Loving Sin More Then Jesus — Mark Greening

Father, we thank you for your evident presence in the meetings this morning with our brother Richard as he has spoken to us and challenged us. Now father quieten our hearts again, I pray that as Mark speaks to us we might hear you speak.

Grant to him Lord your unction, give him clarity of mind, clarity of tongue. And may his heart overflow as he ministers to us. May you minister to him. We thank you for it we commit him to you now. And we open our hearts and our ears to hear what you have to say to us in Jesus name.

Believing God’s Promises and the Call to Revival

Do you believe God's Word? I'm glad Dick simply broke you in. Let me ask another question. Do you believe the promises in God's Word. Now before you say yes, remember that there are seven thousand four hundred eighty-seven promises in God's Word.

You may not be sure some of them you may Wonder if they're for Israel or someone else, but there are some promises that are so evident That to disbelieve them is to do nothing short than call God a liar.

But let God be true at every man a liar. Scripture says We're here. Because this is a revival conference. We hear because we're here because either we've been praying for revival. We desire revival in our own lives or in the church or we're just wondering what it's all about.

But I want to tell you today that revival Is not just a sovereign work of God. It is everything in this world is a sovereign work of God. Is it not everything's under God's umbrella of sovereignty. We can blame God for a lot of things that don't happen because we Use our theology against what ought to be.

But it is God's desire to revive us as we will see today in the Word of God. It's a matter of fact. He gives one promise in 2nd Chronicles 7 14. He says if my people will then I will. Now that sounds like a promise that sounds like a condition.

Does it not? If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and Seek my face and Turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. What are the prayers that you are praying that you need God to answer on your behalf on behalf of your family on behalf of?

Your church on behalf of this nation. God says if you will then I will. My text this morning is Psalm 85 verse 6. Which says will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? It's not enough for countries around the world and different locations to have been revived in times past.

It's not enough for us to be personally revived in times past. Whether it's a month ago a year ago ten years ago fifty years ago God says in his word. He expects that we're going to cry out. Will you not revive us again?

And we can only be revived in our hearts. Whatever that means if we listen to what God says to us in his word. You know, it'd be a wonderful thing tomorrow morning to read in the headlines of the newspapers that revival came to Victoria.

That would be a wonderful thing. But even if it doesn't come to Victoria at large in 2nd Corinthians 3 3 It says that Christ himself will write not with ink but with the spirit of the Living God on tablets of human hearts.

And he can write on your heart and my heart revival came to dot dot dot put your name in where those dots are. Zechariah 4 10 says who despises the day of small things. We often think of revival as something that sweeps a nation.

But this verse is talking about you personally being revived me personally being revived. Again, and again and again and again. We think that revival only counts if it's some big huge event. Let me tell you let me ask you a question.

Someone with the gift of healing was to go down to a large hospital here. And was the heal a thousand people in that building all at once with a prayer from the front lawn and a thousand people were Healed and there was wonderful healing and one of us came forward today and by the power of God you were healed.

Let me ask you as one individual. Would you feel any more excitement than any one of those thousand people in that big building about your healing? No. You would be just as excited. And over the years I have witnessed many many times over and over and over again because God says if you will I will.

Restoration, Justification, and the Need to Be Revived Again

I've Seen individuals revived. I've seen families revived. I've seen churches revived. I've seen home fellowships revived. One of the key words in this verse is the word again. As a matter of fact in verses 2 to 4 of psalm 85 6 We read this you forgave the iniquity of your people and cover all their sins.

You set aside your wrath and turn from your fierce anger. Restore us again. Oh God our Savior and put away your displeasure toward us. It's talking about people who are saved. Their sins are forgiven.

That's the doctrine of justification. God's wrath is satisfied. That's the doctrine of propitiation and yet There is still a need for us to be restored again in verse 4 and be revived again in verse 6.

This brings up a critical point In our walk as Christians today because as Christians and in our churches We need to be constantly in a state of being revived. You know when I was younger, I used to think that my spiritual gift one of them was backsliding.

