Answer the Call

[0:00] We're going to spend some time around Acts 4.! The world at large doesn't care.

[0:32] They don't care about the things of God. And meanwhile there's this bombardment against we that do believe, the enemy bombardment of propaganda, this undermining of truth.

[0:43] And people have replaced the authority of the word of God with some airy-fairy philosophies of men, with the psychologies of this present age. There's so many voices calling for our attention.

[0:55] Who will we pay attention to? Of course the Lord says, my sheep hear my voice. This is his voice, the word. And we need to be careful what we pay attention to and hear the call, hear God's voice.

[1:09] We see here in chapter 4 of the book of Acts how the church handled times of pressure, hostility, persecution. What did they do?

[1:20] How did they get through? We can learn from that that happened then for our day. For this time. Now the religious authorities of the time, they found these troublemakers came on the scene.

[1:33] These disciples, these Christians, these Christ ones, these ones who are upsetting things and shaking things and teaching and preaching Jesus. This was something different.

[1:44] These were radicals, disruptors. And they found that when people heard the word, it says many believed. 5,000 got saved. The religious authorities looked at all this with disapproval.

[1:57] This was not the done thing. They rejected all of these goings on and the enemies of the gospel challenged the church of God. Here we see in Acts 4 verse 7.

[2:11] They set them in the midst and they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? The occasion was, as we saw earlier through Acts 3, there was a man who had been lame and now was leaping and jumping and praising God.

[2:29] They said, by what name, by what power, by what authority have you done this? And Peter answered in chapter 4 verse 10, This is the stone which the builders rejected.

[2:57] The stone set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby you must be saved.

[3:13] Peter pulled no punches. He says, it's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth this man stands whole. The one you crucify.

[3:24] God raised to life. It's as if these miracles and this move of God was not authorised. It was unauthorised. They would not listen. They'd not given permission for this.

[3:37] And it goes on, verse 13, Now they saw the boldness of Peter and John and they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men and they marvelled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.

[3:54] The religious authorities wanted to stifle this. They saw that these men, they were unlearned, they were ignorant. These were not trained in the schools of the day.

[4:06] These were just average, run-of-the-mill, everyday fishermen. Just average people.

[4:19] But what stood out was that they had been with Jesus. That's what made the difference. They were amazed. They were shocked. Verse 18, it goes on to say, They called them and commanded them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus.

[4:39] Not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. What are you going to do when you're faced with opposition? When you're faced with opposition, when the church is faced with opposition, what did they do?

[4:51] They got together and they prayed. Verse 31, Acts 4, 31, They got together and they prayed. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together.

[5:03] And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. There was great power, it goes on to say. There was great grace among them. Now think of our current times.

[5:16] In these days, the current days are put to you there's a coldness, isn't there? There's a coldness. There's a hatred of the gospel. Even from popular Christianity, they would say of such a church as this, oh, you're one of those fundos.

[5:31] You're a fundo. You're a fundamentalist. You actually believe in the Bible fundamentals, the biblical fundamentals. Not to say we're some terrorist fundamentalists, but we are biblical fundamentalists.

[5:42] That's a big difference, isn't it? We actually believe the book. We believe the fundamentals. In that sense, we are fundamentalists. I know someone asked me that question today recently. So, popular Christianity, they would scorn and mock and ridicule churches like ours.

[5:57] And I've had someone say, oh, you're one of those who think we've got to come out and be ye separate. You know, they kind of mocked at that. Oh, you're one of those. Oh, you don't join the ecumenical outfit and go along with the World Council of Churches.

[6:11] You're one of those who believe you've got to come out and be ye separate. As if that's some kind of, something that's not acceptable today.

[6:22] You've got to go with the flow. You've got to join the popular crowd. And by and large, though, we ourselves have grown cold. I put to you, let's not sit on our high haunches and think, yes, we've got the biblical fundamentals.

