his father is lowering standards and ignoring virtue, and essentially rewarding such behavior. And to that, Jesus has the father say only one thing: "Cut that out! We're not playing good boys and bad boys any more. Your brother was dead and he's alive again. The name of the game from now on is resurrection, not bookkeeping.
You see there is a tension present within this conversation. How can we answer, “through Christ only” are we made just or righteous with God if there is an expectation of action from His followers? There might be some here who could have been lawyers, some of you like to dot every “i” and cross every “t.” Those of you like that might be quick to say, “we do have to do something, to receive grace, we have to repent.” To those who have that thought, I am going to make you feel further uncomfortable *** smile*** in hearing me say.
You are so right, but you may also be soo wrong. Let’s look at repentance.
When the crowd being convicted of sin in their lives after hearing Peter preach at pentacost, they ask, “what shall we do?” What was Peter’s answer??? (tell me what was it?) REPENT!!!
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At another time, shortly after, he said, “Repent, … and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” Acts 3:19.
Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We won’t renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.
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Mrs. White comments again in Steps to Christ on repentance, saying: “There are many who fail to understand the true nature of repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin.”
In other words its like me when I was a child after I had disobeyed my mother for who knows what reason, I could be heard all the way from my bedroom crying out, Mom I’m sorry!! I’m sorry, can I please be done having to sit in my room. My mom had the wisdom and discernment to recognize I wasn’t sorry for what i had done, but might hate being cooped up in my room enough that I might learn to not disobey her. Thats why parents go in to the room afterward to explain the punishment, so the child not only understands the consequences but can also acknowledge the reasons for why it was wrong what they had done.David learned a thing or 2 about repentance in his life. David has 2 unique prayers found in the psalms that illustrate the nature of sorrow for sin.
He longed for the joy of holiness—to be restored to harmony and communion with God.
David learned a thing or 2 about repentance in his life. David has 2 unique prayers found in the psalms that illustrate the nature of sorrow for sin.
He longed for the joy of holiness—to be restored to harmony and communion with God. I’ve asked __________ and _____________ to read the following psalms.
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Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
and then
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
As Mrs. White says: change slide
A repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high and has given gifts unto men. There can be no effort to make excuses, and no desire escape judgment.
think on that for just a moment. What is being suggested is that the willingness to repent is not a natural tendency of the sinner. Expressing a need or an inclination for repentance comes from the Holy Spirit already working on you!
I liked how one of our sabbath school editors put it.
he says: A while back I was convicted that I was drinking too many sodas. I prayed about it. I started drinking a lot more water, and then one day decided to “splurge” and have a Pepsi. That was a waste of $2, because after two sips it tasted so sickening sweet, I dumped the rest out and refilled the cup with water. God changed and converted my taste buds when I was totally powerless.
The repentant thief on the cross never actually said he was sorry (at least there is no record of it). He repented by allowing a work being done on him through Christ’s testimony which was piercing through the hardness of his heart more any nail ever could.
He called Him Lord and professed his faith in Jesus and the resurrection, while everyone else was still mocking Him. It was because of a work Christ was doing in Him which convicted Him to repent.
In fact the Bible is telling us, repentance is not a pre-requisite to come to Jesus. That is man-made up. Jesus is willing to meet us where we are at. Just don’t expect to be sitting in the same place forever where he meets you at.
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The Bible says in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one that can implant in the heart enmity against sin. Every desire for truth and purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness, is an evidence that His Spirit is moving upon our hearts.
I think you can better see why to answer the questions,
How shall a man be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God, with holiness…It is through Christ’s work in us, his light shining within us exposes the sin that exists in even in the most outwardly righteous saints.
The same divine mind that is working upon the things of nature is speaking to the hearts of men and creating an inexpressible craving for something they have not. The things of the world cannot satisfy their longing.
We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our life has been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think that we do not need humble the heart before God, the same as any common sinner: but when the light from Christ shines into our souls, we shall see how impure we are; we shall discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity against God, that has defiled every act of life. Then we shall know that our own righteousness is indeed as filthy rags, and that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us from the defilement of sin, and renew our hearts in His own likeness.
Does admitting we are sinners, now discredit us from proclaiming the good news Jesus longs to share with every citizen of Earth? Even the great apostle Paul had his imperfection of character come to light.
Paul says that as “touching the righteousness which is in the law”—as far as outward acts were concerned—he was “blameless” (Philippians 3:6
); but when the spiritual character of the law was discerned, he saw himself a sinner.