I Become sins of the heart out of the heart come these things. And I find that I have to come to a place of brokenness again and again and again and Lord willing I will preach on brokenness tomorrow night Lord willing.

All we have to do is to look at the powerlessness of our churches and even our own lives to recognize that we are in desperate Need of revival. Now the obvious question would be well, how does a person get revived?

But I don't want to ask the obvious question this morning. I Want to ask that obvious question in a different way. I Want to ask the question this way. How does a person get unrevived? Because the answer to how we get unrevived is the answer to how we're going to get back to being revived.

The answer to how a person becomes unrevived is found at the end of verse 6. Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you. Brothers and sisters we fall into a backslidden state when we no longer find our joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we no longer love him. When we find more joy in the things of this world when we find more joy in a relationship with a husband or wife or your children a boyfriend a girlfriend a best friend someone else we have more joy in a relationship with a Human being a sinful human being than with the Holy Son of God.

When we find more joy in money and Security and our investments and In our plans for the future and for leisure than in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we for find more joy in our possessions In success or power or position or lustful pleasures that in Christ?

I like what our brother said the other night. He says just let your mind go and wherever it lands. That's where your heart is. Jeremiah 2 12 we read be appalled at this O heavens and shudder with great horror.

Declares the Lord why would the heavens shudder? That's a big place up there to shudder. Verse 13 tells us my people have committed two sins. They have forsaken me the spring of living water and have dug their own cisterns broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Can you imagine that? You have a wonderful fresh well and Instead of going to that wonderful fresh. Well, you go and dug a dig a hole down by the swamp where there. There's amoeba and paramecium and tadpoles and everything else in that water and you drink from that and heaven goes.

This forsaking of God not only happened in the Old Testament. It also happened in New Testament times as well. Revelation chapter 2 the Christians there had left their first love. They didn't lose their first love.

We often talk about losing your first love. No, they had as an act of the will they had left their first love. They turned their back on the Lord Jesus to embrace people. Places things possessions whatever was and they loved those things more than Jesus.

That's the way brothers and sisters. We become unrevived. We stop loving the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts souls mind and strength. We become unrevived when we break the first commandment which is to have no other gods before him.

And we have other gods when we love anything or anyone or any goal more Than him. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1 for me to live is Christ. Whatever was to my prophet in chapter 3 I consider it dung rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

And so the way to revival is finding our joy in the Lord again. Or if you've never found your joy in the Lord, it's to begin to find your joy in the Lord today possibly by true salvation. You know, I've been asked to leave a church before because Christians were getting born again.

You ever seen Christians get born again, it's a wonderful thing. I know it's possible for Christians to get born again because I was one of them. I got. I got born again. No, sorry. I got saved three times the third time counted though.

Do you know how people get saved but not saved? Because they come. They're told there they hear a hell-fired brimstone sermon. And they come and they pray God saved me from hell. Right. I don't want to go down.

That's what I prayed. I prayed the sitters prayer. I Didn't want to who wants to go to hell. Lord saved me from hell. That's not what the angel said. You manual God with us we said you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from hell from what their sins.

You see when we want to be saved from hell. But we don't want to be saved from our sins. Then we only deceive ourselves and that's where we're still going when God saves us He saves us from our sins. We'll talk about this at the end.

He saves us from our sins. And the desire to sin and live in sin, but this is called a revival conference. And whether revival sweeps Victoria like it did the Eastern Seaboard in 1857 through Jeremiah Lamphere with a total of almost 2 million people.

Being swept into the kingdom over the next few years. Whether that happens or whether a handful of us today find our joy in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of our our sin of rejoicing and other things rather than in the Lord Jesus and loving other things.

More than Jesus Christ Revival can come. I believe that. Over the years I've witnessed many individual revivals and people and families. I've mentioned that and I'll share some of those testimonies in a few minutes.