[6:36] If we're not doing anything with it, then we're cold. We're cold. The fervency has cooled. The freshness, the fire has cooled off. And it ought not to be. There's this creeping coldness and it can creep up on us, can't it?

[6:49] You ever been, I know I've had occasion where the blankets don't cover your feet at night and this creeping coldness creeps up through your toes, through your feet, through your legs and you start to shiver and shake because the coldness creeps up on us, doesn't it?

[7:06] Like the explorers find when they're out in the Arctic zones and the contrary winds of the spiritual coldness you could put, there becomes this danger of losing sensitivity.

[7:18] As the explorers in that cold, wintry Arctic tent can find the frostbite, creeps up on them and there's a great danger of frostbite, isn't there? Frostbite, you start to not feel your tingling toes, you start to not even be able to move your toes or sense that they're there until eventually they drop off.

[7:39] Frostbite, dangerous, isn't it? What about spiritual frostbite? You lose that feeling, that sensitivity towards God. You lose that, that spiritual coldness creeps up on us until ultimately there's loss.

[7:54] And in such times, such times of spiritual coldness, or don't we want to get closer to the fire? Or don't we want to heed the call of God to regain that sensitivity towards Him?

[8:07] At such times, we might feel overwhelmed when we're feeling opposition, when we're feeling hostility and we might feel like we're on our own. But God has His thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal, as Elijah found.

[8:21] Those that have not bowed the knee to the world, the flesh and the devil. God's got His people everywhere and not just here, but in many churches, many local churches, many churches far and wide, many that have not bowed the knee to Baal.

[8:34] We can feel, though, we're on our own. We're not. There's many who have not bowed. We might feel we're too weak. We might feel, maybe I'm unlearned and ignorant, just like Peter and John.

[8:49] Maybe that's a good place to be, isn't it? That we be unlearned and ignorant in the trappings of religion, of the schoolings of men, that we can enter the school of the Spirit.

[9:00] That we can enter the book and be taught by God. Now, you might say, you know, I've heard it said, a good library is like a Bible school.

[9:12] And really, this is the best library, isn't it? 66 books right here in your hand. 66 books. This is the best library you can ever get hold of, the Word of God itself. They were unlearned and ignorant men, but they had an unction from on high, an anointing.

[9:29] They had the presence of Jesus. They had the person of Jesus. They were full of Jesus. What will we do when we face opposition? That's the question for us today. When tough times come, we do have a place we can go to.

[9:48] I urge you when you face challenge to answer the call. To be like this church was in Acts 4 and 5. What this church did, they answered the call.

[9:59] What did they do? They answered the call to pray. To pray. May we likewise hear the call to pray. You know, in some countries they have a call to pray.

[10:10] Pray to a false God. But we need to hear the call of prayer from God, don't we? Come and pray. Come and watch with me. Call to prayer. It says the church went to prayer.

[10:23] And what happened? The place was shaken. Something happened when the church prayed. There was a divine disturbance. Don't we need that sometimes? I put to you we need that all the time, don't we?

[10:34] To be divinely disturbed. We need a Holy Ghost shaker. A shaking, a quaking, a disturbance. Now likewise, like I saw yesterday where David and I teamed up and we stood on the doorstep of a so-called Jehovah's Witness and the tables were turned.

[10:53] This was unusual to them. You know, oh, you Christians are doing this now. And there was this quaking going on as we spoke to this young man and the man was holding an iPhone in his hand.

[11:04] He was trying to look up a Bible verse because he was saying, have you been born again? And then he was shaking, he was quaking in his boots, his hands were shaking, his legs were shaking, David saw it, I saw it, he was visibly shaking as he tried to read the words of the Bible on his smartphone.

[11:20] God does some shaking and that's a good thing, isn't it? We ought to be shaken up as a church. He wants to shake his church. They went to prayer and the place was shaken.

[11:32] God does some shaking, he wants to shake his church. Shake us up. God calls us to prayer. Likewise, later when Peter was thrown in prison, what did the church do?

