1 00:00:00,470 --> 00:00:03,490 There's a story about the Lewis revival in 2 00:00:03,490 --> 00:00:06,090 Scotland which has always gripped me. 3 00:00:06,870 --> 00:00:09,350 Duncan Campbell was invited to the island to 4 00:00:09,350 --> 00:00:12,330 preach and his preaching engagement was for 10 5 00:00:12,330 --> 00:00:12,910 days. 6 00:00:13,370 --> 00:00:16,170 While he was there, revival broke out and 7 00:00:16,170 --> 00:00:18,450 he stayed there for the next three years 8 00:00:18,450 --> 00:00:22,230 experiencing scenes of glory and seeing hundreds of 9 00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:23,170 souls saved. 10 00:00:23,570 --> 00:00:27,130 But the incident which I'm referring to occurred 11 00:00:27,130 --> 00:00:29,810 as Duncan Campbell first stepped onto the island 12 00:00:29,810 --> 00:00:31,890 as he was greeted by one of the 13 00:00:31,890 --> 00:00:35,590 elders of the church who asked, Mr. Campbell 14 00:00:35,590 --> 00:00:37,930 are you walking with God? 15 00:00:38,490 --> 00:00:41,970 And Duncan Campbell replied, I can say that 16 00:00:41,970 --> 00:00:44,930 I fear God and I want to ask 17 00:00:44,930 --> 00:00:47,130 that question to us today friends. 18 00:00:47,550 --> 00:00:49,710 Are you walking with God? 19 00:00:50,070 --> 00:00:53,150 Because when the people of God walk with 20 00:00:53,150 --> 00:00:55,810 God, then they will have the reality of 21 00:00:55,810 --> 00:00:57,030 God in their lives. 22 00:00:57,450 --> 00:00:59,270 How can I explain this? 23 00:00:59,830 --> 00:01:02,510 I believe we can see two instances of 24 00:01:02,510 --> 00:01:05,670 this in our Bibles in the ministry of 25 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:06,810 the prophet Elijah. 26 00:01:07,410 --> 00:01:11,050 The first is found in 2nd Kings chapter 27 00:01:11,050 --> 00:01:13,970 4 and verse 9 which tells of the 28 00:01:13,970 --> 00:01:16,950 Shunammite woman's description of Elijah. 29 00:01:17,450 --> 00:01:20,950 It reads, and she said unto her husband, 30 00:01:21,550 --> 00:01:25,250 behold now I perceive that this is a 31 00:01:25,250 --> 00:01:28,570 holy man of God which passes us by 32 00:01:28,570 --> 00:01:29,670 continually. 33 00:01:30,550 --> 00:01:33,470 This woman could sense the reality of God 34 00:01:33,470 --> 00:01:36,430 in the prophet's life as he passed by 35 00:01:36,430 --> 00:01:37,730 their house each day. 36 00:01:38,090 --> 00:01:40,470 We must be honest with ourselves. 37 00:01:41,010 --> 00:01:42,390 Can that be said of us? 38 00:01:42,930 --> 00:01:46,030 Can our teenagers see the reality of God 39 00:01:46,030 --> 00:01:47,010 in our lives? 40 00:01:47,290 --> 00:01:50,310 If they could, how would that impact them? 41 00:01:50,710 --> 00:01:53,710 If our teenagers could find the reality of 42 00:01:53,710 --> 00:01:56,530 God in our churches today, what would that 43 00:01:56,530 --> 00:01:57,310 do to them? 44 00:01:57,850 --> 00:02:00,290 I've had the privilege of knowing a lot 45 00:02:00,290 --> 00:02:03,430 of pastors from my years at Oldford Ministries 46 00:02:03,430 --> 00:02:06,730 where Stephen Oldford trained thousands of men from 47 00:02:06,730 --> 00:02:08,130 all over the world. 