The Pulpit Is Responsible For It

This is not actually a devotional; more of a reminder as we go into the weekend.

I know from the emails I receive from all of you (now 185) that not all of you have a faithful and fearless pastor that many of us who attend Midway Baptist Church in Gulf Breeze, Florida have. Dr. Dennis Brunet is a lover of Jesus, His gospel, and His aletheia truth and Bro Dennis (as he likes to be called) preaches Jesus, the gospel, and aletheia truth without stammer or stutter.

I want to share a quote for each of you to dwell on this weekend. We all desire revival, but as I was speaking about this with two brothers-in-Christ yesterday, I’m not sure American Christendom actually understands what that means. Many, many Christian pundits look out over the political plain, especially the dark valley that is Washington DC and say we need revival. What they really mean is they, those whose beliefs are antithetical to the Bible, need salvation.

It is the Church that needs revival. It is only the once alive that can be revived. And so when we say that America needs revival, we need to be more precise in saying it is the Church that needs revival. And if revival will come to the church, the outpouring will not be as a stone thrown into a lake that causes an outward ripple. It will be like a massive meteor crashing into the ocean causing a never before seen spiritual tsunami.

Revival comes when God visits us. We cannot plan revival. Oh, we can for sure put on our church bulletin and signs revival services this weekend, but we can only pray that revival will come. If the messenger is not revived and not willing to preach the aletheia truth from God’s precious word, then we tarry in vain.

My prayer is for revival to come to the pulpits; then it will come to God’s people. The great 19th Century revivalist Charles G. Finney wrote the following words in his famous “The Decay of Conscience”:

    “Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation.”

Share this quote with your pastor, and please do not shove it in his face and say something like, “This is what you need to read.” Hand it to him and say I wanted to give this to you as a word of encouragement and to let you know that I am praying for you. Even those pastors such as mine, who do preach mightily, need our prayers and encouragement because they will tell you that they struggle from time to time.

Nothing but revival will save America. King Solomon put it simply this way:

    “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

May the Lord stir within the hearts of each of us a longing for His righteousness. Revival needs to begin with me. Revival needs to spread throughout my home and the homes of my adult children. Then let revival come to my church and then my community. If we 185 corporately resolve to have revival come to our own hearts, homes, and houses of God, then would it not be possible for these several small pockets of revival in disparate communities to spread throughout our nation?

Our pastor has selected as our theme verse for 2012 Matthew 19:26:

    “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

And so it is with revival. We can proclaim revival is coming to our church, but in reality all we can do is pray for it. Just as salvation is out of reach by man alone in his works, so it is with revival.

Let us purpose in our hearts to pray for such a move of God.

I pray your weekend is blessed and please remember to go to church on Sunday, and while you’re there, remember to give your pastor a word of encouragement.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2012 David Jeffers

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