I only covered the first 1.5 chapters of the book for the discussion, and it was a heavy one. I knew based on my study and writing the teaching that it would be a heavy one that required the presence of God. I know I needed him for a few reasons. First, the things I wrote were strongly convicting me, and I knew that God needed to do some work on me first. I also knew that a word like this one really needed God’s touch on it, otherwise it could come off as a bashing message. I desperately wanted God to show up and do something. And show up He did.

But before I get there, I’ll highlight parts of the discussion. One of the things that really struck me was the opening line. “We don’t know much about the gospel.” We went on to talk about how we SAY that we know our friends and neighbors are going to hell, but how much does that really weigh on our hearts and minds? For most, probably not much. We are too concerned with what we see that what is unseen is of little concern when it really comes down to it. We don’t want to be inconvenienced, so we don’t step out. “The church today is not fully experiencing what Jesus died for and not becoming what he prayed for.”

I gave an analogy of a family that has an abundance of food every meal in a land of severe famine. The starving people around would KNOW that you had food, and would not hesitate chasing you down asking for some nourishment. Then I asked why people aren’t running to the church or to us begging us to show them the way to Life. That was something that none of them (including me) had pondered. Why isn’t the world knocking down the doors of the church trying to get in?

We say we want God to move, we have prayer meetings dedicated to God bringing revival. But do we REALLY understand what that truly means? Often, we don’t, or we would pray differently. If we REALLY understood what it is we are praying for, our prayers would change dramatically. God wants to pour out His Spirit, but for the sake of the saints, He can’t. I sincerely believe with all of my heart that if God poured out His Spirit like in Acts, many in the church would fall over dead, literally. I know those are bold words, but I truly believe them.

In Acts, the whole book is dedicated to what the Holy Spirit did through the men and women of God immediately following Christ’s ascension. Tremendous salvations, awesome miracles, incredible healings and deliverances all took place in the book of Acts. Peter preached his first message, and 3,000 people got saved. People were being added to the church daily. Peter would walk, and his shadow would fall on some, and they would get healed. Paul, one of the greatest persecutors of the church has a radical conversion, and sees incredible miracles take place in his ministry. God is moving.

But severe judgment also took place in Acts. Ananias and Sapphira told a lie to the people of God, and God struck them down. God was seriously moving in ways that we can only imagine today. But judgment was also falling in ways that we only read about. The reason I believe that a move of God that we WANT to happen would kill people in the church is because it did in the past. People took the things of God lightly, and God destroyed them.

God MUST show Himself to be holy. Whether that means through our obedience to His will, or through our punishment of disobedience, God WILL show Himself to be holy to the world. For those in disobedience, He will give a “grace period,’ but that only lasts for so long before it becomes about His name and not you anymore. And that is when the judgment comes. And today, most of the church is in disobedience. But God in His infinite wisdom, spares us severe judgment as in the days of old by simply holding back the outpouring that WE claim we so desperately want.

After the discussion, I posed the question, “Are you willing to do what it takes to really see God move? Judgment begins in the house of God.” I told them to find a place and just figure out if you are willing to do your part in that move by surrendering COMPLETELY to Him and walking in His ways, with the UTMOST integrity. I got on my knees and thanked God for speaking through me, and then prayed that I would let God do in me what He always wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was in the way. After, I glanced around to see many of the college students weeping before the Lord, just letting Him get in and do some rearranging in their lives. God showed up and really moved on some people. It was awesome, thank you Lord!

Driven by Eternity

• We have lost the eternal perspective, otherwise we woud not have to endure certain trials

Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward. 2 John 8

• The “full reward” suggests that there will be partial rewards and no rewards
• We can lose what we have labored for
• God is a rewarder

I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. Philippians 3.14

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 2 Timothy 4.6-7

• Paul knew that there was a race before him.
• In order to run a race, you have to know the path you are to take
• You must know the will of God for your life

Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. 1 Corinthians 9.24

• The American church has lost sight of the fact that it will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be judged for it’s works
• Judgment – A decision derived from investigation
• Our lives and what we do for Christ will be investigated to see whether it will stand the judgment or not.

Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in our bodies. 2 Corinthians 5.8-10

• Every deed, every word, every thought, every motive will be judged

You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Hebrews 6.2

• What we do with the cross determines WHERE we spend eternity, how we live determines HOW we will spend eternity

How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. James 4.14

• Anything divided by infinity equals zero
• What we do in this 70-80 years of life determines what we receive when we get to eternity
• 70-80 years in relation to eternity is nothing, a vapor
• If I had 24 hours to do whatever I wanted, but that 24 hours determined the next 1000 years of my life, how would I live?
• But 1000 years is nothing compared to eternity
• Eternity is determined by how we live on this earth

For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have–Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames. 1 Corinthians 3.11-15

• In reference to eternity, the Word always refers to it as a building
• Every moment we are building a building, either for the eternal or for the temporal

2 things that define what is gold, silver, and precious stones

1. Our involvement in building the kingdom of God
2. How we build our individual lives

There are also 3 things that God calls us as believers

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3.9

1. Fellow workers
2. God’s field
3. God’s building

• There is a place called Zion that is God’s custom house
• We are builders (sub-contractors) in the construction of God’s custom house

For the LORD has chosen Jerusalem; he has desired it as his home. “This is my home where I will live forever,” he said. “I will live here, for this is the place I desired. Psalm 132.13-14

• This custom house has to have a foundation.
• That foundation is Christ

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem. It is firm, a tested and precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never run away again. Isaiah 28.16

Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2.4-5

• We are God’s subcontractors

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. Galatians 4.4

I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do. John 17.4

• Jesus did not know the will of the Father, he had to seek it

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2.10

• God destined for us to do a specific work on this earth

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139.16

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world. Jeremiah 1.5

God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3.11

And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose in this is that people should fear him. Ecclesiastes 3.14

• God WILL have his custom house built, and no one can add anything to it or take anything from it
• Our work as a subcontractor is now
• When we stand in judgment, God will ask us if we walked in what God had recorded (Psalm 139.16) or we chose to walk in our own way
• We won’t be judged according to what we have done, but we will be judged according to what we are called to do
• If a subcontractor doesn’t do a good job on their part of building the house, you hire a different subcontractor
• If we don’t do our call, God will get someone else to do it

How do you know what God’s call is?

1. Seek God earnestly

So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11.6

It is dangerous to make a rash promise to God before counting the cost. Proverbs 20.25

2. Must be planted in the local church

…planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm 92.13

• The wilderness causes your character to match your call
• A seed must be planted in order for it to grow
• The seed must be planted in the perfect soil to crack the shell so that the destiny within can come to life
• You can attend a church and not be planted

3. Don’t be entangled

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Luke 9.57-10.2

• They all had this attitude of, “Let me do what is important to me first.”
• Security, love of money, and wrong relationships will keep you from following Christ
• Laborers are few because only a few pay the price

And so it is, that many who are first now will be last then; and those who are last now will be first then. Matthew 20.16

For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22.14

• Many that stand before God will suffer loss when they stand before the Judgment of Christ

I can’t even begin to describe how this impacted me. It was very poweful. Needless to say, I am going to look at how I live a lot differently.