Love for Christ as the Spark of Revival

But I want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a deep love for God and not just conviction of sin or convicting messages or prayer alone is Necessary of God as the send personal or corporate revival.

Many of you have read the account of the Welsh revival in the early 1900s. Where 100 ,000 people were saved in the space of about 10 weeks? But are you aware that the flashpoint of that revival the one event that God wanted people to remember is the start of that great Awakening took place on the second Sunday of February 1904.

We're after the morning service. The youth got together in the vestry and their pastor Joseph Jenkins asked them this question. Tell me what is God doing in your life? One or two got up to read scriptures and to preach at the others and Jenkins interrupted and said no.

No, tell me what is God doing? Is he real to you? And then a 19 year old girl by the name of Flory Evans stood up. She was a fairly new Christian and she said this. I am unable to say very much today.

But I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart. He died for me. Those words ignited the flame that was to eventually lead to national and even worldwide revival in selected places. God confounded the wisdom of the wise by not using theologians or pastors or revival preachers.

Although he did use them powerfully as he did with Evan Roberts. But he used the teenage girl to spark one of the most powerful revivals this world has ever seen. Not with fancy words or theatrics or rhetoric.

But in simplicity and sincerity expressing her deep love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this not what the psalmist meant when he said in Psalm 51 12? Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you. Have you ever considered that the one of the most effective ways of seeing people saved and Backsliders turning back to God is through the example.

Through the words through the teaching and the preaching of people who are filled with joy and love for the Lord Jesus. That's what it says here. And when we love the Lord Jesus, it's infectious and others get convicted as a matter of fact others.

A Church’s Experience of Prayer, Repentance, and Corporate Revival

They aren't even knowing that being convicted. They don't even hearing the messages. They get convicted by God and they come in and they get saved. I Remember, this is what happened back in 1992. I become pastor of a church.

I Never intended to be. I never wanted to be a pastor of a choice. Oh Lord spare me from that I'll be itinerant preacher because you're not allowed you're not around long enough for them to kick you out.

You know, you just kind of go from place to place. They know you're going after a week or so and you can move on. I said Lord. I used to say the world's worst job was being a pastor and the second worst was being a missionary.

That's when I was a teenager. I used to watch these, you know missionary and conferences that would come. I said Lord call me to be a missionary but not a pastor. Somehow I got into this church. I didn't look for they said we want you.

I preached. I pulled the pin on a revival sermon launched that grenade said they'll never invite me back here. They said we want you so I didn't have anything to do. So I said, okay, you know, the Lord was burdening me that I was to preach on revival.

And so we got there and the board introduced me to this great big thick manuals a huge. It was a strategic plan of what we were going to tell God to do and how he was gonna do it over the next five Years, I've mentioned it.

It was a marvel to angels and pets alike. It was he was phenomenal this thing. I looked at it one of the other elders. It was kind of on my side. I said, what are we gonna do with this? Let's hide it.

So we hit it. We hit it. We didn't want the board to see that thing was amazing. And we used to go into our board meetings with Roberts rules of order and it was just I said Lord spare us from this. And finally I preached.

I taught them a message all the elders. I said it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry the word and prayer. You know to wait on table so to speak. I combined two verses in Acts and and they got the idea.

I said listen as elders we got to pray if we're not praying we really disqualify ourselves from being elders. Well, everyone resigned on the board except for one man Who really believed that he should pray.

And I had been praying for once. Oh Lord descend upon us according to Zechariah 12 10 by your spirit of grace and supplication. We need you to fall on us. If your spirit does that if your Holy Spirit does not enable us to pray we can't even pray.

Isn't that what Romans 8 says you don't know what you ought to pray for. He helps us in our weaknesses because we don't know what to pray for. So we began to pray. We prayed Lord. Search me. Oh God. I remember hearing from Terror revival as God's been pointing Point back at us.

Never forget hearing him say that years ago, and I said Lord forgive me. Forgive me and I began to get broken over my sin. Then one day I get a call from this elder my only elder. And I didn't know it was him on the phone.

