Christian Growth — Gerhard Du Toit

Christian Growth and Revival Through Prayer

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I just want to say tonight it has been a wonderful privilege to be able to spend the last two evenings here with you. When the invitation came to my own inadequate life to be able to be here for last night and this evening, was there such a sense of agony in my own inadequate walk with God because I realized that what would happen is that I would come in at the tail end of a week in which you have sought the face of God and been waiting upon God and been exposed to some wonderful preaching and teaching.

And I took days just to wait upon God in prayer and fasting for these two nights and for the rest of this weekend. And I just want to thank you for allowing me to come. I have a great burden in my heart for the fellowships.

I think it was about six or seven years ago when I had the privilege of being here. And then the last number of years I have been able to be at a number of the fellowships. And every time when I have the privilege of being at one of the fellowships, I go away with a great sense of burden and a longing to pray that God will continue to work and to bless.

Never ever come to the place where you think we've got it together. Never ever come to the place where you think that we are something. John Wesley said that God, and George Whitefield said the same thing in a different way, that we need to trust God to move into every generation.

And I twice in my life have had the privilege of being in the midst of revival. And this movement was born out of the move of the Spirit of God. But God has been stirring my heart the last number of months as I have been thinking of the fellowships and the men's leadership and the Bible school coming up later in the year and other things that is taking place to challenge you tonight as a movement of God, to trust God to send revival.

Now, it's going to cost us absolutely everything. It's only going to come through prayer. Robert Murray McChain used to say, How can the Holy Spirit in me criticize the Holy Spirit in you? He was the man that used to say, So much of my time of praying is preparing myself to pray.

And I want to challenge you tonight to take this burden upon your heart and wherever you go from tomorrow or Monday or Sunday onwards to trust God to send revival. And what will happen if God will send revival?

Twenty minutes of an outpouring of the Spirit of God will do more for us and for our fellowships than years of the things that we've been able to try and do ourselves. And where does revival begin? Revival begins when you and I draw a circle around ourselves and we humble ourselves before God in that circle.

And we ask God to pour out His Spirit and conviction of sin and to begin to work in our hearts and our walks of him. We have some of the brothers that's going to give you out material. I want to speak to you tonight about Christian growth.

Prayer Before Studying Christian Growth

And it's a subject that's so close and so dear and near to my heart. And we're going to give you material that we want to systematically work through. But I also want us to spend some time in prayer before we do this.

So, I'm going to ask you to turn around and find two or three people and God has been doing some wonderful things in our hearts. And I want you to thank God for what He's been doing. And we're just going to take five minutes or so to pray together and then I will close in prayer.

And then we have some brothers that's going to pass out this material and we will turn to the Word of God. Why don't we turn around and we spend some time in prayer. You can go on your knees if you want.

And just let's take some time to pray. Our Heavenly Father, we want to thank Thee this evening for this very precious and wonderful week that Thou hast given unto us. We want to bow in Thy presence tonight, realizing afresh that Thou didst say to us in Thy Word, Humble Thyself under the mighty hand of God.

We want to thank Thee this evening that we recognize afresh and anew that the ministry of humbling ourselves is not just a discipline, but that You want it to become a disposition. And Father, how grateful are we at the very last night of these days that we have been together, that we have been exposed to the greatness of that which Thy Word has been about.

And yet, Father, we want to say to Thee this evening that in our hearts is there such a longing and a desire for more of God. We are reminded again that Thou didst say to us that I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and I will pour floods upon the dry ground.

We are reminded that the Lord Jesus said unto us, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And this evening as we come into Thy presence again and again, as we have been doing it this day, do we pray that once more as we open our hearts before Thee that Thou would come by Thy Spirit and minister to us.

Father, we want to pray tonight that that which we have been exposed to during the hours of this week, all the teaching that has come to our hearts and to our lives, as we go back to our fellowships in the coming days, and as we will meet with You in the early hours of the morning, and as the Word of God will wash again and again through the inadequacy of our lives, we want to pray tonight that the Spirit of God will come and witness to the Word again and again.

Lord, we confess tonight that You have said to us in Your Word, it is not by might, it is not by power, but it is by My Spirit, sayeth the Lord. We want to pray that the truth that has been coming to our hearts, that has been settling into our walks with You, our God and our Father, we pray this evening that somehow by Thy Spirit that Thou would come and so deeply fertilize this Word, so that it will be able to bring forth the fruit in our lives that we long for in the days to come.

Father, we want to pray tonight for those in the fellowships all over the land and the country that has not been able to be with us during this Leadership Week. We want to pray for the brothers who would have longed to be in these sessions day after day.

God, we pray this evening that as they listen to the tapes, and as they listen to the CDs, and as they perceive our walks that has been here, Father, we pray tonight in Jesus' name that that which You have been saying and doing during the hours of this week, that somehow that it will flow into every one of the fellowships.

We want to pray this evening for our mothers, the mothers of our children, the wives that God has entrusted to us. Lord, I am so concerned and afraid of the fellowships that there will come a time that we would think in our hearts, we've got this all together, that there will come criticism in our relationships with God, that we will begin to think that we are better than others.

