On Eagles' Wings Pt 55 — Don Courville

Well, it's good to be back with you again today on Eagle's Wings. It seems like such a long time since I was with you last time. Let me remind you that the Scripture says that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

Might seem strange, but waiting on the Lord will give you strength as you come to him and give him your cares and your problems. You come crying to him, give him the burden. One of the things that the Scripture teaches us is that we were not designed to carry the heavy loads of stress.

Finding Rest and Strength in Christ

Jesus said, come unto me all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Remember, God said in Exodus 19, 4, you've seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bear you on eagles' wings and brought you unto myself.

Israel was in captivity. They couldn't deliver themselves. God came and delivered them and brought him unto himself and chose to make them a special people. Years ago, God chose them and he showed them how he could take care.

And he used Israel and is still working in the life of Israel to show to the world himself, to reveal to himself. Psalm 17, 8, keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings. There is a rest.

There is a rest for you. There is a rest for me and it's found in Jesus Christ. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. My friend, I'm here to encourage you.

Receiving Christ as Savior

Encourage you to receive Christ as your Savior if you haven't done it yet. Oh, it's a hard life without Christ. Even in a church, I grew up in a church and thought I was saved because of a decision I'd made.

But I went many years without Christ. And even when I got saved, I didn't realize what had happened. But I knew that I was clean and I felt free. Jesus said that he came to set the captives free. He came to set us free from the burdens and the bondage.

He came to open up the prison doors. My friend, Jesus Christ is the answer to your need. And I'm praying, dear Father, I pray for these folks as they're listening this day that you would meet them at the point of their need.

That you would meet them where they're at and that they would be honest with you and cry out to you where they're at. And Father, for those that are free, I pray that you'd prompt them to pray, to lift up their hearts to you in praise and thanksgiving and to be faithful to continue to watch themselves.

Now Lord, you guide us as we go on this program through this short time that we have together. We give this time to you in Jesus' name. You know, in the last few weeks I've been going through Colossians and wanting to share a little bit.

Colossians 3 and the Believer's New Life

And sometimes we'd get in there and go a ways and sometimes not. I was just reading in Colossians 3 this morning. And I like to just read the first eight verses and then make some comments and share some things with you this morning.

And I trust it'll be a help to you. Again, let me encourage you, if you're empty and your life is without meaning and purpose, Jesus Christ is the answer. He met me many years ago when I was at the end of myself, was thinking of suicide, was off in college, had been raised in church, been around Christianity, but my life was empty.

There was no purpose in it. I saw no purpose in going on and getting a degree. And at that time I was pursuing a degree in psychology and spending a lot of time studying in that stuff. But my life was empty.

I wasn't finding the answer. And I found it in Jesus Christ, and he has met my needs ever since. Oh, if you then be risen with Christ, the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 3, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And by the way, one of the deviations of Satan is to get you to looking at material things, physical things, things around you, so that you won't keep your mind on the Lord Jesus Christ.

For you are dead, he continues, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in the which you also walked sometime when you lived in them. But now you also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

The Critical Tongue and the Spirit of Christ

I've been thinking the last few days about our speech and the things that come out of our mouth, some of the things that we say to others. One of the most deadly things is the tongue. And the tongue comes out with a very devastating, critical spirit.

One thing about criticism that I've learned, and I've learned a lot, because my nature tends to be very critical, and only as I die to this and let the Lord Jesus Christ rule and reign do I have victory over this critical spirit.

But criticism reveals more about the critic than the criticized. And I wanted to share a little bit about that with you this morning. You remember Isaiah said about the Lord Jesus Christ, he was oppressed and he was afflicted.

Yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. So he opened not his mouth. One of the things that has great power in our life is to be silent when we're criticized.

And I want to share a little bit more with you about that. But first, I want to say thank you for your prayers, and would you pray for this program? Would you pray for me and my family? I've shared with you how we have yielded ourselves to the Lord to be free, to be mobile and available for him to use us where needed.

And sometimes we end up where we didn't think we was going to end up. Many times I've preached in places where I had no idea I was going to preach, much less even be there. And God does these things. And we're settling in, I think, well, just watch and see, but for the winter, up here in western Nebraska where God worked for 10 weeks in revival in a small town in western Nebraska of about 10 ,000 people.

And the evangelist said he guessed there were about 1 ,000 people. He kept count because he'd watch them pray. He'd have them look up and pray, look him in the eye. About 1 ,000 people prayed, at least that many, he said, over that 10-week period of time.

And the pastor has invited me to come in, me and my family to come in. And we have found a house just outside of the town to rent, and we're just moving in. And this is hard for some folks. It's hard for some of our family just to, they don't understand some why we do things like this.