He was weeping and I said to him brother. Where are you? What's what's wrong? He says I'm he was a controller of an engineering company. He says I'm at work. I said, where are you? He's in my office. I said is your door shut?

I thought he's gonna embarrass us. He said yes, it's shut. I said he says I'm down behind my desk on the floor. I said, what are you doing down there? He says God is breaking me from my for my sin. God is convicting me of my sin.

I am so grieving over my sin. I Said praise God come on over after work. We'll pray some more. So we came we prayed. We began praying that God would raise up others and then another elder joined us. So there was three of us a quarter of three strands is not easily broken.

We began praying that God if you if you don't if you don't do something here Lord. We won't pray. So we prayed for three months. God dealt with us as elders and then we prayed for another three months and one day we were at a retreat.

I wasn't speaking at the retreat and I don't even remember what the topic was. Necessarily of some general topic on prayer and we were standing out back after one of the sessions and and all of a sudden There were 17 of men there and one of the men said at a clear book We need to start praying as men and immediately all 17 agreed and they started getting together to pray for revival in Their own hearts in their own families in the church and then beyond three more months after that God came.

God came we didn't know he was going to come we didn't know how he was going to do it. But he came. No programs. No evangelism no handing out tracts nothing against these things. I'm just saying that God came and we we.

We didn't check to see if he was he you know, if he was on time, right? We didn't check that manual. God came. We would go to be I get a phone call I go to see someone who didn't know the Lord. I would open the scriptures.

I'd let them start to read within three or four verses. It was the same thing. They would begin to weep for ten minutes. They weep. I'd say nothing. They would come out saved. Over and over and over every week one two, three four matter of fact every time we came to church.

We no longer ask the question. Did anyone get saved this week, but who got saved this week? The ladies came to us and they said we want to start a ladies prayer group now. I said, why do you want to do that?

Because the men have left the left us in the dust spiritually our husbands. More men were coming than women to prayer. 75 of the church was involved in prayer every week. Cottage it didn't matter where but we we had no agendas.

There was no more out. We stopped how we never had elders meetings after that. There were elders prayer meetings. That's all we had. And we would pray about things and we could pray one hour two hours three hour, whatever the Lord showed us.

I Remember that not only was God saving the people who wanted to get saved. He would bring people in. I Meet someone afterwards and I'd say oh you're new here. Where are you? Where do you live? They say oh, they tell me where they lived and I said, well who invited you here.

They said no one. I said, why did you come this morning? They said we don't know. God woke us up and told us to come God. We would talk to them they get saved. God was even saving people that didn't want to get saved.

Do you know that God can save people that don't want to get saved? We think we got us somehow convinced them God began saving. I Remember this one lady this man. He had just been saved outside of our church and He was from Vietnam Buddhist background and God wonderfully saved him and he said pastor if if you talk to my wife she'll get saved.

She was very antagonistic for the gospel she was very very devout Buddhists and I said well, I can't save anyone. But if you want to bring her over for dinner this Friday night, my wife will cook something and we'll we'll talk to her.

So she came there. She was so unreluctant. She just sat there Looking at me. I shall not be moved. She just sat like that and So I thought well, how am I gonna push? So I said to her I said Let me your husband is so excited about what's happened to him.

Let me share What God did for him so I I use that story to share the gospel and at the end I said Would you like to become a Christian too? And she said no and by the way, she could barely understand English barely understanding.

I Said oh, you don't want to be Congress. Do you believe these things at least you believe something she said no. So, what do you do? Can't do anything. We just made small talk. We keep you ten minutes later She begins weeping and weeping and weeping and finally her husband was able to get some words in edgewise there.

And he turned to me. He said pastor good news. I said what good news. She's under conviction of the Holy Spirit and She wept for ten minutes and he got saved and got up. Sing and sing God in her language gave us all hugs and has since led almost all of her Buddhist relatives to Christ.

