Lukewarm No More - Part 5 — George Verwer

The Need for Spiritual Rebuke

I love to be rebuked. That's the only reason I've lived for Jesus every day for 40 years. He just kept rebuking me. He used books, he used tapes, he used Oswald J. Smith, he used the martyrs down in Ecuador, he used a character I met at college named Dale Roton.

I was warned about him. They told me he was a fanatic, baptizing people in the showers. He became my Nathan. He's been rebuking me for 38 years. Praise God. Characters like me, I don't know about you, I need to be rebuked.

Now, I don't want to project my problems on you. I've been reading this new book, Grace Awakening, and that really has humbled me and rebuked me, and I realize I'm sort of a natural, ungraceful kind of person.

My wife could vouch for that. So I've been reading this book, and I've been red-pencing, and I've been reading it again. And I don't want to project my problems on you and make you feel miserable unnecessarily.

For some of you, maybe it's just, you know, everything is just better for Jesus every day. You're just going on and on, a laser beam of hot, red-hot Christian reality. You're just finding it better every day, growing more and more spiritually every day.

You know, I admire such people, and if you're in that camp, I'd like you to autograph my Bible at the end of the meeting. I've got a little section here in the back, hypocrite sign below. For the word of God says, the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.

Are You on Fire for Jesus?

The two are contrary. Now, in our little mini-time together this morning, I have one question, which I believe comes from the heart of God. And I beg of you, don't let some George Verwer straw because of the way I speak or my temperament.

I sometimes speak too loud. I speak a lot in the Anglican churches. I was in Cambridge speaking in this Anglican church, and the man kept turning the sound up. I think I intimidated him. I don't know what happened.

It got louder and louder. The lady gave me a note at the end of the meeting. Dear Mr. Verwer, thank you very much for coming to our church. But there's no need to shout because we Anglicans are not deaf.

A lot of them behave as if they're deaf, but anyway, I've tried not to speak so loud. But I believe it is on the heart of God to share what I want to share this morning and ask this basic question and try to tie in other important truths around this question.

And here's the question based on this scripture. I ask you this morning with all sincerity, are you on fire for Jesus this morning? Wherever I go around the country, people are always groaning and moaning about our nation, and people are very worried.

The Church's Problem of Lukewarmness

And they're always pointing out what they feel is the biggest problem. I met one character. I couldn't believe it. He thought the biggest problem in America was Christian rock music. Another guy felt the biggest problem was the abortion situation.

That might be a little closer to the truth. Another person felt the biggest problem was crime. Another person felt the biggest problem was the government. We've got the wrong people and the state of the government, the political problem.

Other people feel the greatest problem is something else. I was driving into Chicago preparing to do a radio broadcast at Moody Bible Institute where I graduated from many, many years ago, and the man on the radio that day, if I remember right, I think he was saying that the whole homosexual thing, that was really about the biggest problem we have, facing the church.

All those things are issues. I personally read too much. I read too much about too many issues. Maybe I watch too much television, listen to the radio. I'm an information-holic. But in all my reading, in all of my study of Scripture these 40 years, I am convinced that the greatest problems are not firstly out in the world.

The greatest problems, if we're biblical, are among us, the Lord's people. And the greatest problem I think of all is the problem of lukewarmness. Lukewarmness among God's people. Satan knows that if there were 100 people filled with the Spirit, committed, consecrated, zealous, giving God His way in their life every day, that it would affect every one of those other areas.

God's Priority Is the Heart

I'm not saying we'd win all the battles and we'd take over the government, but the salt and light influence would be laser beam hot and it would affect every aspect of society. The first priority on the heart of God this morning is not even world missions, though this is a missions conference.

The first priority is your heart. How's your heart this morning? Are you in love with Jesus? Are you demonstrating that love day by day, not just in words, but in deed and in truth, because it says in James chapter 1, we should not be hearers of the word only, but doers.

Jesus' Compassionate Motivation

What we do that counts so much with God, as well as our motivation. In our first service, we looked at the motivation of Jesus in Matthew chapter 9, where we see Jesus going out to all these towns and villages.

He was a real activist, wasn't he? Jesus, out in the towns and the villages, out in the heat and the toil. And the next verse it says he went because he was moved. He was moved with compassion. Christianity is compassion.

The Holy Spirit and the Normal Christian Life

Christianity is the Holy Spirit living in us. That means we are on fire. We have made the great mistake in America by giving the idea that backsliding is the normal Christian life. Everybody has to backslide, at least for some months.

We have backsliders' testimonies. People got converted, they spent years away from the Lord. Then they went to a Christian camp, got a bless-up, a fill-up, a top-up, and came back to Jesus, and then they were allowed to give their testimony in the church.

So we got all these backsliders' testimonies. I'm not against that. In my own meetings, I've seen about 100 ,000 people come forward or stand up over the years, and that's not an exaggeration. Not really much over a lifetime.

We've had 90 ,000 people go through our training program. The normal Christian life is you are converted, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, and you live in power and grace and reality every day the rest of your life.

It's no big deal. And if a character like me with so many doubts, I'm still a doubting Thomas, save from New Jersey. I mean, you're in Texas. No, there isn't much good to come out of New Jersey. And I know many Texans are worried about the big immigration to Texas from New Jersey.

I think they mainly go to Dallas. But the fact is, Jesus Christ came to live in this earthen vessel, this clay pot, just about 40 years ago, and He changed my life. Doesn't mean I became perfect overnight.

Doesn't mean I'm perfect now, but I discovered the fire. It says in Hebrews, Our God is a consuming fire. Do you know that verse? I don't think we can throw this aside as just one more message for us to take a few notes on.

Lukewarmness as an Abomination

It says, Be ye hot or be ye cold. If you are lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. I'll let your pastor expound that in some future time. It's a tough verse. The Arminians and the Calvinists don't exactly agree on that verse.

But one thing we know, Lukewarmness is an abomination. This is the end of Side 1. Please turn the tape over to hear Side 2.