There's a story about the Lewis revival in
Scotland which has always gripped me.
Duncan Campbell was invited to the island to
preach and his preaching engagement was for 10
days.
While he was there, revival broke out and
he stayed there for the next three years
experiencing scenes of glory and seeing hundreds of
souls saved.
But the incident which I'm referring to occurred
as Duncan Campbell first stepped onto the island
as he was greeted by one of the
elders of the church who asked, Mr. Campbell
are you walking with God?
And Duncan Campbell replied, I can say that
I fear God and I want to ask
that question to us today friends.
Are you walking with God?
Because when the people of God walk with
God, then they will have the reality of
God in their lives.
How can I explain this?
I believe we can see two instances of
this in our Bibles in the ministry of
the prophet Elijah.
The first is found in 2nd Kings chapter
4 and verse 9 which tells of the
Shunammite woman's description of Elijah.
It reads, and she said unto her husband,
behold now I perceive that this is a
holy man of God which passes us by
continually.
This woman could sense the reality of God
in the prophet's life as he passed by
their house each day.
We must be honest with ourselves.
Can that be said of us?
Can our teenagers see the reality of God
in our lives?
If they could, how would that impact them?
If our teenagers could find the reality of
God in our churches today, what would that
do to them?
I've had the privilege of knowing a lot
of pastors from my years at Oldford Ministries
where Stephen Oldford trained thousands of men from
all over the world.
Some of these men were joke-telling, back
-slapping good old boys who liked to laugh
and have a good time.
Some were very proud men who were full
of themselves, but the pastors who most reflected
the reality of God were the pastors from
Africa, especially the Nigerian pastors who faced persecution
on a daily basis.
Just talking to them you could sense the
reality of God in their lives.
They lived very near to God.
Theirs was not a comfortable Christianity like we
have here in America.
Amos 3-3 declares, Can two walk together
except they be agreed?
I think that it is the dividing line
here.
If there's something amiss in our personal lives
that hinders the Spirit of God through us,
then the rivers of blessings cannot flow freely
as a means of grace to others.
The Shunammite woman could sense something different about
Elijah.
She could tell that this man wasn't like
the strutting Pharisees.
There was the reality of God in him.
The other incident in the ministry of Elijah
did not occur during his life, but yet
demonstrated the reality of God in his life.
It is found in the 13th chapter of
2 Kings in verses 20 and 21.
Let me read this startling passage of scripture
to us now, friends.
He revived and stood up on his feet.
I sensed this very thing as I stood
at the grave of David Brainerd in Bridge
Street Cemetery in Northampton, Massachusetts.
And as I stood at Brainerd's grave, I
sensed the awful reality of a holy God.
Andrew Bonar stood at Brainerd's grave 130 years
before, and he wrote in his diary, My
heart was stirred within me.
When others leave our company, are their hearts
stirred as well?
Do we make others more thirsty for Christ?
Does our personal witness for Christ have such
power from above that the dead are raised
to life?
Brother Pastor, is your preaching so full of
the reality of God that your hearers no
longer see you standing before them, but instead
they sense a holy God emerge and eternity
open?
Oh, dear friends, what are we missing by
our mediocrity in ministry?
God will give you as much of an
experience of him as you desire.
But what cost counts, and what counts costs?
Are we willing to pay the price?
Are we expandable?
Are we willing to lose our reputations if
necessary to have a deeper experience of God?
I was at the local AT&T store
this week to see about getting Wi-Fi
put in the place where I live.
The young sales clerk tried to sell me
a direct TV package, and he went on
and on about all the different cable channels
I could watch.
I interrupted him and told him I didn't
watch TV.
I hadn't watched it for years.
That television was something I did not want.
You could see the look in his eyes
as he realized he was talking to a
crazy person, and he got rid of me
as quickly as he could.
To him, I was insane because I had
no TV.
Well, I got rid of my TV years
ago, and I spent the time I used
to waste watching that idiot box to be
given to Bible study and prayer.
I'm not saying that you have to give
up your TV friend to have the reality
of God in your life, but if your
TV watching is keeping you from experiencing the
reality of God, then what will you do
about it?
Some preachers at I know who lack authority
and power in the pulpit love to sit
for hours in front of their TV watching
their favorite ball game.
But I know this for a fact, friends.
God gets serious with those who are willing
to get serious with him.
Are you walking with God?
Is the reality of God in your life,
friend?
How bad do you want it?
Let us pray.