But this is the thing that God has told us to do, to be available, to help out in churches, to be in ministry. And we're not going in as the assistant pastor or anything like that. Going in as a learner.

The pastor said, why don't you come in and learn? I've never been through a 10-week revival. I went through the revival of 85 that went for seven months in the state, but I wasn't around for all of that.

And I've been thinking, maybe sometime I should read a little booklet that I wrote on revival entitled Revival or Ruin, just sharing with you the 18 days that we had in our church. But anyway, would you pray for us as we move in there just to learn and to be a help?

There are so many people to reach. I think he says they have eight new Bible studies going right now. They've stretched their services. The walls are just, the people are just packed in. Two services.

Bought a house across the street that came up for sale. They just bought it so they'd have room for Sunday school room to put the people in. The youth group, one of the men in the church, he's just quit his work and is just working full time with the youth.

And some of the other churches and friends around the country are supporting them. And there are two other preachers. One's already moved in and joined the church. And two other preachers that are moving in too.

Myself and then another pastor. I'll probably be sharing more about him later on. Is moving in too. The Spirit of God is putting in reinforcements because the battle is getting pretty heavy now. Satan is hitting and I think that God is just beginning to work in that town.

The pastor personally believes that God's going to turn the town upside down for Christ. So would you pray? This is exciting. I like to be where it's hot. I want it to be hot in your church. I want it to be real.

One of the things I don't like is phoniness. In myself or in somebody else. We need to be real. I was just encouraged recently by a letter that was passed on. The owner of the station there, KKL, sent up some of my mail to me.

And I have a letter that I want to read to you in its entirety. I'll leave out the name. But it was just an encouragement to me to know that there's folks praying for revival. And would you pray for this station, KKLL?

Would you pray? And if God would prompt you to supply in an unusual way for this station, or maybe in a small way, whatever God would prompt you, would you pray about that? Stations that carry good radio programs need to be encouraged.

The area of communication is vital for Christians. We need to hold this area. So many people are reached for Christ. And we need to pray for our local churches. And you need to support your local church.

The one that's preaching the Word, you need to encourage the pastor that's preaching the Word, that's faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. You encourage them. If he's in your church, you just take him and his wife and family out for dinner.

Invite them over for a meal. Just encourage them. Do something for them. Buy them a new car if you can. The battle's tough. They need all the encouragement they can get. And, by the way, I haven't shared this with you a long time, but we believe that God has given us this area to work in as our home base.

And we're still praying that God would provide a place for us to live. He's given us a place up here. A man said there's a house you can just live in. The utilities are taken care of. There's no rent.

Ask him, what about rent? No rent. He never would give me a price on rent. It's there as long as we need it. And that's up in this area of the country. But it's a little bit too far away from Alliance, and we've had to move in to town.

But we're praying for a place that we can have for a home base down in this area where you're listening at. So would you just pray for us on this? I believe God wants to do a work in revival in the Joplin area and all around for as far as you can hear.

Maybe you're way down in Arkansas and you're picking this up. God wants to do a work in your area. This letter that I received goes like this. Dear Brother Corville, I've been listening to you for almost a year now, and you have been a wonderful blessing.

I was in a church where the pastor beat the sheep always for about a year, and finally God opened my eyes. That was when I heard you on KKLL and have not missed a Sunday listening. We're now in a small body of believers, and a young couple are our leaders, and they have a burden for revival for this area.

And I thank the Lord for that. I praise God. He does not let us go, but sometimes has to stand back until we can or will listen again. It has been very hard getting our faith back and believing. God cares for us, and there is a chance for us.

God's Love, Forgiveness, and the Call to Salvation

By the way, let me stop right here and say that is so true. God cares for you. You are special in His sight. You are precious. You are valuable. You are valuable enough for God to send His Son to die for you on the cross.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for you, that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. My friend, Jesus Christ has done all He can to save you.

He has died on the cross to pay for your sins, and He offers forgiveness for you. If you are a sinner, and we all are, you need forgiveness. You need your guilt cleansed. You need your conscience cleansed.

And it's there at Calvary that God did this for you. You are special. You are number one in His sight, and it doesn't matter how far down you've gone, how far you've been beaten up, how far you've strayed, God will love you no matter what you do.

God loved the Judas that betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, and God loves you. Call unto Him, and He will save you. He will help you. He will bring you back. And then the letter goes on. I pray, you see, your program has been a great help and blessing.

I pray you will stay on KKLL. I will and have prayed for you and your family, and I appreciate that, and will continue to do so. The money I'm sending is not much, and it was just a little bit of money there.

