James 2:14-26
Two farmers got down on their knees to pray. One lived on the east of the village and the other on the west. The farmer living in the east of the village longed so much for it to rain — it hadn’t rained for months! The crops were perishing and the livestock was famished. He prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you are going to send rain on Monday!!” News travelled fast of this farmer’s praying efforts and it reached the ears of the farmer living on the other side of the village. Ordinarily, he would have been the first to join his fellow farmer in prayer for he longed to see rain also; only on this occasion there was a problem. Monday he had planned a great celebration, “...by all means let it rain on Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday — any day except for Monday or the planned celebration will be a washout!” Thus he got down on his knees and prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you won’t send rain on Monday!!” Allow me please if I may, to ask a question; which farmer had his prayer answered? If I were to ask that question in the vast majority of Christian circles, do you know what answer I would get? The farmer with the most faith! Now on the surface, this might well seem to be a good and proper answer, but it’s only half the picture, and if left incomplete, it is an unbiblical answer!
In this sermon, we look at the Biblical nature of true faith.
Psalm 46:1-3
They tell me, that Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage or backbone. “Christianity is for those who need a crutch, but as for me and my house, we’ll stand in our own strength!” There are two things that I want to address in the comments I just made. On both counts, you find the remarks to be erroneous — flawed on every hand. In addressing the first point, “Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage nor backbone”. A precursory glance through the history of the first 300 years of Christianity will serve to amend such talk in an instant. Far from being a religion of comfortability, those early believers were systematically persecuted, first by their countrymen and later by the Romans. Bound by conviction, endued with power from on high; thousands upon thousands of courageous men, women and children embraced martyrdom, counting not their lives dear unto themselves that they might finish their course with joy!!
This sermon is a word of encouragement for those enduring persecution and affliction. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah” (Ps. 46:1-3).
Isaiah 61:11
Imagine a United Kingdom where there was no Spring; a Britain where instead of four seasons, we only had three — Summer, Autumn and Winter!! How would the landscape of our beautiful country be changed? Well, I’m no climate expert, but I do know from observation; that in summer, the sun comes out and temperatures are at their hottest; the birds are singing and trees are bearing fruit. The days are long and the nights are warm!! Then comes the cooler chill of autumn’s dawn. Gradually the landscape begins to change and that which was previously thriving beneath the summer’s sun begins to die. The crisp autumn air soon makes way for the bite of winter’s frost and by mid-winter, everything is well and truly dead! As winter draws to a close having stripped all things bare, what next? Well ordinarily, we’d have spring, but remember, for the moment, we’ve imaginatively axed spring from the seasonal cycle! From where shall the new life come?
When spring comes and God visits His people with a season of refreshing, death gives way to life and the spiritual landscape once more teams with new life!! How we desperately need such a visitation from the Lord! May this final sermon part stir your hearts to seek the face of God for a heaven-sent revival!
Acts 2:1-4
The word suddenly is an awesome word!! Forty-one times it appears in the KJV. It’s a word of wonder, of surprise and amazement! At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Their backs were bloody, beaten black and blue, yet they held a prayer meeting and got so full of the Holy Ghost that they burst forth into songs of praises unto God!!! “And suddenly (without premeditation, God showed up) there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed” (Acts 16:26). As the wonderful events of that midnight hour died down, the best was yet to come - the jailor and his house were saved and baptised!
This sermon is about the suddenness of revival! Here we are labouring in prayer — Lord, will we ever break through!? Praying Saints, I want to encourage you, KEEP PRAYING — God will come through! You say, Brother Paul, how will He come through? Suddenly when you least expect it, in the midnight hour, the break will come!