Revival Preaching

My assignment tonight is to address the issue of revival and preaching. When we think about revival, it's hard to separated from preaching. Oftentimes, when we think about revivals, we think about the preachers who are associated with those revivals. When we think about some of the preachers that we've already talked about here today, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield and the like, we think about the way that God used them and used their preaching and leading those revivals. But what is it exactly that needs to be a part of that kind of preaching. What is it exactly that those of us who have the privilege of preaching and a desire to see revival ought to be mindful of as we preach. I'm glad you asked in the Quintessential Preaching passage. I believe we have an answer. I know we've all looked at Second Timothy chapter four many times, but I want us to look at it tonight through a different lens, and maybe from a different angle and perspective. And that is through the angle and perspective of preaching and revival and what kind of preachers God uses and revival, What kind of preachers we need to desire to be if we are to be in that place and ready and able for God to use us in such a way. I turn us to this passage because I think in the middle of this text we see this need and call for revival. Beginning of verse one, I charge you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who has to judge the living and the dead by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word be ready in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. And there's a little hint there right in season out of season. There there are good times for preaching and difficult times for preaching. And I would argue that when we're talking talking about revival, that would be one of those good times, one of those good seasons for preaching. Verse three, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. I can't read that verse without just commenting on how many times I've shared that with people who ask. Me the question. I've been asked so many times. You've probably been asked the question or you've asked the question yourself, why is it that so many reprobate churches are huge? Why? Why is it that so many false teachers are preaching. To thousands and tens of thousands? Why? Why is it? Why? Why does God allow these individuals to have these names and these profiles, and and and and here we've just heard about you know, this, this need for you know, one point five million dollars to buy building for this seminary. And why why there, man, there's people out there who are teaching horrible stuff who can just stroke that check because they got it. They got it, And people are just pouring funds into their ministries. Why why why? It just seems like it ought not to be so. And the answer to that question is that is true because the Bible is true. It's exactly what Paul is saying. The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. That's why those churches are huge, because the Bible is true. Those churches aren't huge because something's wrong in terms of God's word. Right that those churches are huge because something's right it's what was predicted, it's what we've been told, it's what we've been shown, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Sounds like there's a need for revival, aymen, Like right there, sounds like there's. A need for a revival. That's there are people who have a desire. There are people they want preaching, they want worship. But what they become accustomed to and what they become satisfied with and what they become hungry for is antithetical to that which God has given for their benefit. There's a need for revival. There's a need for people to be awakened from their slumber, to be snatched out of those places. Well, there's an answer, and here's where we're going to concentrate tonight. Verse five. As for you, that's them, that's what's happening out there. How do you respond to that? Who are you to be? How are you to preach in light of that? As for you, always be sober minded and your suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry? There it is there. It is. Oftentimes we think about revival and preachers whom God would use in revival, and we would use things like, you know, articulate and winsome and powerful and fill in the blanks right, and instead we get serious, courageous, evangelistic, faithful. To put a finer point on it, serious, courageous, evangelistic, and faithful. That's the call for Timothy, and that's the call to all of those whom God would use to preach in the midst of times that are in need of revival, in the midst of times where people have gone astray. And need to be rebuked and awaken. Sober or serious, courageous, evangelistic, and faithful. Let's look at these in turn. First, those whom God would call a preach in the midst of this must be serious, Paul says, as for you always be sober minded, be serious. Now, what he means here is not that we're to be somber, that that we're never to smile, that nothing is ever. To be happy or find that. That's not what he means here. But in order to understand where he's coming from, I think it's important to look at this in context. Look at this, for example, in light of the beginning of the letter, look at Sewod Timothy chapter one, look to beginning at verse one second Timothy's most intimate letter that we find among then Pauline letters. It's incredibly intimate personal. He writes, paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the way of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy, my beloved child. By the way, Timothy is not his son biologically, this is spiritual. He's referring to him as his beloved child. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience. As I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day, intimate personal relationship, as I remember your tears, they share tears together. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I remember your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. He knows his family history. For this reason, I remind you the fan to flame the gift of God which is in you. Through the laying on my hands you or dained him for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and of love and of self control. This is an incredibly personal and intimate letter. And yet when he comes to the crux of the matter and he calls upon Timothy to commit himself to the preaching of the Word, listen. To the way he chooses to frame it. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. It doesn't sound like it's personal and intimate anymore. Sounds like this is serious. He's speaking here as an apostle. He's speaking here not just as a friend and a buddy and a father of the ministry. He's speaking here as an apostle, and he's calling young Timothy to a sober minded task. You know what this puts me in the mind of when I read this, I always think of general in the Armed Forces who is at the commissioning ceremony of his grandson, and he's pinning on the insignia for his grandson who's just been commissioned during wartime. It's serious and it's sobering. The general stands there and here's his grandson, and he's proud of his grandson. But there's a war going on, and his grandson has just raised his right hand and joined the battle, and he's commissioning this young man to go and get in the fight. At that point, he's not grandpa, he's the general. This is serious, sober Another thing that this puts me in the mind of and many of us in the ministry will have had this experience and will have this experience, and that is doing a wedding ceremony for one of your children. Amen. It's serious. Dead serious. Doesn't mean that there's no fun, that there's no joy, that it's the most joyous thing, just as it is the most serious thing. That's what we're talking about here, called the preach is serious. I remember at my ordination. A lot of it is a blur so long ago, but I remember this phrase, young man, when God calls you to preach, which don't stoop to be a king, because there is no higher calling, none. And we must be sober minded and recognize that what we are called to do is as serious as anything. In fact, it's the most serious thing that anyone could ever be called to do. Because we are dealing not just with life and death, but with eternity. There are souls under our care, and in light of that, we must be serious. We must take this task seriously. We must take our preparation for the task seriously. We must take the execution of the task seriously. We must take everything that goes along with the task seriously. We must be sober minded. Those are the kind of men that God uses. Those are the kinds of preachers that God uses, those who are serious about their task. Again, doesn't mean that there's no joy in it. There, most assuredly is. There is great joy in what we do. Amen, but it's serious. I remember when this sort of came home to me, and it was the first time I had I conducted a funeral, and it just dawned on me. That this is what all the work is about. Let me think about it. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we're preparing people to die and go meet God. That we may help them do many things before then and until then. But at the end of the day, everything that we are doing, all of the preaching that we are doing, is crying out for men to be prepared to meet with God. And there's nothing more serious than that. So first must be serious. Secondly, must be courageous. He says, endure suffering. Endure suffering. It's not the first time that we see this. In fact, if you look carefully at the book of two Timothy, what I've noticed in this book is there's a pattern, this too pronged theme. And if you've heard me talk about this letter, you've heard me talk about this before, because it's to me, it just it unlocked the book. Seeing this too pronged theme in every chapter, there are two things. One in every chapter, Young Timothy is called to preserve and proclaim the truth of the gospel. Look in chapter one, in verse thirteen, follow the pattern of sound words that you've heard from me. In the faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. Chapter two, verse one, You, then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of any witnesses, Entrust the faithful men who will be able to teach others. Also look at chapter three, you, however, verse ten, and follow my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my perseverance, and sufferings that happened to me at Iconium. And what does he come down to but ask for you verse fourteen. Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it, and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through Jesus Christ. Chapter four, we just read it. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, Approve, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. At least once in every chapter he calls upon young Timothy to preserve and proclaim the truth of the gospel. He's in prison, he knows he's at the end of his life. He knows that the gospel message is going to have to go forth, and it's going to have to go forth by faithful men who will preserve it and proclaim it. But there's a second thing that we see in every chapter. In two Timothy, look at chapter one, verse eight. Therefore, to not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. Chapter two, verse three. Share in suffering as a good soldier in Christ Jesus. Chapter three, verse twelve. And indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. We read earlier about the sufferings that Paul had endured, and then here in chapter four, as for you, always be sober minded endure suffering. In every chapter there's that two pronged thing. On the one hand, preserve and proclaim the gospel, and on the other hand, in your suffering. In other words, the message of this the message of this letter is Paul, who was in prison was about to die, is saying to young Timothy, here's what I want you to do. Preserve, hold on to and proclaim the truth of the Gospel, and then endure the suffering that will inevitably follow as a result of doing so. Or, to put a finer point on it, they're about to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they do preach the gospel, be courageous. Be courageous, and by the way, being courageous. Here there's at least a couple of senses in which we need to take this. On the one hand, obviously, being courageous means that we preach regardless of the cost. We preach. Whether it's in season or out of season. We preach whether people hear it and receive it. We preach whether we're free to do it, or we preach whether or not. We preach regardless of the cost. Like Peter and John before the Sanhedrin and Acts chapter four, when they're told not to go anymore and preach in this name, what is their response whether it is right to obey men rather than God. You be the judge. But we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. We have to. The next chapter. They're beaten, they're flogged. When they go back to the brethren, there's an impromptu worship service that breaks out as they celebrate the privilege of being beaten for the sake of Christ, a mini revival. So there is that sense and truth be told. That's not something that we've ever in this part of. The world really had to worry about. I mean, in America we say we're persecuted when people say nast these things about us, that's. Your little low heart in Nigeria. Right now, Christians are being killed at rapes never seen before in the history of the church. Right now today, the children being kidnapped, their daughters being taken into forced marriages by the Muslims in the north of Nigeria. That's persecution, not the news media saying nasty things about us. Amen, call it what you want, but please stop calling it persecution. It's an insult to our brothers and sisters who are really being persecuted. So there is that sense, But there is another sense in which we must be courageous. And it follows with the context verse three, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off in the myths. And then right after that he says, that's for you, Well, why remind young Timothy of this? And why remind him of this in the context of telling him about what's going to happen? Why remind him of the need for him to be serious and to be courageous in light of it. I'll tell you why, Because there is a tendency and to temptation to shave off the rough edges in order to keep people happy. But when the church on the other side of town is blowing and going, it's one thing for them to be a church on the other side of town that's blowing and going and growing, to another thing for the people in your church to start leaving going to the church on the other side of town that's blowing and going and growing, because there's a compromise over there that's tickling ears, and there can be a temptation. To just shave off a little of the rough edges. I remember. I graduated from seminary. I thought about this and it floored me. It'll be thirty years ago next year. I graduated in ninety six, and I remember shortly thereafter serving in churches, and at the time there was this sort of mix of ideas that were coming together, and everybody was reading Hybels and Warren and Barna, and it was called the church growth movement. And there were these two main schools. There was seen some of y'all shaking your head, right, there was the seecret driven movement, and then there was the seeker sensitive movement. Right, the secret Sensitive movement was a response to the secret driven movement. And so there are these churches that are just exploding. We just hadn't seen things like this before. And there are churches with tens of thousands of people showing up, and so all of a sudden, people are just trying to figure out, you know, what's happening. And there was a formula. I was on staff at a church that took the entire staff to Willow Creek to the Willow Creek Conference, one of the most difficult things I've ever experienced in ministry. The whole staff we went, and I remember going to that conference and you know, having the people there at Willow Creek. I don't know how many