Making Crooked Places Straight — E.A. Johnston

Backsliding, Conviction, and Revival

I was holding a men's meeting years ago, friends, in a church down south, and I was to have about 45 minutes with these men that late Saturday afternoon before they went home to their families. And the subject that I was preaching on was backsliding, and in that message I read off to those men 75 marks of a backslider.

And one by one, those men came under conviction of sin, and they forgot all about their dinner plans. And five hours later, we were still at that church on our faces before God and brokenness. And when I preached the next morning in the sanctuary, all hell broke loose as a little touch of revival fell on that congregation because the men of the church had gotten serious with God and made the crooked places straight in their lives so God could move through them.

Isaiah 45:2-3 and Making Crooked Places Straight

The title of my message today, friends, is Making Crooked Places Straight, and my text can be found in the book of Isaiah in chapter 45. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 2 and 3.

Let me read us this striking passage of scripture at this time. And it is my prayer that the Spirit of the Lord will be pleased to attend the reading of His holy word. I will go before Thee, and make the crooked places straight.

I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut and sunder the bars of iron. And I will give Thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that Thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which called Thee by Thy name, am the God of Israel.

I believe, friends, that if we could get our arms around this passage of scripture and allow its truths to penetrate our hearts and act upon them, I believe we would see revival. I don't think there's anything that could stop it, even all the demons in hell.

For when we get serious with God, and get serious about turning from our sins in repentance, and making the crooked places straight in our lives, then there is no limit to the blessings and power that can fall from heaven upon us.

Sin, Repentance, and the Hindrance to Revival

I believe the main hindrance to revival is you, friend. I don't care how good of an opinion you have about yourself, if you were really honest before God, and you asked Him to show it to you. I'm almost certain there is an area in your life that is crooked and bent out of shape by sin.

And before God can go to work in breaking pieces the gates of brass in your life that are holding you back, you must be made willing to make the crooked places straight through confession and repentance, and even restitution if necessary.

God won't reveal to you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places until you are right with Him, not from your perspective, friend, but from His vantage point in heaven. I believe if the church would only come to her senses, and awaken from her slumber, and confess her sins, and turn from her wicked ways, then a Holy Ghost revival would break out to such a degree that it could be said of Christians today, they are those who turned the world upside down.

Personal Holiness and Readiness for Christ's Return

How serious are you, friend, about your walk with God? How serious are you about wanting God to use you further in unexplainable ways? How serious are you, friend, about wanting to see revival in our time?

Then it's time to do business with God. The hour is late, friend. Very late. Just look at society all around us. Surely the Lord is on His way to get His bride. He's not going to come back for a dirty bride, friend.

We must get cleaned up. We must make the crooked places straight in our life. It's time to do business with God. It's time to ask the Holy Spirit to get out His pure white spotlight and shine it on our lives, on our public and private lives.

Becoming a Clean Vessel for Revival

I'm going to take the time now, friends, to read you that list I read those men those many years ago. And just maybe some of you would be like them, to be made well and to make the crooked places straight in your own life, friend, and straight so God can go to work in you, and by doing so make you a clean, empty vessel that He can flow through in rivers of mercy and grace.

Quiet yourself now, friends, before the Almighty, as I read you the 75 marks of a backslider. 1. Sin no longer shocks you. 2. The world possesses your heart. 3. You are bitter against another person. 4. You complain frequently and grumble about your circumstances in life.

Neglect of Scripture, Prayer, and Mission

5. You seldom read your Bible. 6. Seldom, if ever, do you pray, and if you do, they are selfish prayers centered around I, me, and us. 7. You care little for those around you perishing and going to hell.

8. You do not support mission endeavors, either with your time or with your finances. 9. Your time and your money are yours to do what you please and to please yourself. 10. The things of God hold little importance in your life.

11. Attending church is a bother. 12. Throughout the day, your focus is on everything but God. 13. You continue to repeat the same sins. 14. You have a habitual sin which you keep confessing, but you never get victory over.

Worldliness, Lust, and Loss of Spiritual Desire

15. You seldom pray for revival. 16. You are content with watered-down preaching. 17. Your conversation is filled with sports, with the world, with entertainment, but seldom do you ever speak of God or spiritual things.

18. You continue to have lustful thoughts. 19. You enjoy sexually stimulating entertainment. 20. You have no witness to the world that you are a saved individual. 21. You have ceased to pursue God like the heart after the brooks of water.

Abandoning Intimacy With God and the Pursuit of Holiness

22. You do not want to know God. 23. You do not want an intimate relationship with God. 24. Jesus is not your master. 25. You love your sins. 26. There is no delight in church worship. 27. You do not pursue holiness.

28. The most important things to you are your job and your family. 29. You are not moved to indignation with the wicked society around you. 30. You are given to fits of anger. 31. You have unforgiveness toward another.

Resentment, Worldliness, and Eternal Perspective

32. You resent certain individuals and they disturb your peace. 33. Someone has offended you, and you seethe when you see them. 34. You are comfortable in the world and its amusements. 35. You have little thoughts regarding eternity.

36. Things of an eternal nature do not grip you nor stir you. 37. You have no joy of the Lord. 38. You have a spirit of ingratitude. 39. You care little for advancing the kingdom of God. 40. You have a lack of love for God.

Pride, Hypocrisy, and Indifference to Spiritual Things

41. Self is king. You know nothing about the cross and the life of the believer. 42. Your mind is set upon material things. Your thoughts are occupied with things. 43. You are a very prideful person. 44. You tell lies.

45. You are a hypocrite. 46. You are envious of others. 47. You have no taste for spiritual things. 48. You are uncountable around real believers speaking about deeper things of God. 49. Religion is a chore to you.

50. You do not like to hear the word of God preached. 51. You have no interest in disciple making. 51. Your prayers are formal and without heat or heart. 52. You have dry eyes when you pray. 53. Your heart does not break over the lost condition of others.

Self-Rule, Coldness, and Resistance to God's Voice

54. It is all about you. 55. You have no desire to find out what is on God's heart. 56. You have no desire to go deeper with God. 57. Jesus is welcome as your Savior, but he is not welcome as your Lord.

58. Your heart has grown cold and callous toward spiritual things. 59. You seldom hear the voice of God. 60. You would rather play golf or any other hobby than read your Bible. 61. You have little conscience regarding sin in your life or around you.

Legalism, Pride, and Lack of Compassion

62. You are a legalist and a Pharisee. 63. You feel you are above others. 64. You are proud of your academic achievements and feel you are better than others because of them. 65. You have little concern over the plight of starving children in the world.

66. You have behaved badly toward another and you feel no remorse. 67. You are full of yourself. 68. You are dissatisfied with your life and you harbor resentment toward God. 69. You have hatred in your heart toward another.

Final Marks of Backsliding and the Call to Revival

70. Lust easily consumes you. 71. You like to boast and brag about what you have and what you've done. 72. You have an ungrateful heart toward God who saved you. 73. Your feet are quick to evil. 74. You feel that God does not hear your prayers.

75. You are insensitive to spiritual things. Dear friend, let us go to God and ask Him to make us willing to make the crooked places in our lives straight so we can be empty vessels, completely empty of ourselves, empty of the things that are hindering God to show us deep treasures in our lives so He can move in a powerful revival in a personal way and in a corporate way and in a national way in such a way that a spiritual awakening could come and shake this nation from coast to coast.

Let us pray.