Denny Kenaston 01 — Denny Kenaston

I'll sing through the first verse with you and teach it to you, and then we can sing it together. This was sung in the early Billy Graham crusades, back in the late 40s and early 50s. And it was said in some of them that they would sing it antiphonically.

And with antiphonical back and forth singing that it was so loud that they heard it for miles, and crying out for God to revive the people again. And so I hope that this is our prayer today. We don't have that one.

And now Mary's going to come and sing a solo for us, and we'll try to get this together. You're not used to these things, are you? In David's garden, his word, and in Scotland, one small piece of your...

...places here this evening, different countries and different continents, Lord. And we're coming here, and there's people from all around this world praying, dear God, that you would send a fire to Scotland.

And dear God, let's send fire on all the other parts of this earth, dear Lord. And we do pray, like we sung there, Father. Once more, Lord. Once more. Could you do it again tonight? Could you do it again tonight, Lord?

Even tonight, Father? Bring that fire, O Father, again tonight, Lord, to us. By anything that we have, not by anything that we've done. By your mercy, we ask you this, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Amen. We have Ann Kennedy now. This next song we're going to sing, I think you know it. It's called, Ann Kennedy. It's a song that starts with a question, and not a lot of songs start with a question.

It's not questioning the statement. It's saying as a pondering, how could this possibly be? How could this possibly be? Charles Wesley wrote this, and from what I understand, it's thought that this was the very first song that Charles Wesley wrote after he was converted.

He was actually, came back from Georgia as a missionary, as a terrible failure, him and John both. Was just laying out for days, weeks, just limping, and nothing being able to move in him. And so finally, I way off read it before, as a young lady came to him and had a word for him, and said, rise, get up.

And he'd get up. And the spirit of God started to move in Charles Wesley with faith, and it is thought that this is the first song that he wrote. It has some powerful words in it. Very powerful. It talks about light coming into us while we're in chains, while we're in the dungeon.

It talks about the infinite grace of God, how he emptied himself, and how still today we can have that amazing love. It is a powerful, powerful song. If we could, let's all stand to our feet again, and let's sing this to the Lord.

Darkness of the night of the sin, and God in a moment found that sinner and opened up his eyes. Let's sing it. I've never spoken to you in that way in darkness, I pray, that early in this conference that you would let his quickening, diffusing eye look into your heart.

Let's sing now the spirit of the living God. Let's turn to that. This next is a precious song. It was sung in 1926 by a Presbyterian minister who wanted more fervent and effectual and genuine Christianity amongst his people.

They had a special meeting somewhat like this and gathered together a 4 ,000 seat temporary structure. He wrote this song before he preached. And the story says that after they sang this song, the idea of God breaking us, the idea of God molding us, they never even got to the sermon.

They kept singing the song for 45 minutes, and they had an altar call after that where 400 people responded. May God do that again. These same words that you see here, break me, melt me, mold me, they're also like what the Welsh Revival in 1904, Devin Roberts there spoke of God, bend me.

It's the same thing of God just taking us, all of us out of the way and transforming us to what he wants us to be. Let's sing this to God if we could. We're praying for some strong things here, that God would break us and melt us and mold us.

That hurts sometimes. So let's sing and only sing if you really mean it, and if you really mean it, then you sing it to the Lord with all your heart. And the things that you do, you do because you love us, oh God, and so we pray, Father.

This is our prayer to you tonight. Speak to us tonight, we pray, oh God. Amen. One last little chorus here. This has been a bit of a theme when the Revival Conference was in Georgia. It's new to me. It'll be new to you too.

We're going to sing just the chorus tonight. And maybe, Brother Garrett, you can help me sing this too. So let's sing. It's Revival Halloween. Aileen's going to come and sing a couple songs. And before she does, I'd like to introduce the speaker.

Oh, yes. Turn your phone off yourself. It's embarrassing. We don't want to embarrass ourself, do we? Before Aileen sings a couple songs, I just want to go ahead and introduce our speaker so he can just come up without interruption.

Denny Keniston is from America. Lives in the state of Pennsylvania. And God has used him in a fellowship here, a charity fellowship, in ministering to a multitude of thousands of people. And all I'm going to say, if he wants to say anything else about himself, is he's a man of God.

He's a man of God here with a message from God for us. Our first one this evening. So, Brother Denny, God bless you. He longs to be exalted in our hearts. He longs to have that first place where no other place will take.

That's what he longs for. That's what he deserves, brothers and sisters. Righteousness that can make a lot. To be here this evening, to be in your midst. I've never been here. Awful things have happened in the past.

But I understand that it's not that way anymore. Something went wrong. And I guess that's the burden of this whole conference. And I know that most of you know that you came here because you have that burden in your own heart also.

That something is wrong. May judgment begin at the house of God, even tonight. God's judgment. I've been praying very much about what I need to be sharing here this evening. You know, you don't always get this, but when you sense what you feel God wants you to say, and then you go into the prayer room and you hear that very thing being prayed in there, and then you come back out here and you hear that very thing being sung, you know, it's kind of like, okay, let's go.

