Audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F7C2cnaHhY
CHECK THE VITAL SIGNS by Jim Cymbala Jan.18.2014.
Prayer is the source of the Christian Life, a Christian lifeline. Otherwise, it is like having a baby in your arms and dressing her up so cute—but she’s not breathing! Never mind the frilly clothes—stabilize the child’s vital signs. It does no good to talk to someone in a comatose state. That is why the great emphasis on teaching in today’s churches is producing such limited results. Teaching is only good where there’s life to be channeled. If the listeners are in a spiritual coma, what we are telling them may be fine and orthodox, but spiritual life cannot be taught.
Pastors and churches must get uncomfortable enough to say, “We are not New Testament Christians if we don’t have a prayer life.” This conviction makes us squirm a little, but how else will there be a breakthrough with God?
If we truly think about what Acts 2:42 says—“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”—we can see that prayer is almost a proof of a church’s normalcy. Calling on the name of the Lord is the fourth great hallmark in the list. If my church or your church is not praying, we should not be boasting in our orthodoxy or our Sunday morning attendance figures.
My wife, Carol, and I have told each other more than once that if the spirit of brokenness and calling on God ever slacks off in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, we will know we are in trouble, even if we have 10,000 in attendance.
During countless Tuesday night prayer meetings I find myself encircled by the sacred sounds of prayer and intercession filling the church and overflowing from every heart present. As the meeting edges to a close, I overhear mothers petitioning for wayward children, men asking God to please help them find employment, and others giving thanks for recent answers to prayer. I can’t help but think, “This is as close to heaven as I will ever get in this life. I don’t want to leave here. If I were invited to the White House to meet some dignitary, it would never bring the kind of peace and deep joy I sense here in the presence of people calling on the Lord.”
Pastors and churches must get uncomfortable enough to say, “We are not New Testament Christians if we don’t have a prayer life.” This conviction makes us squirm a little, but how else will there be a breakthrough with God?
If we truly think about what Acts 2:42 says—“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”—we can see that prayer is almost a proof of a church’s normalcy. Calling on the name of the Lord is the fourth great hallmark in the list. If my church or your church is not praying, we should not be boasting in our orthodoxy or our Sunday morning attendance figures.
My wife, Carol, and I have told each other more than once that if the spirit of brokenness and calling on God ever slacks off in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, we will know we are in trouble, even if we have 10,000 in attendance.
During countless Tuesday night prayer meetings I find myself encircled by the sacred sounds of prayer and intercession filling the church and overflowing from every heart present. As the meeting edges to a close, I overhear mothers petitioning for wayward children, men asking God to please help them find employment, and others giving thanks for recent answers to prayer. I can’t help but think, “This is as close to heaven as I will ever get in this life. I don’t want to leave here. If I were invited to the White House to meet some dignitary, it would never bring the kind of peace and deep joy I sense here in the presence of people calling on the Lord.”
PROOF OF THE FACT Jan.14.2014
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
Many in the church today try to determine the nearness of Christ’s return by reading the signs of the times. We see such signs in specific events; for example, the return of the Jews to Israel. Yet one of the clearest statements Jesus makes about His second coming is contained in the verse above. The end will come only after the gospel has been preached to all nations—as a testimony.
The word that Jesus uses for “witness” in this verse is the same Greek word used for “testimony.” It means, literally, “proof of the fact.” Christ is speaking here of not just preaching the gospel, but presenting it as a testimony. In short, He says the gospel we preach is effective only if it is backed up by a life that testifies to its reality.
You would think that in America, a nation filled with thousands of evangelical churches, there would be a strong gospel witness. But many churches have compromised the true gospel of Christ. The fact is, even with all the evangelical preaching in many of these churches, there is very little testimony of Christ’s lordship in the people’s lives to back it up. They are not a true witness to the city or the nation.
Of course, there are exceptions. I think of a Baptist pastor who at one time planned to build a huge new building. His congregation was growing rapidly and he had begun studying the church-growth movement. But then his wife was stirred to pray and seek the Lord, and soon the pastor was doing the same. He quickly gave up his dream of huge numbers and began to be a testimony of what he preached.
For a recent sermon, the pastor set up a big screen at the front of the church. He told his congregation, “God’s Spirit has been speaking to me about the sins of this church. And today we’re going to see them in front of our very eyes!”The pastor then flashed sin after sin on the screen—fornication, adultery, alcoholism, drug abuse, pornography. Then he began his sermon: “We’re not about to start building a big church right now. We’ve got to get Christ’s living tabernacle straightened out before we can do anything else. We have to live this gospel first!” Today the Spirit of God is moving mightily in that church. People are flocking to the Lord, getting their lives straight—because they are hearing a gospel with a testimony behind it!
Many in the church today try to determine the nearness of Christ’s return by reading the signs of the times. We see such signs in specific events; for example, the return of the Jews to Israel. Yet one of the clearest statements Jesus makes about His second coming is contained in the verse above. The end will come only after the gospel has been preached to all nations—as a testimony.
The word that Jesus uses for “witness” in this verse is the same Greek word used for “testimony.” It means, literally, “proof of the fact.” Christ is speaking here of not just preaching the gospel, but presenting it as a testimony. In short, He says the gospel we preach is effective only if it is backed up by a life that testifies to its reality.
You would think that in America, a nation filled with thousands of evangelical churches, there would be a strong gospel witness. But many churches have compromised the true gospel of Christ. The fact is, even with all the evangelical preaching in many of these churches, there is very little testimony of Christ’s lordship in the people’s lives to back it up. They are not a true witness to the city or the nation.
Of course, there are exceptions. I think of a Baptist pastor who at one time planned to build a huge new building. His congregation was growing rapidly and he had begun studying the church-growth movement. But then his wife was stirred to pray and seek the Lord, and soon the pastor was doing the same. He quickly gave up his dream of huge numbers and began to be a testimony of what he preached.
For a recent sermon, the pastor set up a big screen at the front of the church. He told his congregation, “God’s Spirit has been speaking to me about the sins of this church. And today we’re going to see them in front of our very eyes!”The pastor then flashed sin after sin on the screen—fornication, adultery, alcoholism, drug abuse, pornography. Then he began his sermon: “We’re not about to start building a big church right now. We’ve got to get Christ’s living tabernacle straightened out before we can do anything else. We have to live this gospel first!” Today the Spirit of God is moving mightily in that church. People are flocking to the Lord, getting their lives straight—because they are hearing a gospel with a testimony behind it!
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