For some reason I could not get the video to embed. Copy and paste the link below to watch this God Glorifying video!
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=cec3d9fd68600c58ee43
The person who loaded this video up to Godtube called it Genuine Revival in China. But when I see this video I do not see a revival at all. I see true Christianity as it should be every day..just as the Lord intended it. We might think this is a revival due to the great apostacy and lukewarmness of our day but this is nothing more than Christianity at it’s heart. For me there were three things that stood out to me in a powerful way and all of these should be evident and freely flow from the heart of anyone who claims to have had a true conversion by the Spirit of Christ. Yet these things I find are missing from the lives of so many who claim to be follower of Jesus. I can only assume that those who do not have these aspects of Christianity in their life are sitting on a false conversion and should worry about the current state of their soul. None of these aspects are things that must be worked up or somehow produced by our own efforts. These are graces that should daily flow from the hearts of the truly converted. Just as a damn that has been breached cannot help but pour forth water; a heart that’s been truly converted cannot help but pour forth these Spirit wrought graces in their life. They are the fruit of true salvation.
1. The first thing that is evidently clear in the video of these believers is a genuine love for the Lord Jesus Christ. So much so that they cannot help but talk about His great love and mercy that they have PERSONALLY received. Not that they “know” about His mercy, or that they have “heard” about His mercy, but they have PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED His saving grace which cause them to be broken at the thought of His great love towards them. They continually talk about the person JESUS Christ because their hearts have been Purified by faith and Christ LIVES, actually, presently, and continually in their heart by faith (Acts 15:9, Eph 3:17). Today I see so many who claim to be followers of Christ continually talking about doctrine and bible truths but not about Jesus and their fellowship with Him. They’ll talk about every endtime doctrine out there, point out all the faults in the “harlot church”, continue to endlessly debate Calvinism and Armininism, an yet you never hear them talk about the Lord Jesus Christ personally. They never talk about their fellowship with Christ by His Spirit… how Christ humbled them by His grace, how He visited them in a special way in private prayer, how Christ lovingly exposed a sin in their heart which they humbly confessed in seeking to be more like their master, or how they were so caught up in just praising Jesus for His goodness towards them. How can this be? It cannot be this way for those who are in true fellowship with Jesus. The apostle’s, in Acts 4:20, in response to the priest and Sadducees:
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
They had physically seen and heard Jesus…but they had also internally seen and heard Jesus. And that is the true testimony of all who have been born by the Spirit of God. They have seen Christ with they eyes of faith and have heard Him by the Spirit of God. And if you have seen and heard Jesus in this very real way you will be like the Apostles and live in such a way that you “cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”. So ask yourself if you have really seen and heard the Lord Jesus PERSONALLY. If you have, the reality is, it will be evident to all just like the brethren in the video.
2. The second thing that stood out to me was the deep love you see them have for the brethren. There is such a joy for them to worship the Lord together and serve Him together. They don’t find fellowship burdensome but rather a true joy and their hearts desire. This is one of the CLEAR marks of one who is truly converted and born of God. They desire to, regularly and often, be around other saints physically and to worship Jesus together. They love to be around other saints and exhort them and encourage them in their walk with Jesus. As Richard Owen Roberts says of one who’s been truly born of God:
” He finds that to love his neighbor as himself is less of a commandment and more of a internal prompting and desire than he could have ever earlier imagined.”
When the true believer reads in Acts how the disciple met daily it brings them great joy to think they could do the same and be around their brethren and glorify the Lord together. What I find today though with so many who profess to be followers of Jesus is the exact opposite. So many do not have that natural, God given, overflowing desire to meet with the brethren. They have all kinds of excuses as to why they are not meeting with the saints for prayer, worship and fellowship. Many I find have the excuse that they are looking for a good, or perfect, fellowship. While this is to be desired they must realize there is no such thing as a perfect fellowship (I’m not talking about false doctrine. (If the church is teaching heresy, like emergent post-modern teaching then LEAVE IT). There will always be people who are at different places in their walk with the Lord. There will be babes in Christ as well as tares and false brethren. But this is no excuse not to meet together. With all the mess going on in the Corinthian church the Apostle did not tell them to stop meeting together and find a perfect fellowship. No..Paul sought to bring discipline and instruction to this body and to exhort them into a pure faith and fellowship. But I think the real reason many professing Christians will not engage or desire real fellowship is because it causes them to have to walk in the light. When believers are around other believers their faults and sins are usually clearly evident for others to see. Those who are unwilling to let go of their sins naturally forsake fellowship for fear of being exposed for who they truly are. But all this really does is serve to show them the true condition of their heart before God. Those who walk like this should fear for the condition of their soul. You might think that is a strong statement but it’s the truth. These professing Christians are not manifesting one of the natural proofs of salvation that one who is born of God does. Remember what Jesus said: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
3. The third thing that stood out to me in the video was the willingness and joy of the believers to carry their cross, to sacrifice, and to suffer for the name of Jesus. I can’t tell you how joyful I was to see believers who want to carry their cross, who want to sacrifice ALL, and who expect to suffer for the name of Jesus. They do not treat this as something that a Christian must be “called” to do. They read the bible and see this is the clear teaching for all who would be disciples of Jesus. The thought of sacrificing for Jesus and the saints brings them joy. They read a passage like Luke 14:25-33 and while reading it with Godly fear and trembling, they at the same time count it a joy to lose all and follow Jesus. False and unconverted “brethren” read a passage like that and see a huge, impossible, burdensome command to be obeyed. While true saints take joy because if Jesus said we must do it He’ll give us the grace to fully obey! It’s a command of God but it’s also a promise that God, in His abundant grace, will give us everything we need so we can give all to Jesus! Do you see the difference? One takes joy at that thought of being able to give all to Jesus while the other sees an impossible command that they really don’t want to obey. So how do you see the commands of Christ? Can people look at your lifestyle and actually see what you believe? Or is your lifestyle so opposite of the bible that when you tell people you believe what Jesus said in Luke 14 they cannot tell that you actually believe it by the way you live your life?
So for those of you who are genuine children of God, I know this video will bear witness with you. The deep genuine love for God, love for the brethren, and the joy of accepting the cross of Christ will be your testimony as well. For those who do not have these Spirit born graces in your life I would encourage you to examine your life by the scriptures. Let God expose your heart with the purifying light of His word that you may be soundly and truly converted and become a child of God. Don’t cover up the true condition of your heart with religious works and speech. Be honest about the true condition of your heart and turn to CHRIST for salvation. Unless you are born again you will not enter the kingdom of God.
In Christ,
Sean Scott
www.preachingjesuschrist.com
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