[11:43] They went to prayer. That's where they went. Acts 12 verse 5, Peter, therefore, was kept in prison. Another occasion when he was hauled away and imprisoned in a prison cell.

[11:56] But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. That's a good thing, isn't it? When bad things happen, pray, go to prayer.

[12:07] Go to the place of prayer. This was unceasing prayer, it says, without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Unceasing prayer, intense prayer, this was earnest prayer.

[12:19] When you face tough times, sister, brother, go to prayer, go there. Keep active in prayer. In Isaiah 64, 7, it tells of a people who stir up themselves to take hold of God.

[12:37] That's talking about a stirring. It's talking about a shaking, isn't it? To stir up ourselves to take hold of God. There is power in the prayer life.

[12:48] The church-faced opposition. We have encountered that. As a church, we've encountered that. I have virtually had death threats personally because of the ministry.

[12:59] threats of violence, of hatred, of arson. Talk of sending bikey gangs after me. If we stand for Christ, we can expect hostility.

[13:13] We can expect persecution. It's the norm. We can expect hatred for the gospel. Christ said, we will. It's the norm. And it's God when it happens.

[13:24] Really, for the church, it was, and it is for us now, spiritual warfare. That's what it is. Our battle is not against those who might attack us, against flesh and blood, against human beings.

[13:36] It says in Ephesians 6, verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[13:48] Friends, it's real. The battle is real. The conflict is now. It's intense. And we ought to enter into battle, enter into prayer. You might feel defeated. You might feel like the odds are against you.

[14:02] You can be assured of victory over sin. Go to prayer. You can pray through. When trouble comes, don't go to pieces. Don't go to panic. Go to prayer.

[14:14] Pray. The forces of darkness must yield for the name of Jesus. He has called us out of darkness and into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2, 9, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

[14:36] Don't go back to darkness. Sometimes when hostility comes, when trouble comes, we can succumb and give ground. Don't go back to darkness.

[14:46] Walk in the light. Let's be countercultural. The church has much lost ground to make up. There's a coldness. There's a coldness. And I'm not talking about them, other churches.

[14:59] I'm talking about this one right here. We, the people, the people of God, the church of God here. There's a lack of concern for the lost. You must heed the call. We've got an assignment.

[15:10] When you face opposition, it's time to heed the call, to be strong. God calls us to prayer. God's call also is secondly a call to mission. What did they do after they prayed?

[15:23] Acts 4.31, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. We have a word.

[15:35] We have word, the word of God. The word that is God has put on our lips to share. And we've got an accountability to share it. The Bible speaks of some who've got blood on their hands because they didn't speak.

[15:49] There's something committed to our hands, a message, a message that should burn, that should, we cannot stop but tell. A message committed to our hands and we've got a stewardship of that.

[16:02] What is it? It's the word of God. It says, they spake the word of God with boldness. I love what Neil said before. We can't say it any better than this book. That's the best way to put it, isn't it?

[16:13] The word, the word, the word, speak the word, hide the word, recite the word, indwell the word, engraft the word, implant the word, and impart the word.

[16:26] There's something that God has committed to your hands and you have a stewardship of that. It is the word of God. And we need to be mindful, I put to you saints of God that we are sent.

[16:39] John 20, 21, Jesus said to them, this was as he met with the disciples in his resurrected form and he says, peace be unto you as my father hath sent me, even so send I you.

[16:54] And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. As my father hath sent me, even so send I you.

[17:06] You are sent. Are you going? God's plan is to use people, people just like you, to send you.

[17:23] When we were witnessing yesterday, as I say, some Jehovah's Witnesses, so called, were there. And for them witnessing their gospel, sadly a false gospel, is what is expected of all of them.

[17:39] You become a Jehovah's Witness, you are a witness. A witness for a false Jehovah, I put to you. A false gospel. A false message. But yet, a witness. And wouldn't we have the same heart?

[17:51] We've got a message we should witness of our Saviour, of our true Lord, of the true gospel, of the soul-saving message, of salvation, of the word of God, and speak it with boldness.