48 00:02:09,190 --> 00:02:12,210 Some of these men were joke-telling, back 49 00:02:12,210 --> 00:02:15,030 -slapping good old boys who liked to laugh 50 00:02:15,030 --> 00:02:16,690 and have a good time. 51 00:02:17,150 --> 00:02:19,970 Some were very proud men who were full 52 00:02:19,970 --> 00:02:23,610 of themselves, but the pastors who most reflected 53 00:02:23,610 --> 00:02:27,130 the reality of God were the pastors from 54 00:02:27,130 --> 00:02:32,670 Africa, especially the Nigerian pastors who faced persecution 55 00:02:32,670 --> 00:02:34,590 on a daily basis. 56 00:02:35,290 --> 00:02:37,670 Just talking to them you could sense the 57 00:02:37,670 --> 00:02:39,730 reality of God in their lives. 58 00:02:40,130 --> 00:02:42,570 They lived very near to God. 59 00:02:43,330 --> 00:02:47,550 Theirs was not a comfortable Christianity like we 60 00:02:47,550 --> 00:02:48,890 have here in America. 61 00:02:49,650 --> 00:02:53,750 Amos 3-3 declares, Can two walk together 62 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:55,590 except they be agreed? 63 00:02:56,210 --> 00:02:59,310 I think that it is the dividing line 64 00:02:59,310 --> 00:02:59,850 here. 65 00:03:00,270 --> 00:03:04,070 If there's something amiss in our personal lives 66 00:03:04,070 --> 00:03:06,890 that hinders the Spirit of God through us, 67 00:03:07,170 --> 00:03:10,590 then the rivers of blessings cannot flow freely 68 00:03:10,590 --> 00:03:13,090 as a means of grace to others. 69 00:03:13,610 --> 00:03:17,270 The Shunammite woman could sense something different about 70 00:03:17,270 --> 00:03:17,790 Elijah. 71 00:03:18,330 --> 00:03:21,390 She could tell that this man wasn't like 72 00:03:21,390 --> 00:03:23,010 the strutting Pharisees. 73 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:25,910 There was the reality of God in him. 74 00:03:26,630 --> 00:03:29,830 The other incident in the ministry of Elijah 75 00:03:29,830 --> 00:03:33,230 did not occur during his life, but yet 76 00:03:33,230 --> 00:03:36,910 demonstrated the reality of God in his life. 77 00:03:37,270 --> 00:03:40,150 It is found in the 13th chapter of 78 00:03:40,150 --> 00:03:43,690 2 Kings in verses 20 and 21. 79 00:03:44,350 --> 00:03:46,830 Let me read this startling passage of scripture 80 00:03:46,830 --> 00:03:48,630 to us now, friends. 81 00:04:15,899 --> 00:04:19,050 He revived and stood up on his feet. 82 00:04:19,870 --> 00:04:22,850 I sensed this very thing as I stood 83 00:04:22,850 --> 00:04:25,610 at the grave of David Brainerd in Bridge 84 00:04:25,610 --> 00:04:28,870 Street Cemetery in Northampton, Massachusetts. 85 00:04:29,670 --> 00:04:32,530 And as I stood at Brainerd's grave, I 86 00:04:32,530 --> 00:04:36,210 sensed the awful reality of a holy God. 87 00:04:36,790 --> 00:04:41,970 Andrew Bonar stood at Brainerd's grave 130 years 88 00:04:41,970 --> 00:04:45,170 before, and he wrote in his diary, My 89 00:04:45,170 --> 00:04:47,430 heart was stirred within me. 90 00:04:48,030 --> 00:04:51,550 When others leave our company, are their hearts 91 00:04:51,550 --> 00:04:52,990 stirred as well? 92 00:04:53,410 --> 00:04:56,590 Do we make others more thirsty for Christ? 93 00:04:56,910 --> 00:04:59,990 Does our personal witness for Christ have such 94 00:04:59,990 --> 00:05:02,810 power from above that the dead are raised 95 00:05:02,810 --> 00:05:03,510 to life? 96 00:05:03,890 --> 00:05:07,710 Brother Pastor, is your preaching so full of 97 00:05:07,710 --> 00:05:10,870 the reality of God that your hearers no 98 00:05:10,870 --> 00:05:14,490 longer see you standing before them, but instead 99 00:05:14,490 --> 00:05:18,410 they sense a holy God emerge and eternity 100 00:05:18,410 --> 00:05:19,190 open? 101 00:05:20,270 --> 00:05:23,850 Oh, dear friends, what are we missing by 102 00:05:23,850 --> 00:05:25,810 our mediocrity in ministry? 