"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." (Ephesians 2:4-9, NLT) [1]

Last week we talked about the “Dehydrated Heart” and the need in our individual lives to take in – to hydrate spiritually speaking. And as people get dry, so do churches. As a matter of fact, a church is nothing more than a collective representation of it’s adherents. If too many hearts are cold then the church will be cold. If too many people are weary from too much output and too little intake then the church will be a tired, dry church. And that is why a person’s first awareness of a need for revival is awareness of personal need. Often we miss that. We think that out of our own spiritual abundance and our own closeness to God, He makes us aware of “thirst” in the church or a need for God to move in revival in a congregation.

It’s much more significant than that because we cannot make other people “want” God. God creates awareness of personal need and then calls us to satisfy that need in our own lives. It’s His job to worry about the church, it’s our job to pray for the church. It’s His job to fill us to overflowing, it’s our job to allow the overflow of our lives to bless those around us.

"Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”" (John 4:13-14, NIV) [2]

And when you are “hydrated” and your life springs from this source, you accentuate the unsatisfied thirst of others.

Conversely, people who live a dehydrated faith repel others from the gospel. Because the flow of the Spirit of Christ is reduced to the daily grind of rules, regulations, duty and really slavery. It becomes pure work, human effort to earn my place in heaven. There is nothing quite so unappealing and ineffective as a man or a woman trying to find their own way to God. Trying to fly the banner of their own goodness, hoping that God will notice what they do and ignore what they are. That’s the problem with religion. It can’t change what you are, it can only alter what you do sometimes.

Until a person shakes that off because they truly see that their self-righteousness is really arrogance, they will never know an experience with Christ as Savior.

So drinking from the “W.E.L.L.” begins with receiving God Work. That’s what we want to think about this morning. It is His Work that saves us – not our own.

"Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (Romans 10:3-4, NIV) [3]

The following quote from the book “Spiritual Burnout” by Malcolm Smith, illustrates how we can take the things that God gives us for our benefit and make them another dehydrating factor in our lives.

“We know that the inexhaustible life that rose out of death is available for us so that we might live triumphantly in this present world. but how do we get that life into our own weak lives? God's infinite wisdom is within Himself, but we need His wisdom to walk through the problems and confusions of our lives.

Facing the hurts in the lives of people all around us, we feel callous and uncaring. How do we get His compassion into our hearts? When others hurt us and we find no ability within ourselves to love and forgive them, how can we get His divine forgiving love into our hearts?

The answer religion gives to this is always in terms of something we do. In my youth, I asked that question of many pastors and always the answer was a variation of the same idea. To have the flow of the life of God, one must set aside time to pray and to read the Bible on a regular basis; our quiet hour with God is the key to abiding in Christ.

I do not believe this is true. In fact, I believe it only adds to the problem and increases the frustration. There are many reasons to set aside quality time with God; but if we are doing it in order to get the flow of God into our lives, we are only adding to our spiritual exhaustion.

To say that the life of Christ flows in and through our lives because we spend an hour in devotion today is to turn prayer and Bible Study into a work of the flesh. It is to make the activity one more rung on the ladder to God.

The Pharisees pored over the scripture and said prayers believing that, in this way, they would somehow tap into God's life. Jesus plainly told them that in so doing, they were missing the only source of life which is Christ himself. "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have life; and it is these that bear witness of me; and you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life." John 5: 39-40 NAS”

From the book SPIRITUAL BURNOUT by Malcolm Smith p. 83,84

Let’s look at His Work and let it refresh us this morning.

Pillar #1: We are spiritually alive.

When a person asks Christ to come into their lives they come alive spiritually. Theologically speaking they are regenerated.

"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)[4]

Dead men don’t talk – that’s what they say. The truth is that dead men don’t do anything. They can’t – they are dead – there’s no life. They can’t give you an opinion or a perspective. Darkness is their dominion. It’s a common picture that the scripture gives us relative to life apart from a relationship with Christ.

Sometimes dead men come to church. They treat it like every other part of their world. As long as it is predictable they like it – no surprises. Dead men set their alarms to remind them that the service should be over and they should be going home. Sounds crazy doesn’t it. As though a dead man has somewhere more important to be.

There are people who come to church every Sunday who are “dead” spiritually. Or if you prefer, they are deadened. They have an inability to truly understand the heart of God. They are trying to find Him to some degree but it is perhaps by human understanding or intellect. They are looking for a God who fits their preconceived description. A God who will fit in their tiny little box. But God is bigger than that. He’ll defy the box of your understanding. He won’t reduce himself to meet the criterion of a dead man.

Most dead men don’t go to church though.

Pillar #2: We are heavenly positioned.

"For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6, NLT) [5]

We are no longer slaves to sin, destined to die. We are made right in God’s sight. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.

Many of us struggle to accept this position of privilege that we have been granted. Look at the following scripture from Galatians 4.

"Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves great wealth for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were slaves to the spiritual powers of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father. Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you." (Galatians 4:1-7, NLT) [6]

Even after coming to Christ we live a paranoid spiritual existence as though we still have to earn God’s love or His forgiveness. We struggle to forgive ourselves, to let go of the regrets of the past and turn them over to Christ.

We had a typically wonderful men’s meeting yesterday morning. By the way, if there are any of our men who would like an opportunity for fellowship and spiritual growth opportunities, see one of the Wild Bunch or one of the leaders. Gary Page, John Otteson or myself. We’d love to have you join with us.

So many times we see people who desire to know God who in their past have made wrong choices which have brought great problems to their lives, perhaps choices that have hurt others as well. God if he is anything, is redemptive. He offers us a chance to begin again. To allow His Spirit to rebuild and restore, to bring healing. Don’t believe that God calls anyone to live a second class experience with Him because of past sin.

Pillar #3: We are connected to God.

We are not alone. By God’s grace, we have been made one with Christ. He abides in us, and we abide in Him.

"“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them.”" (John 17:25-26, NLT) [7]

There is nothing that you encounter in a given day that He is unaware of. There is no sadness that He does not feel. There is no pain that escapes Him.

"Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16, ASV) [8]

There are times when I fail to understand what someone else may be feeling or experiencing. There is nothing that you will experience in life that He does not feel with you.

Pillar #4: We are billboards of mercy.

God’s mercy is demonstrated in our lives. You don’t need to carry the sense of shame for what you may have been. You are forgiven in Christ

"And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7, NLT) [9]

WHEN I SAY, "I AM A CHRISTIAN"

By Carol Wimmer