On Fire For God (C)
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We have been talking about bringing Revival… bringing Awakening… to our hearts…
We have focused on being “on fire for God!” — on letting Him ignite that Fire in our hearts that causes us to YEARN for the Kingdom… to YEARN for His presence in our lives… to YEARN for His will to be done in the lives of people around us…
We’ve talked about how important it is to “get the Junk” out… to remove sin from our lives…
We’ve talked about talked about the importance of centering our lives on God’s Word and on the Gospel… of allowing them to infuse and inform our lives… and our worship…
We’ve talked about the importance of making the personal decision to become Children of God… to not just travel with the group… but to become a part of the family of God…
But… I have to ask:
Why? What is the point? Why is this discussion important? Why does our faith matter?!
Because…
This world needs to see people of faith!
We received a reminder of this this week… when Russia invaded Ukraine… people’s lives were changed in an instant…
I want to read you what the Ukraine District Superintendent CotN wrote… (read it)
This is just one example… We personally know many people dealing with the threat of financial lack… medical emergencies… (spent this week with three people having major emergency surgeries)
These people need to see God’s people stand strong… undivided… unmoved by the political motivations of this world…
The world needs to see God’s people… unshaken by health issues… financial lack… standing steadfast in the face of adversity…
The world needs to see God’s people be God’s people!
That’s why this is important!
“The destinies of societies are shaped by great men and women” — Thomas Carlyle
I would say, “The destiny of this world is shaped by faithful men and women of God!” — Pastor Tony Whitehead
This world needs … no this world deserves… to see God’s Faithful Children for who they are!
— Not a weak, feeble, deluded people… searching for a “crutch” to help us “cope” with adversities… but…
— A people who aren’t afraid to confess their sins AND be cleansed from them… because they KNOW the One who makes them pure!
— A people who aren’t afraid to face the adversities of this world with confidence… because they know the One who has overcome them…
— A people whose lives are centered on the Word of God, as THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH! (no questions… no doubt!)
— A people who center their lives on the Gospel… because they know who they were… and they know who they now are!
This world deserves… needs… to see God’s people … Awakened… It needs to see us… set on fire for God!
That means… (getting rid of sin… centering ourselves on God’s Word… and the Gospel… )
Being Devoted to Intercessory Prayer.
This world needs us to “stand in the gap”… for them!
Just like Nehemiah, Ezekial, and Isaiah… We MUST be a people of intercessory prayer!
Throughout Hezekiah’s story we find him constantly praying for his people…
18 For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than as prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good Lord pardon all
19 who set their hearts to seek God, the Lord the God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.”
20 The Lord heard Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21 The people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the festival of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, accompanied by loud instruments for the Lord.
22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the Lord the God of their ancestors.
23 Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the festival for another seven days; so they kept it for another seven days with gladness.
24 For King Hezekiah of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, and the officials gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers.
25 The whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the resident aliens who came out of the land of Israel, and the resident aliens who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; their prayer came to his holy dwelling in heaven.
Awakening happens when God’s people devote themselves to prayer. Period.
“There is no awakening, apart from prayer… Prayer doesn’t bring awakening; Prayer is awakening.” — Jonathon Edwards
One missionary in China during the beginning of the great revivals there said: “I used to think that prayer should have the first place and teaching the second. I now feel it would be truer to give prayer the first, second, and third places and teaching the fourth.”
Why?!?!
Because prayer focuses our faith on the Truth… It focuses on the FACT that “we CAN’T, but God CAN!”
Prayer forces us to acknowledge that everything we face… everything we can do… all our efforts and abilities… are insignificant in the face of the God of the Universe!
Prayer is an acknowledgement… that while we can’t fix it, we know the One who can! We know the One who has promised to provide for… to heal… to guide… to bless us.... and we TRUST Him to do it!
