Stop Dressing Your Hurts in Red Slippers: Surviving Revival

Sermon outline

Revival brings pressures, and leaders who do the Word, stay faithful in dry seasons, guard their hearts from offence and serve humbly will keep the move of God and win souls.

1. The children of this world are wiser: change it by hearing and doing

   Jesus said worldly people are wiser in their sphere than the children of light: they rise early for a bargain while Christians sleep. He says people of other faiths often honour God and their leaders more than Christians honour their pastors, and that God does not ask you to like the one he sends, only to perceive him and press through like the woman with the issue of blood. The answer is to hide the Word in your heart and practise it, finding your joy in doing God's will whether it brings pain or pleasure.

   Illustration: Jonah ran from God's will and only came to his senses in the belly of the fish with seaweed around his neck. Come to your senses before calamity comes.

   “Our happiness must come from doing God's will.”

   • Luke 16:8
   • Ephesians 4:8
   • Mark 5:25-34
   • James 1:22
   • Jonah 1:17

2. We need to be faithful even in the dry periods

   Feelings will kill you: pray, read your Bible and stay in fellowship whether you feel like a million dollars or feel awful. When he preaches there is a voice behind his voice, because God gave pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. Dry seasons are where God tests whether you love him for his presents or his presence, and where you prove your determination and mature.

   Illustration: Flies stay away from a red-hot stove plate with the curry cooking, but gather on a cold one: demons are attracted to cold Christians. And a child who loves Dad for the Simba chips and jelly tots shows his heart on the day Dad comes home empty-handed.

   “So demons are attracted to cold Christians, not to hot ones.”

   • Ephesians 4:11-12

3. We must continue to guard our souls

   Guard your thinking, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he, and ground lost to the enemy takes twice the work to regain. Temptation never comes in one shot: watch what you watch, and speak life, because words attract demons or angels. Behave like grown-ups: the devil uses a carnal Christian in the inner circle, as with Judas, to offend you, so trust God for promotion and never bring a sour attitude into ministry.

   Illustration: If a worker's attitude turns sour, he will ask them to sit down and 'have a Kit Kat'. He says that in all his years of serving the Lord he has never given his own pastor attitude.

   “It's your words that will attract demons. It is your words that will attract angels.”

   • Proverbs 23:7
   • 1 Peter 5:6
   • 1 Peter 1:13

4. Point number one: we must have a plan and prepare in the things of God

   The things of God are not hit and miss. He writes down what the Lord tells him in prayer, so church decisions that look sudden have been prayed through, and he urges leaders to keep a pen ready when they pray. Don't be overwhelmed by the thousand miles ahead; be faithful in the first step.

   Illustration: People may think the pastor had a big plate of mutton curry and a bad dream before announcing a purchase, but God had spoken and he had written it down. 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.'

   “Always have a pen ready when you're praying. The Holy Spirit will tell you things. Write it down.”

5. The church is not a secondary instrument

   We are saved, married, have our children dedicated and are buried at the altar, and we belong to the universal church by being planted in a local church. Once you find your place, never move, because the devil wants to pull you out of the fire, and offence is a big thing. It is the greatest honour to serve in God's house in any task, as David said: better a doorkeeper in God's house than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

   Illustration: A coal pulled out of the fire burns bright the first day, dimmer the next, and by the fifth or sixth day is dead. He also explains that he chose the 'suede Shiraz' colour for the church's front wall because it creates excitement, the way positive people do.

   “The lifeblood of the universal church is in the local church.”

   • Hebrews 12:1
   • Psalm 84:10

6. A servant attitude: ministry spells work

   When you walk into God's house you leave your station outside. Preaching is the easy part; the hard part is passing the faithfulness tests, and he watches what people do when they see dirt on the floor or someone who needs a lift. If you are asked to sweep, God is not demoting you: he has promotion in mind.

   Illustration: In Nigeria his humble driver was a law graduate, and in Ghana another pastor's driver was a university professor. He and Pastor Zubeda once picked chewing gum off the seats with bare fingers after every service, and when a rusty nail went through his foot while renovating the old church roof, he still preached the next morning, while a man who claimed a call to be a pastor walked past the work.

   “It's not hard to preach. It's hard to pass all the tests.”

7. Follow peace with all men, lest any root of bitterness spring up

   Reading Hebrews 12, he calls for peace with everyone and holiness, and warns that bitterness grows from what you hear, meditate on and dwell on. Don't get involved in what doesn't concern you: he doesn't run your home or workplace, and although he welcomes advice, second-guessing the pastor will frustrate you until you stop coming. Nobody can please everybody.

   Illustration: Married 25 years, he says he cannot even please his wife every day: one day she wants roses and the next day she doesn't.

   “Bitterness comes by the things you hear. Then you meditate on it. Then you dwell on it.”

   • Hebrews 12:11-15

8. Revival brings pressures

   We are already in revival: people come to church and don't want to go home. Its pressures are that everyone wants the pastor's attention, so like Moses he must spread the work to other leaders, and new people make demands while older members sit in their recliners and resent them. Leaders must keep a proper, disciplined attitude, because success is as hard to handle as failure: honour God with your giving, guard your personal and moral lives and your mouth, and watch pride, as King Saul fell once he saw himself as somebody.

   Illustration: If God put a million in most Christians' hands they would not tithe on it. He also says he never drinks and has never spoken one suggestive word to a church couple he has laughed and eaten out with for four years.

   “Failure is difficult to deal with, so is success.”

   • Exodus 18:13-26
   • Philippians 4:17
   • Proverbs 1:32
   • 1 Samuel 15:17

9. Number three: maintain a spirit of forgiveness

   As the church grows, so do the challenges: love everyone anyhow, whatever their shape or colour, but mark and avoid the persistently negative so they don't poison your joy. Teach by example, even teaching a miser to give by giving to him. Protect your heart, especially as leaders serving alongside one another, because that is where the devil tries to destroy you and a soured heart affects your health.

   Illustration: A word the Lord gave him that morning: stop dressing your hurts with red slippers and a bow tie, that is, smiling and saying 'I'm so blessed' at church while bitterness eats you like cancer inside.

   “Stop dressing your hurts with red slippers and a bow tie.”

   • Romans 16:17
   • Proverbs 4:23

10. Number four: practise moderation

    Everyone is growing at a different stage, so encourage baby Christians rather than judge them. If a newcomer steps up and 'steals the show', ask why you weren't taking your place. Put God's kingdom and his house first when a bonus or increase comes, and make personal sacrifices for it.

    Illustration: Buying R44,000 velvet curtains for the lounge and then bringing a measly five rand to God's house: rather keep the five rand.

    “God never called you to stand her. God called you to love her.”

    • Matthew 6:33

11. Lastly: keep yourself from a sectarian attitude, and become a soul winner

    We are not competing with other churches; we are in a life-and-death battle for souls. Walk maturely, commit to the cause, keep going when offended, and recharge your pastor's battery with appreciation and testimonies. Souls must be the number one priority: if each one reaches one, 200 becomes 400, so invite people, fetch them, and pray for them before the altar call.

    Illustration: Testimonies are shared: Tabe, who works at the church, was healed of kidney pain in her seat as he prayed, and a man with 17 years of problems had his questions answered in one service. People hire bakkies and risk speeding fines to scoop up the sardine run, while Christians watch on TV.

    “Some people have more passion for the sardine run than for the souls of men.”

    • Matthew 4:19