[18:02] What about us? When you look at the Jehovah's Witnesses, God helped them. They need to be saved. Let's be honest, the vast bulk of Christians, of professing Christians, do little witness.

[18:19] Hit the call. Hit the call. Every human being is a living soul, an ever-living soul. Every human, as it's been said, you're either a missionary or a mission field.

[18:30] You're one or the other. And every human soul is one or the other. And we ought to have that heart for others to treat others such that they are ever-living souls. Even the ones who get under your skin, they're an ever-living soul.

[18:43] And human relations 101, you could say, is 1 Thessalonians 5.14. How are we to treat people? It says, now exhort your brethren, warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

[18:57] For some people, you've got to warn. You're out of order, unruly. You warn them. Scriptural warning. For some, you comfort the feeble-minded. Like this man who lost his wife.

[19:08] He needed comfort. He needed a listening ear. We need to support the weak. We all can be weak at times, can't we? There's people we need to support. And be patient toward all men.

[19:19] That means everybody. So learn to be patient. Amen. Learn to persevere. Let's treat others as Christ did. What was Christ? He's full of grace and truth. We ought to have the same, have the same principles living out of our lives.

[19:33] To be full of grace and truth with how we deal with others. Even that boss we can't stand or that situation of someone who hasn't forgiven you or this situation of grief or trouble and people that are hating you, whatever.

[19:52] Love them. Be full of grace and truth. Be gracious. Because what is it that every creature has need of? The gospel. Mark 16, 15 our Lord says as he shortly ascends to heaven he says go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to most of the creatures.

[20:13] No, all. To every creature. So whenever you get the opportunity God helping you give the gospel. Give the gospel whether they receive it or not I mean and we know it can be hard in work settings in situations you've been measured about it you find the right time the right fitting way of putting it.

[20:36] But care enough to share the gospel it's a call to action. He sends us on mission you know as a youngster year 12 I was saved going to a some of us Christians got together and encouraged each other little fellowship in the school Elizabeth High School down on Phillip Highway and one of my classmates another I think it was maybe 17 18 he was preparing for mission he was going to be a Mormon missionary for two years he had mission in his mind a false mission of course but we wouldn't we be on mission we've got the mission of God we've got the calling of God we've got the message of God we've got the soul saving life transforming gospel we're not to spend two years as the Mormon missionaries would do but we've got a lifetime to live to be on mission and it challenged me to think am I being a missionary am I being on mission and friends we've got to realise the shortness of time and the enormity of eternity and of souls to be won to be reached what are we doing we've got seed the gospel is spoken as like a life giving seed and these are times we need to plant now

[22:03] Julie keeps telling me because I'm a bit of a poor gardener and she keeps telling me I'm not planting things deep enough in the garden I get it out the pot plant and sort of dig a little hole and it sits there on top of the soil and then I wonder why it dies we need to plant deeper in our spiritual life don't we sometimes we're a bit shallow a bit superficial and we settle for that God wants us to go deeper dig the hole deeper plant be planted your faith go deeper in your spiritual life and invest in that which counts treasures in heaven blessed be God we've got a wonderful privilege to be gathered here and at this time to be a fellowship of like-minded saved people there's a call hear the call a call to prayer go to prayer don't go to panic go to prayer and go to all the world as a call to mission and thirdly there's a call to endure hardness when hostility comes when hostility comes what should we do endure hardness don't say enjoy hardness sometimes it's not enjoyable but it is endure hardness isn't it we feel the hardness of the times don't we the hardness of men's hearts we see this mounting hatred towards