This is what God wants you to say tonight. So this evening, to open up this revival conference, I want to share with you, I want to challenge you this evening. It has to start here, doesn't it? You can't pray for revival out there until it comes here.

The Apostle Paul as a Pattern for Christian Revival

But I would like to share with you this evening the secret of Paul's strength. We all know who the Apostle Paul is. We know that he was an amazing Christian man. And aside from the inspired biography of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, by the way, is the greatest gift that God could give to us Christians, is that inspired biography of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I mean, think about it. We have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that we can behold the Lamb of God, which was slain for the sin of the world. But aside from that biography, I believe the next best gift that God gave to us Christians is the inspired biography of the Apostle Paul.

And it could be that his biography is even more important than the other one, because we have a tendency, you know, to look at Jesus and say, well, oh, well, that was Jesus. Well, you look at Paul, and you see how the life also of Jesus was made manifest in that man's mortal flesh.

And brothers and sisters, he was made out of the same thing that you and I are made out of. He was a man of life passions, just like you and me. All of a sudden, that begins to grip our hearts in a new way, or at least it should, that we would just somehow pull back the veil and begin to look in there and say, God, we're in a state of continuous revival.

We're not satisfied with what we have. God, I trust that's your heart as you're sitting here this evening. You're not satisfied. May God give us a holy, sanctified, where we are. Because, you know, you can go forward with that.

Amen. The Apostle Paul's heart this evening, and see if we can't draw some things for our own hearts and our lives. As I looked at his life, and I have all my Christian life, then by watching to me that he started right, and he finished right, and he ran when brothers and sisters, to be God's grace when it's all disgraced grace.

Because that's all it is. He was an amazing man. He was a church planter. He was a soul mentor. We looked at his life and were amazed at all the things that he did, how he moved through different communities and went from city after city.

And it just seemed like revival broke out wherever that man went, and souls got saved wherever he went, and churches sprung up wherever he went, and trials and difficulties came his way, and he was stoned, and you know all the things that he suffered, besides all the care he goes to the churches.

But somehow, as you look at that man's life, whether he's shaking the stones off of his bruised body, you know, where was it? I don't remember which one it was, but one of those cities, or whether he's sitting in a cell somewhere, where it's cold, it seems like that man is in love with God, and he's going forward.

And it seems to me that God would just, kind of just put a picture frame around that man here this evening, and help us to maybe open up to scriptures, and look in and begin to see what made this man.

He was a man, just like you and I. And that's very important if you're going to finish the race right. He had a right beginning. Now it hasn't been, and God knows it, but I got out of my car 36 years ago, the drugs left, the smoking.

Paul's Conversion on the Road to Damascus

He wanted to open there. First thing he said when he met the Lord Jesus, he didn't know who he was, he said, Who art thou, Lord? Jesus spoke to him and said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, and I've thought of it many times, those must have been fearful words to the Apostle Paul, to hear them come out of this.

I am Jesus. Paul, you were taught what that meant to the Apostle Paul. I am Jesus. And then Paul said what every one of us should say, when we come to that glorious time in our life, when we're born again by the Spirit of God.

He said, What wilt thou have me to do, Lord? Yes, it seems like the Apostle Paul, he started right. You know, I think it's so beautiful, you know, that day there on the road to Damascus, that the Apostle Paul, the great Saul, the great bulwark of Judaism, the great follower of Gamaliel, all of a sudden this man who seems to have everything together is being led into Damascus.

And there that man sat in a certain house for three days, the Bible says. He couldn't see, he didn't eat, he didn't drink anything. What do you suppose he was speaking about for those three days? I believe he was sitting under the conviction of the Holy Spirit for those three days, and he was finding out what repentance is all about.

Yes, he started right, didn't he? Oh, it's so beautiful to read those accounts there again, you know. And Ananias came to him and he said two things. He said, Brother Saul, I've come to you that your eyes may be opened and you might be filled with the Holy Ghost.

What a way to start your Christian life, amen? Filled with the Holy Ghost. Here's a man who met the Lord Jesus, and he repented. And it's so beautiful to see the repentance, the beautiful example of repentance there.

You know, repentance, we have some mixed up ideas about repentance. You know, some of us think that repentance is just, well, I just feel bad over the things that I did, but that's not repentance. And some people think that repentance is that you open your mouth and say what you did wrong.

Repentance is a total change of mind which changes actions. I mean, it's 100 agreed. I'm going this way. And do you know what kind of... Paul did. But four days earlier, he's going to Damascus to grab those Christians and throw them in the prison.

And as soon as he got his strength back, what do you think he was doing? The total opposite. 180 rules. See, brothers and sisters, it's repentance strong, but it's also repentance too. Amen? It's repentance strong, but it's also repentance too.

And God wants that. You know, it's beautiful. You know, when you think about how the Apostle Paul was converted there. And that's beautiful. But you know, brothers and sisters, that's just the beginning of his life.