How did God save her when she couldn't even understand me? People would come. The most I could tell I'm not gonna. I have to be careful about stories here. Maybe I'll share some more on on Thursday night, but I want to let you know That when God decides to move if you will then I will we cannot put that into a formula.

Every time I've seen God move it's always been a little bit different. But one thing is is is constant people get right and deal with their sin. They love the Lord Jesus and God saves and he delivers.

Loving Christ Above All Else

If we love the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts, and that was that was the thing that so characterized our leaders. They were in love with Jesus. They loved him with all their hearts. They didn't care about anything anymore.

Two of my elders ended up one of them's now he's passing he's on his third church in a very large church in Toronto and Then another is running a small Bible College elsewhere, but they were never the same after they saw God move they were never the same.

They quit their jobs and they went to serving the Lord. One more just just two more stories recent ones there's one man that came to our fellowship and 26 years old he'd been for truth for years. Went to all the cults all the isms all different denominations all different churches good churches.

Why not? And he came in one day and there was so much love the Lord was doing such a work every week people were being saved we're where we were ministering and Exactly what scripture says if you will I will so we just assume that God will we.

I just assume I believe that I do I really believe God will revive. I believe he's gonna revive some of you today I do and if not today then tomorrow or next week because you can't get away from the Holy Spirit convicting you his words will be like a barb in your heart and He'll get you where you want you and he'll bring you to brokenness and tears some of you.

And he'll save you or deliver you or free you. But this man came in and I shared something. I don't know what I shared that morning and afterwards. He was observing all the people around him and they loved each other.

I Mean, they look they love each other and they hugged each other. Giving one another holy hugs. Hey, they weren't giving holy kisses. That's what we used to do back. I'm French background. We used to do holy kisses.

That that's a stretch or something. But but we we we have holy hugs where we are now. That's the British thing to do. We have holy hugs that he couldn't believe this this love and how kind people were to one another and he came to me in The dining room and he said listen, he says I've been looking for truth for years.

He says but today I don't know need to know whether you are speaking the truth about salvation. I can feel the love here and he got saved that night and he just led The Sunday service and taught this past Sunday.

Well, I'm here. You see when the Lord saves and the Spirit of God comes on a person He changes them and transforms them. You see the Lord cares about our hearts above all else. That's why in Proverbs.

It says my son. Give me your heart. He doesn't need our money our talents or our hard work. You see the Pharisees had given all these things to him and Jesus says these people honor me with their lips.

But their hearts they're far from me. Jesus cares about our hearts. Was this not the reason that Jesus did what he did when he restored Peter. How would a court of law have dealt with Peter today? They would have had videotapes and reenactment and and eyewitnesses and they would have raked him through the coals and Made his whole Inquisition a very painful one.

What does Jesus do. He doesn't even bring up the event he just looks at him because he doesn't care about how good a fisherman Peter is. How good a businessman is how good a leader of the other? 12 11.

Or how good a preacher he is. All Jesus cares about is his heart. He says Peter. I just want to know some three times I want to ask you the same question because it's really important to me. Do you love me more than these?

Jesus asks us that question this morning. Do you do you love me more than? People places or things or goals, you know, the Holy Spirit tells us what it is. We love more than him today. I know I can't help but sit back there and even as our brother preached and others have preached the Holy Spirit speaks to me and convicts me deeply of my sin and My failure and the fact that I need to get back to him To revive me again that I might rejoice in him.

Can we be honest with God for a moment? The Lord Jesus was to appear and just look right at you with those piercing eyes and say do you love me more then? What would you say. Do you love me more than your life?

Have you ever witnessed someone losing their life and been happy about it? I have I. Oh, I love seeing people lose their lives. I mean spiritually speaking I Remember going to one house Miss dear sister with her husband and I was counseling them and I Had quoted John 12 24.

I tell you the truth unless the kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it. Well, the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

And as I was sharing this with this dear sister She was struggling and under conviction of the Holy Spirit because like many of us we like to control our lives. We we believe the lie that to be happy.