Let me ask you: Do you pray for our church daily? Our city? Our schools? Your family? Your friends? Jobs?…
— I’m not talking about quick “toss up” prayers… you know the ones… we toss out through out the busyness of our day… those situational prayers…
— I’m talking about Real… Deep… Heartfelt… gut-wrenching prayers… for God’s provision in the daily workings of our lives and community… prayers that burden our hearts and force us to our knees before God…
It is inconceivable that you want the power of God in your life, but don’t pray!
Let me ask you this: “If God answered all your prayers in one fell swoop… What would it look like?”
— It should scare you!
Our prayers need to be so big… so out there… so awesome… that it would absolutely blow our minds if God answered them!
They say in the business world that you have to “dream big”… that you can’t think small and experience big success…
The same is true in our prayer lives.
Our prayers need to be so big… that there is absolutely no way that we… or any other human being… can answer them.
Those are Kingdom Prayers!
How BIG are you praying?
— The world doesn’t need to see anymore of the little daily… mundane… humdrum… memorized prayers that we have been praying…
— The world needs to hear the earth shaking … power infused … prayers of the Faithful Children of God… (expound — Lord’s Prayer)
The last thing that this world needs to see is…
— A people who give of themselves completely.
That means that we must…
2. Be a People That Gives Extravagantly.
5 As soon as the word spread, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.
6 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been consecrated to the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps.
7 In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.
8 When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.
9 Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps.
10 The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty to spare; for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this great supply left over.”
— For four + months they “piled up” their offerings… and God BLESSED them with more than enough!!!
Let me tell you: You can’t out give God!
Look at Acts 4:32-34
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.
33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
This doesn’t mean that they became communists… it doesn’t mean that they didn’t own anything… It means that they didn’t consider their property more important than their love for one another…
They were united in Christ… in Faith… Taking care of each others’ needs became more important than wealth, because of what God had done for them.
Just like the people in Hezekiah’s time, the disciples gave because of what God had done for them.
Look at Acts 4:34
34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.
— The people in Hezekiah’s time gave so much that there were “heaps” left over…
The world… our community… needs to see us be a people like this!
Are we giving out of obligation… legal obedience… or out of response to what God has done for us?
Let’s pile up a heap like Hezekiah and the people did… Let’s give so much that need and worry go away… because there’s plenty to spare!
— Not for bragging rights… but for the Kingdom!
You see… We ENGAGE in what we INVEST in!
Giving matters! (not just for church finances)
When we INVEST in the Kingdom… We ENGAGE in the Kingdom…
When we ENGAGE in the Kingdom… We IMMERSE ourselves in the Kingdom…
When we IMMERSE ourselves in the Kingdom… We are AWAKENED…
When we are AWAKENED… We are SET ON FIRE!
When we are SET ON FIRE… We FIND JOY!!!!
25 The whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the resident aliens who came out of the land of Israel, and the resident aliens who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
The people’s generosity not only restored the Temple… it blessed their neighbors… and foreigners… It blessed people who didn’t even belong to Israel!
That is what the world needs to see today!
The world needs to see God’s people awakened!
It needs to see God’s people set on fire!
— in our prayers
— in our purity
— in our preaching
— in our faithfulness
— in our giving
Because that is where our JOY is found!
Church… we are the ones whom God has called to “stand in the gap”… between His Kingdom and this broken world…
The world needs to SEE us REVIVED!
But that will not happen until we DEVOTE ourselves to PRAYER… to the Gospel… to Obedience to God’s Word… and to Giving…
30 And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.
The Ultimate One who would stand in the gap between God and us was Jesus.
He rendered perfect obedience to the Father… He prayed for us… He gave Himself as a sacrifice… He held nothing back… taking the punishment upon His own head for our disobedience…
Are we willing to do the same?
“Let us return to the basic things of the Word of God and Prayer and Soul winning and Revival… “ — Lee Roberson
For those of us that have been saved… It’s not about us anymore!
The world needs us to be revived… to be set on fire for the Kingdom…
People need to SEE what it means to live life FREE from FEAR… in the arms of our Lord!
“We are not the only ones affected by our recovery. The spiritual awakening heals the world one person at a time.” — Marta Mrotek, “Miracle in Progress”
Will you “stand in the gap”?