[23:29] Christianity the media is constantly pumping these messages anti-Christ and we can feel the hardness Paul says to Timothy 2 Timothy 2 3 thou therefore endure hardness a good soldier of Jesus Christ you know the physique of the champion athlete you know a body like this one here has been built you know it's been built by hardness not really I need a bit more hardness to harden up to get stronger but you see those physical ones you know the people are engaged in physical sports and athletics and the military they've got to go through hardness to get stronger and friends I put to you we've settled for softness too long a soft pampered effeminate Christianity we need to be masculine I'm saying that respectfully men and women there's a sense we've got to man up face up we've got to be brave be bold be strong be courageous men and women need to be stronger in their faith in their resolve we're called to endurance to endure hardness the early church was born in a time of battle this was a time of threatenings of persecution friends when hostility comes when you face it face to face the conflict the hardness when you face the opposition when you face hatred for your faith when you face criticism when you face persecution what are you going to do

[25:02] Acts 4 29 it says they said and now Lord behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word it didn't shut them up it made them stronger it made them bolder it made them pray harder Paul tells some faithful workers in Romans 16 verse 4 they laid down their own necks that's the kind of Christianity we need isn't it that we're willing to lay down our own necks as it were on the chopping block enough of the softness and your hardness get ready for some and dig deep don't let this this easy time make you weak there's hard times ahead and we need boldness we need stamina for the struggle ahead the book of Acts were thrown into prison they were martyred stoned to death this is the reality friends there's a struggle in this walk of

[26:05] God there's a sense where the enemy is pitted against you what is it going to take to stop you to weaken your faith how much does it take to get something under your skin and get annoyed or get upset get to quit to say oh throwing in the towel Christian life is just too hard endure hardness he will help you he'll help you through hold fast opposition can be good for us we need a divine disturbance that's what happened here in Acts isn't it a divine disturbance the place of prayer was shaken maybe we need an earthquake in Elizabeth Park God was shaking up his church it's all part of his plan there's a few cracks here and there if the place was shaken maybe there'd be some damage there'd be some disturbance there'd be some unsettling but even persecution itself can be

[27:08] God sent in Acts 8 we read of the great persecution after the stoning of Stephen God sent that the church was told to go into all the world Jerusalem Samaria beyond but they were still in Jerusalem in Acts 8 at the stoning of Stephen we see that there was a divine disturbance and it was all part of God's plan to mobilize the church to get us out and about to get us out out from Jerusalem as the Lord had told them to do in Acts 8 4 it says they were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word when the persecution came it doesn't say they kind of hunkered down in their holy little bunkers and their holy huddles they were scattered abroad and what did they do they went preaching the word it didn't stop them it mobilized them God needs to disturb us from our complacency and apathy may the place be shaken may it disturb us when we get all too easily comfortable now the world would have us conform in a worldly conformity to fit in to go with the flow and it can be easy to go that way and to feel look we're so small and outnumbered you know strong bible preaching churches are kind of dwindling there's less of us we're weaker and we can shy away from battle from effort but it says one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight we are in God's hands and he will get you through the times of hardness the personal times of hardness what will it take the work of the spirit of

[28:52] God and when they prayed the place was shaken where they were gathered together and they were all filled with spake the word of God with boldness notice this they were all filled with the holy ghost nothing else will do nothing we must have the work of the spirit must be a spiritual work we can organize and and and we can theologize and we can get everything just down pat and structured and ordered and everything ritualized and and and and and and straight jacket eyes such that the holy spirit doesn't move nothing else will do we must have the work of the spirit we see that our Lord says that in John 16 what is the work of the spirit when he has come he will reprove the world of sin and righteousness and judgment the work of the spirit is the work of the truth it's it's revival and we must have the feeling not an in part let's not settle for in part but let's seek after the fullness now I'm not saying go wacko right field left field but be filled with the spirit as it scripturally tells us to be

[30:07] Peter was and he was filled and he preached the people prayed and they were filled God answered God filled them up sometimes we're a bit like when we're driving along and just let it go oh so close to empty it's almost chug chug chug let's not leave it like that let's get filled up I mean let's get the recharge let's get the refueling as it were maybe our spiritual life is a bit like that empty fuel gauge let's get a filling again a filling afresh and it's in times of opposition that they sought his face they sought his filling and they were filled at times it can fill up with too far gone the church is too backslidden too lukewarm it's a lost cause you know let's just roll over and lay down and roll over and you know just give way to the wave of false stuff that's going on will we seek after God will we go to prayer will we seek after times of refreshing that come from the presence of the