We have to control things so that we're happy. Son and daughter. I'm not gonna be happy unless I can control you and make you say and do the things I want you to do husband I'm not going to be happy unless you do exactly that what I want you to do and wife and I'm not.

We do this we try to control people. Oh It's a wonderful thing when we learn that we're not the Holy Spirit another person's life that he does a great job doesn't he and As she listened that the Lord spoke to her heart and she began to weep and she says Lord Jesus You died for me, but I've never died for you.

In other words dying in my life just dying to self and as she wept I wept. I'd never heard a more sincere prayer and She wept and she died that day. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Why We Sin: Loving Something More Than Christ

Colossians 3 says and she died to that desire to control. And what freedom there was in her heart. See one of the main barriers to revival is a joyless loveless walk with God. Now someone will say I thought that sin was the barrier to revival and it is I Mean isn't that what 2nd Chronicles 7 14 says were to turn from our wicked ways.

Sin is a main barrier to revival. But the question I want to answer today is why do we sin? You see if we know why we sin We'll be more convicted. I believe by that sin the reason we sin. The reason there is so little revival in our lives is because according to Psalm 85 verse 6 We do not rejoice in the Lord.

We do not love him as we ought it is not just enough for us to know about sin and know that we have to repent of it and Just do that intellectually the Pharisees were like that. They had their 613 laws and Yet despite all of their actions they dotted their eyes and crossed their tees.

Their hearts were far from him. They had no joy in love for God himself. Revival will come to us personally and corporately when our greatest desires is to love the Lord Jesus with all our heart and to hate sin.

We need to understand the reason we sin is. Because we love that sin or those things more than the Lord Jesus. And when we love something more than the Lord Jesus we sin do you do you understand the way that works.

Do you remember what what here it is a perfect situation in the Garden of Eden? They had it made Adam and Eve did perfect temperature. Didn't have to worry about the latest fashions. They didn't have to worry about air conditioning and heating and gas bills.

They didn't have to pay taxes. There was no No traffic jams going to work. I mean what could be better than it was in the Garden of Eden? So Satan came and he somehow Tempted them to believe that there was something better than the Lord walking in the cool of the day with them every day.

If you just have it look at doesn't this look lovely and they thought oh does is that ever lovely? We love that and the idea. In that case in this case of knowledge. We love that idea more than the fact that we love the Lord Jesus who told us not to do that.

You see the Israelites thought too that they'd be happy. What would make you happy miss? Well, I Remember back and eat. We could go to wish it we could get that meat and All we have is this mana Lord.

They grumbled and complained and God says okay and he sends in these low-flying quail and they grab them out of the air and Scripture says while the meat was still between their teeth. He sent leanness to their souls.

God it's not enough that you are this rock that rock which is with us was Christ. It's not enough that Christ with us. We want something else. We want some food. That'll really make us happy. We love this more than we love you.

That's what caused David to fall. He thought Lord. It's not enough what you've given me. I want something more. And he fell into sin with Bathsheba. And all of these things are ploys and distractions of the devil to take our eyes off of the Lord Jesus.

And to keep us from loving God with all our hearts. Could could we get honest again, I remember once the Lord spoke to me about this. It's a wonderful thing to be honest. You desire truth in the inner parts the psalmist says and then he goes on and gives his confession in Psalm 51.

But I remember sitting there one day and Lord says mark you get honest with me and tell say these words that you love that sin more than you love me. Can you say that? But you know what I? Got honest with God and I said Lord the reason I'm sitting as I love that sin more than you.

That was very convicting. And then to come to him and brokenness and repentance and ask him to take that out of our lives and out of my life. 2nd Timothy 3 1 says but mark this there will be terrible times in the last days people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money verse 4 lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

And If we're not revived, it's because we're loving something else some other sin more than the Lord Jesus. Matthew 6 24 no one can serve two masters either. He will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.