members there were at the time, but tens of thousands of people, huge auditoriums overflowing with people, and basically you went there to spend a weekend for them to tell. You the formula. Here's what we do, here's what we've done, here's what works. And it would say, now we're not telling you to go out and reproduce this, but here's a folder with all the things that you need to go out and reproduce this. And that weekend led to the departure of many members of our staff, me included. Because I remember when I was in college, I had a number of jobs. Bridget and I got married this somewheer between my sophomore and junior year. I had a number of jobs, often more than one. Got married between the summer and my sophomore and junior year. He had our first child in ten months, so our oldest daughter. Was born when I was a junior in college. At one point, I was selling cutcoa knives. I still got them, by the way. At one point I. Was at one point I was selling cars. I've show I sold Toyotas and I sold Chevy. I could sell you a car. At one point, I was in telemarketing for two days, and it was so hard to sit there in that conference and hear the same stuff that people had taught me about being a good salesman. And so a lot of people respond to that, and they said, no, no, no, that's too much. We can't be a secret driven church. We got to be a secret sensitive church. What was that. We're not gonna go all the way, but we're gonna shave off some of the edges because we're not courageous enough to just believe that God will bless the ordinary means of praise, that that won't bring revival. That's a cause for the need for revival. Amen. When men have become so worldly and so pragmatic, and they have good at the Gospel of all of its power and most of its truths, that's when there is a need for courageous preachers. Thirdly, serious courageous, evangelistic evangelistic. There's a need for evangelistic preachers. And I know you know when we hear this and I say evangelistic preacher, I know I know what image that brings up in your mind, right, the tent revival and the white three p suit and the break. No, I don't mean that. I'm not talking about gimmicks. What I mean by that is that we understand that we are called to preach the Gospel. We are not called to preach moralism. It's moralism. Moralism sees Jesus as a moral example. Moralistic preaching says, here's Jesus, He's our moral example. You want to be a better man, here's seven things that you can do like Jesus to be a better man. You want to be a better wife, here's six things that you can do to be a better You want to be a better business man, you want to be a better that's moralism. Jesus is a mere moral example, and our preaching just highlights those moral examples and calls people not to repentance, but to christ like morality. That's not the gospel or therapeutic preaching where every sermon becomes a counseling session. That's not the gospel. That's not evangelistic. Nor do I mean doing your moralistic preaching and then in your last two minutes, huh, doing your therapeutic preaching, and then in your last two minutes doing your legalistic preaching, then in your last two minutes. No, what I mean by evangelistic preach is that the entire aim of our preaching is to see men and women, boys and girls come to repentance and faith the whole of it. We want them to obey the Lord their God. We want them to come to know Him and the forgiveness of their sins, and for them to be conformed to the image of Christ. We want them to find the Gospel message from the Word of God through our preaching, and for that to transform their lives from the inside out. That's what I mean, that it's our goal, and that it's a constant goal, not one month out of the year when we have evangelistic sermons so you can bring your friend. No, the very heart and soul of our preacher ought to be magnifying the person and work of Christ and calling men and women and boys and girls to repentance of their sin and faith in Him as their only hope of salvation. That's the essence of revival preaching. Amen. And here's the good news. Whether that preaching results in great revivals or not, it is the means that God uses to save sinners. Maybe be unashamedly evangelists stick in our preaching. Maybe we unashamedly call people to repentance, which means we unashamedly call sin sin. And I don't mean being mean and nasty about it. Christ is glorious, Amen, But that starts with a desire and a passion in us. Is my desire and my passion just to see the number of people growing, or is my desire and my passion for souls. Fourthly, it's kind of preaching is serious, it's courageous, it's evangelistic, and finally, faithful. Faithful. He says, fulfill your ministry, trust, be faithful. That's your goal, that's your aim that you're calling be faithful. Here's the beauty. The beauty in this letter is that Paul knows that he's at the end of his life. You see it. You see it in what he writes and the way he writes. He doesn't hide that at the end. He wants Timothy to come to see him soon. I didn't believe in me as long. Now this is just me. But if I'm in prison and I believe that my captors aim to have my head, and I'm sitting down and I'm writing a letter, I'm just gonna just keep it as real as I can with you, I'm gonna write something to this effect. Timothy. You remember when Peter was in jail and the people got together and had prayer meeting. Find them Amen. But he doesn't do that. He doesn't even say, you don't pray for my release. He doesn't do that. Why because it's inconsistent with the request that he's making. You cannot say to young Timothy, i am calling you to preach the gospel knowing that it will cost you your life, and then turn around and say I'm really not willing to die myself. It doesn't work. You know, it does work. Right after this, In case you wonder what fulfill your ministry is referring to, look in verse six, most famous paragraph here in this letter. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteous this which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. I'm not asking you to do what I'm not willing to do, just asking you to be faithful, and I want you to know it's absolutely worth it. There's another aspect of this notice he says, fulfill your ministry. Paul doesn't outline for Timothy a particular ministry path. Fulfill your ministry, Stay in your lane, do what it is that God has called you to do. Do what it is that God has equipped you to do. Fulfill your ministry. Don't find somebody out there who you think is doing it right. Or doing it well, and then try to pattern your ministry after someone else's ministry. Fulfill your ministry, be faithful, Be a faithful steward of the gifts, talents, abilities, and desires with which God has entrusted you, and use those to the best of your ability. Use them to the utmost to be who you are. To man your post, because if you try to man somebody else's post, yours will be vacant. Don't live your life coveting somebody else's calling. Live your life being faithful to yours. And it's enough. I promise you it's enough. I believe we're in need of revival. And as has been said from this pulpit many times over the course of this weekend, I pray that God sends it just if he wants it to be local, if he wants you to praise God, Amen, send it. If he wants it to be regional, man, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. If he wants to be national, I'll take it. Send it. If he wants to be international, yes, yes, Lord, even more yes. But regardless of whether or not that happens, this doesn't change. If God sends revival local, regional, national, international, what's going to be required of preachers to be serious, to be courageous, to be evangelistic, and to be faithful? Amen. But if God has you toil away at your post and you never see revival in your life lifetime, what does he require of you? Be serious, be courageous, Amen, to be faithful? Same thing to be evangelistic doesn't change. So whether God uses that in your life to impact the lives of a few people who come to faith and are forever transformed, or whether He uses it in your life to put you at the forefront of an international revival, Serve the Lord, Serve the lif Lord. I lean with this. The guy who shared the Gospel with me was a guy by the name of Steve Morgan, and Steve was on staff at Campus Crusade. It's my first year in college. I had never heard the gospel my first year in university. Again, as you probably probably already know, I was raised by a single teenage Buddhist mother. Never heard the gospel till I got to university. And God used Steve Morgan to leave me to fade, and he told me a story once. That just floored me and humbled me. Steve was. At a conference or something, and he was talking about you know, evangelism, this, that and the other. And you wouldn't know Steve's name unless I told you Steve's name. And as he was, you know, going through this, somebody, I guess had heard me talk about my conversion and mention that name, and they walked up to Steve and they asked Steve if he was that Steve, and they said yes, And then the person made the connection. And I guess Steve wasn't making in his mind, but the person made the connection of something to this effect. Here's Steve on a college campus, just being faithful manning his post, and through him being faithful manning his post, God used him not only to bring me to faith, but every individual whose life that, by God's grace, I've been able to impact, is a secondary result of Steve's simple faithfulness as he manned his post. I believe that when we get to glory, those who've been faithful in this way, who've been serious, courageous, evangelistic, faithful, though we may not see thousands upon thousands, we are going to be amazed in glory as we see the ripple effect of us being faithful manning our post. Mom. Don't think this doesn't include you, Amen, because it absolutely does. Your faithfulness in your home with your children. Jonathan Edwards had a mama, and she taught him some stuff. Amen. So as you pray for a revival, be serious, be courageous, be unapologetically evangelistic, and be faithful. God will bless it. Let's pray. Our good and gracious God. We thank you and praise you for the kindness that you show us in the simplest of things. We thank you when we praise you for the ways in which you use our small and simple gifts and multiply them like the loaves and fishes. Father. As has been said many times here, we do desire to see revival in our land and in our day. Grandest Grace, to be serious and courageous, and evangelistic and faithful to man our posts, so that should you so desire, we might be ready and willing vessels in your hands, regardless of how small. The task. This we pray in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.