[31:13] Lord God calls us individually to a filling a refilling a fresh filling who is he going to revive who will he fill you see that in Isaiah 57 verse 15 thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones the one whose name is holy he says he lives in the heart that is humble in the contrite and humble spirit that's the one he's going to fill people like Peter and John unlearned ignorant the ones God chose that's the ones God filled and the church they just prayed God filled them have we humble hearts to be blessed vessels for the holy spirit that he fill us that he revive us that he flood and fill our hearts and overflow that renewing that holy deepening of spiritual life that restoration of divine life and power

[32:27] God tells us we can have it and yet it's easy to take the opposite track isn't it to grow weary and well doing to slack on our slumber some sound like Proverbs 6 verse 10 this is what I tend to do from afternoon to afternoon nap yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep you know we can do that can't we spiritually no don't fall for that it's a spiritual trap to fall into spiritual slumber and sleepiness and slothfulness rather let us be awakened let us be shaken shook up and friends sometimes when we see the obstacles and trials of life we can complain we can think God is far far away and we can maybe just kick back and sit back and snooze and it's all too easy to hit the snooze button and just to dull our senses to the cry for salvation of lost souls we can grow insensitive to that like the frostbite and we can miss that but God is about restoration he restores the back sliders now we thank God for the testimonies of some

[33:43] God has restored them God can work in wonderful ways in those that would seem it's too hard to reach even when all hope is gone God can work a work a divine work a holy spiritual work as we commune with him and when they prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness it's going to take a divine disturbance I put to you today as I'm wrapping up shortly will we answer the call to pray to pray a call back to prayer prevailing prayer persevering prayer travailing prayer what will it take first we have to be of such that we've got a humble spirit God deals with pride sometimes pride can be the barrier that stops his work we need to bend lower to get on our face to seek his work to come under his hand sometimes we've got to take a brokenness before the boldness because as we are broken as we come to the end of our own strength as we come to brokenness he can give us the boldness and it's firstly an emptiness that he can fill us with his fullness his filling as we as empty vessels cry out for his filling maybe it seems fruitless at times we can see we're putting in but we're not seeing results and we can see that especially the witnessing team there's times where no tangible results it can seem fruitless all of our labours it can seem that in church work too put in you reach out you touch people but it seems there's no response and that can seem like that for our

[35:42] Christian life and labour can't it? Yet the biblical principle is seed time harvest it's seed time harvest maybe we don't see the harvest just yet because it's still the seed time I'm not talking about sending millions to televangelists but there's a sense where there's a seed time there's a planting and you don't see much if anything it's later that you see the harvest it's like that with the Christian life isn't it?

[36:12] As we sow the seed as we seek after God as we put into our spiritual life and walk there will be the harvest there will be the result for the meantime let's submit to the Lord of the harvest it's one of his names he's the master of the harvest work and it's in his hands he is the Lord of the harvest he's the master he knows what he's doing just be about faithfully about what he's called you to do and even though you might feel look we're small there's not a great look we don't see some thousands here today there is a believing remnant there's a sense where there always has been always is the people of God that's not to praise us up or make us feel important but we should feel blessed but we are in some measure chosen called sent his own people and when they prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the

[37:14] Holy Ghost and spake the word of God with boldness God is at work in his church when the situation looks grim when there's hostility persecution you're under attack when the enemies of the gospel are threatening you with prison with death press in endure even though it seems like the modern day Philistines are prevailing we have complete victory it says in 2 Corinthians 2 14 now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ may not feel like it but the Bible says you always triumph in Christ you always have victory the victory may not be evident but you always have it they spake the word of God with boldness we're simply channels we're simply channels to speak the word of God let it flow through you you know we've been challenged some of our number make a big emphasis of remembering the word of God memorizing the word of God