103 00:05:26,490 --> 00:05:28,950 God will give you as much of an 104 00:05:28,950 --> 00:05:31,110 experience of him as you desire. 105 00:05:31,710 --> 00:05:35,070 But what cost counts, and what counts costs? 106 00:05:35,510 --> 00:05:37,210 Are we willing to pay the price? 107 00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:38,690 Are we expandable? 108 00:05:39,190 --> 00:05:41,590 Are we willing to lose our reputations if 109 00:05:41,590 --> 00:05:45,130 necessary to have a deeper experience of God? 110 00:05:45,570 --> 00:05:48,810 I was at the local AT&T store 111 00:05:48,810 --> 00:05:51,810 this week to see about getting Wi-Fi 112 00:05:51,810 --> 00:05:54,330 put in the place where I live. 113 00:05:54,610 --> 00:05:57,210 The young sales clerk tried to sell me 114 00:05:57,210 --> 00:06:00,210 a direct TV package, and he went on 115 00:06:00,210 --> 00:06:02,970 and on about all the different cable channels 116 00:06:02,970 --> 00:06:03,930 I could watch. 117 00:06:04,130 --> 00:06:06,970 I interrupted him and told him I didn't 118 00:06:06,970 --> 00:06:07,690 watch TV. 119 00:06:08,210 --> 00:06:09,890 I hadn't watched it for years. 120 00:06:10,350 --> 00:06:12,930 That television was something I did not want. 121 00:06:13,590 --> 00:06:15,790 You could see the look in his eyes 122 00:06:15,790 --> 00:06:18,930 as he realized he was talking to a 123 00:06:18,930 --> 00:06:21,350 crazy person, and he got rid of me 124 00:06:21,350 --> 00:06:22,750 as quickly as he could. 125 00:06:23,210 --> 00:06:26,590 To him, I was insane because I had 126 00:06:26,590 --> 00:06:27,250 no TV. 127 00:06:28,090 --> 00:06:29,930 Well, I got rid of my TV years 128 00:06:29,930 --> 00:06:32,750 ago, and I spent the time I used 129 00:06:32,750 --> 00:06:36,330 to waste watching that idiot box to be 130 00:06:36,330 --> 00:06:38,730 given to Bible study and prayer. 131 00:06:39,170 --> 00:06:41,430 I'm not saying that you have to give 132 00:06:41,430 --> 00:06:44,250 up your TV friend to have the reality 133 00:06:44,250 --> 00:06:46,830 of God in your life, but if your 134 00:06:46,830 --> 00:06:51,370 TV watching is keeping you from experiencing the 135 00:06:51,370 --> 00:06:53,850 reality of God, then what will you do 136 00:06:53,850 --> 00:06:54,610 about it? 137 00:06:55,010 --> 00:06:58,270 Some preachers at I know who lack authority 138 00:06:58,270 --> 00:07:00,770 and power in the pulpit love to sit 139 00:07:00,770 --> 00:07:04,150 for hours in front of their TV watching 140 00:07:04,150 --> 00:07:05,810 their favorite ball game. 141 00:07:06,330 --> 00:07:08,630 But I know this for a fact, friends. 142 00:07:09,090 --> 00:07:12,050 God gets serious with those who are willing 143 00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:13,670 to get serious with him. 144 00:07:14,630 --> 00:07:16,270 Are you walking with God? 145 00:07:16,630 --> 00:07:19,390 Is the reality of God in your life, 146 00:07:19,810 --> 00:07:19,910 friend? 147 00:07:20,250 --> 00:07:22,050 How bad do you want it? 148 00:07:22,410 --> 00:07:23,810 Let us pray.