So yes we must repent! But the great sinfulness within us would not allow us to do so if it were not for Christ piercing through our hard hearts with his light displaying for us the sin which exists and realizing our need for repentance.
If Paul could acknowledge his need to repent, i believe it behooves us to understand, each of us does as well.
Do you know what repentance leads to? Peace
Is there anyone here who needs peace in their life? I imagine there are many of us who do! In fact I don’t just imagine. I know there are those of you here who desire that personally more than anything else. I am here to testify, that there is nothing in this world that can bring about individual peace than forgiveness. And as I say forgiveness, I mean both kinds of forgiveness. I mean, the act of forgiving someone else, and also receiving forgiveness. I don’t even just mean emotional peace. I am talking about physical peace.
Jesus while walking throughout Judea during his 3 year ministry would often say to those with physical ailments. Go in peace, your sins are forgiven. Maybe they had been going to him to be healed physically, but Jesus wanted to restore what was on the inside!
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While in seminary, I made the worst purchase of my life. I bought a 2002 Izuzu Rodeo. I liked this car. Meggan never really liked it. I bought it because of the way it looked on the outside. it was blue, and sporty looking. It wouldn’t be but a few weeks into driving it, I found out it had all sorts of problems. The biggest issue, was it was an oil leaking machine. I had it repaired several times, but it would never last. It got so bad, I had to put a quart of oil in it almost daily and when I parked I took a tin throwaway lasagna pan and would stick it under the leak when in the driveway. One of those winter days up in michigan, I agreed to take a friend of mine to the airport in south bend, about 30 mins away. The roads were slick and he and I ended up spinning out on the high way, the front and back bumper ended up colliding with the guard rail causing some pretty decent aesthetic damage. However the car still ran. I took to the shop to see how much it would be get restored. The amount was the same as how much I paid for the car. Knowing how bad the car was on the inside, I elected to drive the car even with the damage. It was a good call, because the car ended dying completely 6 months later. I would have loved to have kept that car if could have been fully restored inside out, but the temporary fixes were getting to expensive for me.
Jesus was offering more than physical outward restoration his forgiveness of sins was a true satisfying peace none could attain but through him.
Reformer John Wesley insisted on prevenient grace (grace that precedes conversion) as a solution to two great problems in Christianity: the belief of original sin (being born into an innate state of sinfulness) and the Protestant doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Wesley thought that prevenient grace enabled the doctrines of original sin and salvation by grace to co-exist while still maintaining God's sovereignty and holy character as well as human freedom.
Mrs. White expounds on this saying change slide
“It is God who taking the first step in humankind’s salvation, yearns over lost humanity and desires to bring them back to him. God’s grace alone can quicken the faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness. God’s work of grace upon all beings, as a result of Christ’s death on the cross prepares them to receive His offer of salvation.
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Denis Fortin, former dean at the adventist seminary and expert Mrs. White’s writings, says this understanding of grace is what gave Mrs. White optimism although mankind is sinful.
Its not a math problem. Grace is Christ’s testimony! The amazing thing about grace is, it truly isn’t about what we do. Its about the provision Christ has already set up which encourages us to accept his gift. It also doesn’t tamper with free will. We have the power to make choices and reject him. But our goodness in no way saves us. Goodness only originates with God. It is His goodness working in us. Our desire to repent, is because of work God is doing in us! Experiencing his grace is not even hanging on repentance. Its always been there. Christ is there ready to forgive us. His light exposes the sin in us developing in us a desire to repent. You see! Its about what He did, not what we did, its about what He did. It is through Him alone that we are saved.
When we recognize this truth, and see His grace. We serve him with our lives. There is no other conclusion. God’s grace is sufficient.
His grace is not just sufficient for you, but it is sufficient for others around us to.
Can we really extend grace towards others if we haven’t experienced it ourselves? Do we have any pent up anger toward those who have wronged us? Is there a family member or friend or colleague who you have built up resentment against? Is it possible what we are holding onto something with so much white knuckled resistance, we are blocking the transformational element of grace that we can receive and pay forward, setting up a spiritual revival we haven’t seen since the day of pentacost. Can we open ourselves to the love and grace the Holy Spirit wants to fill our lives with right? Can we let Him fill us, so as individuals our hearts will overflow with grace and love for others.
discussion
1.Is it harder to receive grace or to give grace to others?
2.If we are saved by grace through faith, what role do works play?
3.The definition of grace is “unmerited favor.” What is one word to describe your feelings when you receive grace?