But I live on a small fixed income. God has been good to me in many ways, and I know anything I give to one of His people will only come back when I'm in need. I pray others will respond to you. God bless you and your family, a sister in the Lord.

That's a precious, precious letter. And by the way, I have another one here, a fellow, or someone, I don't know who it is. It's L, and then the name down in Cave Springs. They've asked for a tape, and I won't be able to get that to you until I get back down into the Joplin area.

My tapes are all down at the station, so you'll be patient if you're listening. When I get back, I'll get you one and get it to you. And I'm trying to get back down there, and I thought I was going to be back down a couple or three weeks ago.

But you be patient. My God is good. We need to be careful about our critical tongue. We need to be careful about how we speak to others. Ms. Kalman, in her book, Mountain Trailways for Youth, has an article where she quoted Alexander White in this area of being critical.

Humility Under Criticism

Never allow yourself to answer again when you are blamed, says Alexander White. Never defend yourself. Let them reprehend you in private or in public as much as they please. Let the righteous smite you.

It shall be a kindness, and let them reprove you. It shall be an excellent oil which shall not break your head. Never so much as explain your meaning under any invitation or demand whatsoever. It is the mark of the deepest and truest humility, says a great saint, to see ourselves condemned without cause and to be silent under it.

Now, what I'm talking about is when you're criticized and you're innocent. You're to be quiet. You're not to answer back. This is the Spirit of Christ speaking to us. Jesus, when he was reviled, he did not revile back.

He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. So it is the mark of the deepest and truest humility, says a great saint, to see ourselves condemned without cause and to be silent under it. To be silent under insult and wrong is a noble imitation of our Lord.

And if we would practice this in our churches, we wouldn't have so much strife. The one that would lash out would be the one seen doing all the talking. And the more that one would talk, the more everyone else would see that he was guilty of the very thing that he's talking about and accusing you about.

O my Lord, when I remember in how many ways Thou didst suffer, who in no way deserved it, I know not where my senses are when I am in such a haste to defend and excuse myself. Is it possible I should desire anyone to speak good of me, or to think it, when so many ill things were thought and spoken of Thee?

What is this, Lord? What do we imagine to get by pleasing words? What about being blamed by all men, if only we stand at last blameless before Thee? And the Scriptures has much to say about this area.

Christ's Quietness and the Abuse of the Tongue

The Lord Jesus Christ, in Isaiah 42, 1 and 2, talks about him. Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He wasn't found yelling at his enemies or the crowds. He wasn't found yelling at his little congregation, his disciples. The one who yells has no power, has no persuasion, has no penetration.

You ever been somewhere where a preacher is yelling and screaming? Well, I have. As a matter of fact, I was just at a state preacher's meeting in a certain denomination or fellowship last week. And some of the fellows really did holler.

They really hollered. And I believe that that's a sign of no power. And it sure doesn't persuade much. And it sure doesn't have much penetration. As a matter of fact, the host pastor wasn't lined up to speak at this meeting.

He was being ordained. And I'm not saying this to be critical, but to share with you how the spirit, the spirit of criticalness comes out of our lives somehow. But he had one preacher that got up and only preached for 20 minutes.

And that man said more in 20 minutes than a lot of them said altogether. And then he sat down, and he was done. And the host pastor got up and he found himself with 10 minutes there. And so he just took off hollering at us.

And he said the same thing over and over again. How we ought to spend time with God. How we ought to get up in the morning and spend time with God. And yelled at us. And I wondered, Lord, is that man having a problem in that area?

Because your word teaches us that where we will criticize others and come down on others in that area, we're probably having a problem ourself. Do you remember the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 8?

Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery

When they brought the woman taken in adultery to Jesus. Remember that story? I'm turning over to John 8. Let's just go through that a little bit and see what we can learn about criticalness. John chapter 8, verse 1.

Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple. And all the people came unto him. And he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery.

And when they had set her in the middle, in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him also cast a stone at her.

And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

And when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Where is all the critics? Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, No man, Lord.

And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. A beautiful passage on the heart of God. You see, God isn't in the condemning business. We condemn ourselves. He's in the saving business.

He's not out to be a critic of you or me. He's out to help us. To save us. To deliver us. To set us free. Many comments have been made on what Jesus wrote on the ground. And I guess we'll find out when we get to heaven and ask him for sure.

I think one commentator said that Jesus might have started writing out their sins. And probably they were all having an affair with somebody off in another city. And he was just writing down their name and the name of the one they were having an affair with.

And they come over and look, and they see their name with that gal's name written there. And they say, Whoops, I've got to go. I've got another appointment. I don't know what he wrote on the ground. All I know is that he knew how to handle a critic.

