"But those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth." -Psalm 37:9 (emphasis added)"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." -Isaiah 40:31 (emphasis added)"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity (things temporal), nor sworn deceitfully.He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."-Psalm 24:3-5 (emphasis and commentary added)Waiting upon the Lord to bring the harvest - that's what's missing among the majority of evangelistic efforts today. We plan and organize and we schedule - as if the Spirit of God can be penciled in. These mass crusades - I'm not saying that God cannot use them to further His Kingdom, but I wonder how much more God can use those that wait upon Him and rest in His strength and power. I am not saying that we should lie around and do nothing - no, for the Scriptures remind us to "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6) We should be busy about the Father's business, but that's just it - our work must be the FATHER's business. And one certainly canoot be about the business of one he doesn't speak with often and known intimately.Some modern "evangelists" seem so busy about business that they leave the Father entirely out of it, and it becomes this mechanical, loud but lifeless thing that has an appearance of holiness, but this wicked and adulterous generation heeds not the words of Christ when He said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John 7:24, emphasis added)Paul warns against those who, "glory in appearance, and not in heart" (2 Cor. 5:12.)I don't blame these false evangelists as much as I do the Church of Jesus Christ for not flooding the world with so much of the real thing that people won't settle for less!"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.-Hosea 4:6-11 (emphasis added)"Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." -Isaiah 52:1"Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame." -1 Cor. 15:34 - Notice the command is to awake to RIGHTEOUSNESS and SIN NOT - not to awake to Bible Studies, not to awake to Church Growth Conferences, not to awake to the lastest book by a popular preacher, not to awake to an altar call, not to awake to organized evangelism - AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SIN NOT!!!That's what'll bring revival - for the church to awaken to RIGHTEOUSNESS and to stop breaking God's laws - to stop singing praise songs one hour and then pay people to break the Sabbath the next hour by going to some restaurant - to stop preaching sermons and start living sermons - to stop talking about revival and start having revival.The church cannot expect the world to be reached by revival until itself has revival! How can someone sleeping awaken a dead man!? How can demons be cast out with a voice that blesses God but also curses Him? (James 3:10) How can the outside be reached while staying in bed? AWAKE to RIGHTEOUSNESS and SIN NOT!-Chris