Amen? We got a whole life ahead of us. This man, not only did he start right, he ran well. And that's what we want to look at here this evening. What made this man run well? Yes, he started right. And that's very important.

The Indwelling Spirit and Paul's Perseverance

But he ran well. What is the secret of his strength? We must look a bit deeper if we're going to see the secret of the strength of the Apostle Paul that carried that man all the way through to the end of his life, to where he could joyfully put his head down on a chopping block and allow him to come.

That day there when Ananias came into that house and said, Saul, receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Arise, I will be baptized and washed away your sins. God came to live inside of that man that day.

God came to live inside of him. In Philippians chapter 3, we're going to start reading the scriptures now. Just giving a little introduction. We see Paul giving his testimony. I'm so amazed many times as I read the Apostle Paul and the testimonies that he gave, you know, and he did it in humility.

You know, I read some of them and I think, I'm not even sure that I can talk about myself. Because all he wanted to do, his credentials there in the first part of the chapter, we're going to start reading in verse 7.

But you know, he talks about who he was before he came to the Lord. He talks about worshiping God in the Spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh. And he gives this little side note to those that he's writing to and says, you know, if any of you think that you have whereof, you might have confidence in the flesh, I more.

And then he gives his credentials. And I was thinking about that today as I was preparing and praying. You know, it's 2008, you know, the day that we live in. And it seems to me like we have way more that we might put our confidence in the flesh in than even Paul did.

With all of our education and all of our wealth and all of the things that we have. Somehow Paul had such a clear vision of Christ that he was able to push those things aside, not once, but over and over again and simply lean on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Christ was able to live his life out through the Apostle Paul. Isn't that what we want, brothers and sisters? You know, yeah, we can go to church and we can read our Bibles and, you know, yeah, we can do all those things.

We know that. Those are real clear to all of us. We've been going to church for many years, but oh, that the Lord Jesus Christ would have such a vessel that he could live his life out through. And that's what Paul says in these words, giving his testimony.

Counting All Things as Loss to Gain Christ

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for thrice. Yea, doubtless. And I count all things but loss. And I want you to notice in these two verses, the first verse is talking about back there.

The next verse he's talking about. And you know, brothers and sisters, that's how you have continuous recovery. Yes, there is a back there. Maybe it's a trip to an altar where everything gets dealt with.

But then there is a yea, doubtless, I do count present tense. All things but loss. For what, Paul? For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. It seems to me that Paul had such a beautiful revelation, such a beautiful intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that he saw that relationship and his fresh revelation of Jesus Christ, that the beautiful King that we heard some about here and there was some about, he saw that on one side and he saw all the other things in his life over here and he just, there wasn't any comparison to that.

I wonder if we see Jesus that way. Or if all these things over here, whatever you want to put in your little pile, you know, on your stool, if all of these things are more important and Jesus, nah, we don't see very much there.

He's not very valuable. He's not the king in his beauty. He's not the exalted one in our heart. He's not the one that captivates our heart's attention. All these other things, he was like this. Can I put Christ back over here and deal with these things over here and put him back over here?

Within a few weeks time, all these things over here again are paying for attention, aren't they? It seems to me that it wasn't that way with the Apostle Paul. He met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was never the same.

The knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, that's what Paul was talking about. Only looked at all these things and said, yea, I count all those things but loss. But loss, he goes on to say, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ.

I count them but done. I count my money but done. I count my reputation but done. I count my job but done. Everything I counted but done that I may win Christ was Paul's desire. I want you to notice something here, brothers and sisters.

This is a man who has Christ. We know he has Christ, but yet he's saying that I might win Christ. Is he talking about back there in the beginning? No, he's not. He's talking about that onward continual, that relationship, that vital reality that he had with Jesus Christ and that was the longing of his heart and it moved him forward continually and he was continually saying, I want my relationship with Christ more than I want all these things over here.

And brothers and sisters, I'm not sure if we can say that. Christ was living in him in reality, not just theology. Oh yeah, that makes good theology and I believe in theology, but brothers and sisters, theology doesn't mean anything if we don't have the reality.

We're going to be a fool on Judgment Day. This is what made him tick. This was his. That's becoming a famous word these days, isn't it? Passion. You know, it's in all those words that you really shouldn't even use unless you're talking about holy things.

Yes, Paul was a passionate man. He loved Lord Jesus. He goes on to say, he says that I count all things but loss and I count them but dumb, that I may win Christ and he goes on to say, and be found in him.

Be found in him, Paul? Now wait a minute. You are in him, Paul. What do you mean you? You're letting everything aside that you may be found in him. You're in him, Paul. What was Paul saying? Paul was saying the same thing that Jesus was saying in John chapter 15.

Abide in me. The other branch cannot bear fruit of itself, so also neither can the vine. Nor can you bear fruit except you abide in me. My whole life is wrapped up in maintaining that abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

I want to be found in him. You see, Paul never knew when he was going to die and we don't know when we're going to die either, but we just kind of take it for granted that Paul had done the edge all the time.

He never, he truly never knew when he was going to die. Therefore, his life was constant.