[38:17] I think that's a good and godly thing to do the word of God it's powerful it's powerful if you lack power you might say preacher I'm just a poor powerless Christian and I'm just kind of getting by with my spiritual life the Bible says you can be filled with the Holy Ghost and power it says you can be filled with the word of God such that it's filling you it's infilling you you're hiding it in your heart and the word of God is powerful these are the words of life this is life changing it's eternity changing question is what will we feed our minds on now I know for me I like to sometimes in times past at least I've done training courses of worldly knowledge of worldly training in different things that have been subjects of interest to me and I like to call it brain food but this is more so this is soul food isn't it this is better than any book any training course this is the training course from heaven isn't it this is the Bible school curriculum from God the principal of the almighty

[39:22] Bible college it's his study book it's his training course for you this is soul food for your soul and we are communicators of it this good news we are messengers messengers only of this dynamic truth will we heed the call that's the question what is it going to take opposition hostility persecution death threats what's it going to take to shake us to wake us to disturb us to move us to realize that dissatisfaction with ourself to come to that dying of ourself a divine disturbance a revival in holiness it's our desperate need James 5 verse 8 says surely the coming of the Lord brought nigh will we be ready will we slumber or will we labour on will we fear not speak the word of God with boldness don't be ashamed break your fallow ground whatever's stopping you whatever's holding you back you're a channel what's blocking it

[40:23] God will help you to see that me do you want to be like Jesus he's full of grace and truth are you prepared to suffer for him with him to be hated of all men for his sake that's what he says are you hated of all men for his sake doesn't mean you should despair you should rejoice that's a blessing isn't it friends I urge you today we need a divine disturbance don't we because it's easy to get the settled complacent easy coasting kind of Christianity we can miss the call we can not heed the call call to prayer it's our power source our God wants us to pray he set the example the model for us to pray I need to pray pray more pray harder pray stronger pray more intensely it's a call to prayer it's a call to mission not to a select few not to the ones who stand behind this piece of wood but every believer is called to be a witness to be a messenger every believer a mission and we're called to endure hardness don't let the hardness deter you let it reinforce you let it reinvigorate you when hardness comes he says you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake and it's a call to revival he's filling and it comes as we empty ourselves as we mean business with

[42:06] God friends I urge you today we've been preaching really a message here of challenge to the church but it's for all of us but think I'm not a believer yet well he wants to fill you he wants to save you he's given everything he's given the covenant this massive special opportunity that you can become a son a daughter of the living God you can know him whom to know is life eternal don't miss that don't miss that for anything come to Christ know him trust him he'll save you in an eye blink of faith in a moment of faith as you trust him simply trust him he'll change your eternity forever destination and you can know him whom to know is life eternal trust him he's died on the cross for our sin he's risen from the dead he's alive he's our ever living saviour and to know him is to love him is to want to tell of others of him we can't but speak the things we've seen and heard let's pray

[43:14] Lord we thank you for your church we thank you Lord help us to come as it were as they gather together as they prayed as they sought you Lord as they they cried out for your filling and they got filled Lord they were filled with the word of God they were filled with your spirit the real spirit of God Lord we thank you for these things Lord pray we pray Lord invigorate us instill in us your word send us Lord as your sent ones into this harvest and Lord help us to be planting faithfully that seed in the seed time because the ultimate harvest will show there will be something to see Lord we pray by your spirit's power you would convict us of sin of righteousness of judgment that you would draw us closer to yourself to be a people shaken from our complacency from our inactivity

[44:14] Lord give each one of us something we can do whether even if it be writing letters even if it be making phone calls even if it be taking time to seek you to pray to pray for lost souls to be a people that we care about you and your word such that we cannot but tell others at every chance we can Lord help us to do that we bless you we praise you help us to endure hardness Lord there's people here this morning there's hard times here but you give us endurance you give us strength to get through Lord let us lean ever more on your strength we pray in Jesus name Amen