He didn't say a thing to them. We need to be careful about this area. Romans chapter 2 is very powerful in the area of judging. And Romans 2, if I can get over there in my Bible. The page is a little thin.

Judging Others and Condemning Ourselves

But it talks about how when we judge somebody else, we're guilty in that same area. 2, 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges. For wherein thou judges another, thou condemnest thyself.

For thou that judges doest the same things. Have you been critical of someone lately? That's been doing something? If you'll look deep in your heart and be honest with yourself, you might find that you're guilty of the same thing.

I heard probably one of the worst sermons I've ever heard. And I've probably put out quite a few of those myself. But this one preacher, he had no rhyme nor reason to his preaching. And he preached way too long.

And everybody was tired and bored. But I'd been watching him over this conference. He would turn on like a light bulb when he preached. And then when he sat down, it's just like the light went out. And he sat there and he never talked to anybody, even at a table when eating.

And he was the main speaker. Just wouldn't talk, just sit like he was in a fog somewhere. And when he preached, he'd just turn on like a light bulb. And glow and preach and go all over the place. Gloomy looking fellow.

And boy, the last part of the meeting, the last meeting he had, and everybody's ready to leave. He was just burnt out. That's all it was to it. But he was preaching against sin and morality. And hitting hard.

And I couldn't help but wonder, since he was going so hard on that, if he wasn't having trouble in that area. We need to be careful, very careful, about this area. We can't be too careful about this. Because criticism reveals more about the critic than the criticized.

Jesus' Warning Against Hypocritical Judgment

Matthew 7 .1. Jesus talked about this also in Matthew 7 .1. If you want to turn over there in your Bible. Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again.

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye? But considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye. And you know the rest of the passage. How it goes to, ends up in verse 5. Thou hypocrite, you get rid of the beam out of your own eye.

And then you'll be able to see clearly to get the mote out of your brother's eye. I've shared this so that we would realize that this area of criticalness is devastating to the church. Devastating to our own lives and many times hurts others so seriously.

Revival will cleanse you from any kind of sin. It will cleanse you from the spirit of criticalness. Revival is a cleansing program of life again. And I have a little booklet that Bill McLeod wrote a preface in on revival.

And I think I ought to share with you a little bit on revivals. Bill McLeod shares how he experienced revival up in his church. And the basis of this little booklet, and I don't have much time to get into it today.

Is that revivals can be prayed down. We can have revival. And McLeod wrote the preface in this. And Lyle Eggleston wrote the little booklet about revivals that has happened in the last 90 years in our country.

And Lyle's put his finger on the heart of the problem regarding revival. Everybody's waiting for God to do something. And he's waiting for us to pray. And McLeod shared how God sent a revival to his church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan back in 1970s.

And it became known as the Great Canadian Revival. And many of you have probably heard about it. And teams went out all around the world to every province in Canada and every state in the Union. And to England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and all over.

People went because of this revival. But they ask, how did it begin? And on the human side, it began with much prayer, McLeod shared. A lot of prayer and preparation. He said that a considerable time before I started a special deacons meeting on Saturday night.

Following this, I began to emphasize prayer and prayer meetings. I told the people, miss the Sunday morning and evening meetings if you must. But don't miss the prayer meetings. Attendance, he said, went from 25 to over 100.

And then they began the prayer well. And people were encouraged to take 15 minute slots. And finally that was all filled up 24 hours a day. And they were praying. And they were praying after the meetings, Sunday evenings for a half hour.

And along with this, he preached on revival, he said. And the people were urged to search their hearts. And to ask God what was wrong inside of them. Then they had the Saterra brothers come in for a week and a half of meetings.

And that's when the revival started. And it spread. And it went a long time. And their building was packed with 300. And they had to move to another large church. And then it was filled. And they finally ended up in the city auditorium.

And that went for months and years. And has continued on. The spark of it has continued on. We gave God the glory for what he did, McLeod said. We cannot overlook the fact, though, that on the human side we did the preparation through intensive prayer.

Will you pray for revival for your area? Will you start with your own heart? Will you look at your heart? I'll look at mine. Is there a critical spirit? We just focused on one thing today. There's so many other areas.

But God will begin to work when we begin to pray. Well, our time's about gone. It's been good to be with you today. And I trust that this has been an encouragement to you. Let me again encourage you, if you haven't received Christ as your Savior, to do so.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave his all for you. He's all you need. Is he all you want? Well, next week I'm going to share a little bit more with you on revival. And maybe finish up with a few things on criticalness.

Until then, would you be praying for revival in our land? But would you ask God to start and cleanse your own heart, your own life? Until next time, I trust that God will richly bless you, my friend, and bring revival into your life.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.