Revival Conference 2007 - Don Currin - Part 7

...to count on my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry. Can I tell you something, brethren? The reason many people are not finishing their course with joy and the ministry is because they have never come before God and said, Lord, from this day forward, I will not count my life dear unto myself. There will always be a drag, there will always be a diversion if you're living for yourself. But it's when you come and say, God, I want you to take all of my affections and all of my ambitions and all of my life, Lord, I count not my life dear unto me any longer. Charles Spurgeon never missed an opportunity to take advantage of an illustration. It tells the story of a soldier under Antigonus, the mighty ruler, and how this soldier had a terrible disease that was soon to bring him to the grave. But he would always rush into the charge, and he would fight at the front of the battle in the hottest parts. It goes on to say that the reason he did such is because his pain prompted him to fight, that he might forget his affliction, because he thought, I have nothing to live for. But the day came when the conqueror Antigonus learned of the valor of his soldier, and he had him cured by one of his most prominent doctors of that day. From that moment on, he was conspicuously absent from the front of the battle. For he says, now I have something worth living for, health, home, family, and other comforts. And he would not risk his life as he had before times. Now once again, I told you, Spurgeon never misses an opportunity to take advantage. Listen to this. He says, when our troubles are many, we are often, by grace, made courageous in serving our gods. We feel that we have nothing to live for in this world, and we are driven by hope of the world to come to exhibit zeal, self-denial, and industry. But how often is it otherwise in better times? For then the joys and pleasures of this world make it hard for us to remember the world to come, and we sink into an inglorious ease. Can I tell you something? You have the problems that you need. Perhaps you say my maid is not very cooperative. Perhaps you're thinking my children are wayward. They rise up against me at times. Perhaps you say things are not going very well at the church right now. My expectations are not being met. Perhaps you've just learned that you have cancer. But friend, would you capitalize upon those things and turn them for good, to use them for God's glory? That may be the very thing that you need to keep you on the cutting edge of serving God passionately. And then finally, here's number four. Never be content with where you are spiritually. Never be content with where you are spiritually. The Apostle Paul, Revelation, is the recipient of miracles. Yes, yes, many innumerable. All these great manifestations of God's power and work. And yet he said in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 14, I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I press, I strive, I pull myself up, I keep on going. I refuse to be encumbered by things of the past, whether good or bad. I press on. Listen to me. When you hear a message like this, oftentimes you're stirred. Perhaps you feel the stinging effects of God's Holy Spirit. You're awakened temporarily out of sleep. And you have good intentions, but you don't follow through and do anything about it. It's like laying in the bed in the morning. Have you ever been sound asleep before and the sleep was very, very sweet? And someone came to the door and said, Listen, it's time to get up. Or perhaps the alarm clock went off. Or maybe someone came in and shook you. But the sleep was so sound and so sweet, you didn't want to get up. And so you moved. Perhaps you turned to the other side. And you found yourself falling back into sleep. Except it was a sounder and even a deeper sleep. Can I tell you something, friend? There'll be some people in this Revival Conference, you're going to hear a message or there'll be a word that's especially for you. And it will awaken you out of your sleep. But I warn you, if you don't rise up, old men of God and women of God, and do something about it, you may fall back into a deeper sleep. And it may be the sleep of spiritual death. Because Ralph Zatara and others will tell you how many people have come to conferences like this and they get stirred up and they went back and because it didn't work or it didn't last, they go into apostasy. And they leave God totally. They did not happen to hear. May it not happen to you. May it not happen to me. I encourage you today. Say, I'm so frustrated and I don't have all the answers and I've tried to make it work before. Listen to me, friend, I say this in love to you. A bruised reed will he not break. And a smoking flax will he not quench. Until he brings judgment into victory. If you feel so frustrated and so defeated and so distant right now, I'm telling you, Jesus is near to you. And he is the great reviver. And he can come along and heal and restore and revive your spirit. And he can make it last. As long as you determine your life, I'm going to be enamored with Christ and Christ alone. Revival victory is not in a principle. It's in a person, Christ. Look to him and he will revive you. And he will help. God bless you. Let's pray. Father, I just rambled on, Lord, this morning it seems. But I pray, God, that you might take this content and that you would use it for your glory. Thank you for your people, Lord. These that have come. We just thank so many folks that have come from some great distances. And God, I pray that no one would leave this conference feeling like it's just not going to work for me. I remember what happened in the past. It didn't last. Lord, I pray that this time that their focus would be on Christ. That they would press on. Lord, when it comes to such vital areas as prayer, secret prayer and consecration and cross-bearing. The study and meditation of your word, Lord. That they would learn to use those things as a means to feed off of Christ. And that you would make them, Lord, passionate servants of yours. Lord, that we take this warning to heart. Woe be unto those who are at ease in Zion. God, deliver us from indifference in these days. And keep us, Lord, by your grace and for your glory on the cutting edge of eternal realities. And we'll give you praise and honor. In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, the altar is open. The prayer room is open. If God is speaking to your heart, let me encourage you to go there. And tarry there as long as it takes for God to bring what he's spoken to your heart about to fruition. I mean, you know, here's my concern. Oftentimes we only tarry on our knees long enough to tell God what we have to say. And not long enough to hear what he has to say to us. And so I encourage you, take advantage of these days of God speaking to your heart.