God, we know this night that what we long for is an outpouring of the Spirit of God. And tonight we want to commit ourselves to You as fellowships and as a movement that You have risen up. And Father, of a movement that has been blessed of God, we ask that in the days to come that Thou would visit us with revival.

Father, You said in the midst of the years, revive Thy work again. And this evening we pray that You will create the hunger and the thirst and the longing and the desire that You would pour out upon us Your Spirit again.

We ask that You will not allow us to ever become satisfied. We ask that You will never allow us to become stuck in our ways. But God, we pray that times of refreshing will come from the presence of God on a consistent basis.

And Father, we ask that as we turn to this great subject of Christian growth this evening, we pray that the unction of the Spirit of God will come to rest upon the word again. We say with the old Puritans of old again this Friday night to Thee, our God, that we do not just want to be informed with the reality of what Scripture is about, but that we long to be inflamed with the reality of the life of God.

And we ask that we would be like those disciples on the way to Emmaus that when You expound to them the Law and the Prophets and the Writings, and Lord Jesus, when You departed out of their presence, that they were able to say to one another, did not our hearts burn within us when He spoke to us in the way, Lord, You know tonight there is such a burden in my heart that our fellowships will become, that these fellowships will become houses of prayer, that they will not be a mile wide and an inch deep, but that the leadership will become men sanctified in meat for the Master's use.

And we ask tonight that God in the days to come, upon fellowship after fellowship, will pour out His Spirit. Lord, how wonderful it will be if we would be able to be in touch with one another and to say, brother, have you heard that God has poured out His Spirit in South Dakota, God has poured out His Spirit in Manitoba, God has poured out His Spirit in Charity, God has poured out His Spirit in Tennessee, in North Carolina, in Texas, in different places all over our land.

And so tonight we ask Thee that Thou would send us revival in the midst of the years. We thank Thee tonight for Thy precious Word that Thou hast given unto us. Lord, we want to submit under the authority of Scripture.

We want it to burn into every aspect of our relationships with You. And we ask that it will become part of our lives. And we pray that in the days to come, as we move in our different ways and to our different places, that You will give us a passion to memorize Your Word, and that the Word of God will burn into every aspect of our relationships with You.

We thank Thee tonight for the place of prayer. God, we are so grateful this Friday night that You do not necessarily answer prayer because we are praying. We thank Thee tonight that You do not answer prayer, that You are not obliged to answer our prayers.

But O God our Father, we thank Thee that You answer prayer because You are a covenant-keeping God. And Lord, it breaks our hearts to realize that You have said unto us in Your Word that this is the confidence that we have, that if we ask anything according to Your will that You hear of us, and if we know that You hear of us, we know that we are the petitions of those things that we are asking of You.

You have said unto us the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man. Avail of much, Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed that he would not rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

Father, Thy Word said that there was no rain. Tonight we pray that You will make us a people of prayer. Lord, we say to Thee again this evening, if You will ever visit us afresh with a great outpouring of the Spirit of God and revival, that it is going to come through redemptive praying.

So tonight we pray that You will pour out upon us a spirit of prayer, a spirit of prayer and fasting. Father, Thou didst say to us in Thy Word that this kind can only go out by prayer and fasting. We know tonight that the state of this land is such that God will only be able to move because of prayer and fasting and the hearts of the people of God.

So tonight we pray that we would become houses of prayer. That the brothers that have been with us this week, as they were exposed to the Word of God, we ask that their bodies will become houses of prayer.

That in our relationship with our wives, precious as they are, that those relationships will become houses of prayer. That in our family worship at home, that it will become houses of prayer. And that, Father, in our groups or in our Sunday worship times, that our places of worship will become houses of prayer.

So tonight we pray that Thou would do this in the greatness of Thy mercy and in the midst of the years that Thou would have mercy upon Thy people. And, Father, Thy Word is said unto us that we do not have a high priest that cannot be filled with the feeling of our infirmities, but that we were stinted in all points like as we are.

But, Father, we have a high priest that we can come. And You said unto us, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. So this evening we come to ask that in the days to come that these men that has been here this week, that they will become intoxicated with the greatness of the presence of God.

We ask that they will become saturated with the washing of the Word. We ask this night that they will be baptized in a spirit of brokenness and that You will pour out upon them a great spirit of prayer so that we would become a praying people.

We bless Thee this evening that Thou wouldst look upon us, that Thou wouldst remember us, that Thou wouldst be able to visit us as Thy people in Jesus' name. Amen. There are some of the brothers who are just going to come forward and give unto you some material that we would like you to have.

2 Peter 3 and the Call to Grow in Grace

And then what we would like you to do is to turn with us in your Bible this evening and we are going to read from 2 Peter 3. The other thing that we would like to ask you, that the children 14 and under, because we don't have enough of the sheets available, so if you are 14 and up, we ask you to take one of those sheets and they are going to pass the sheets out.

And then I want you to turn with me in your Bible to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. And we are going to read the whole chapter because they are still giving out the material. 2 Peter 3. The second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished.

But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as this one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slack, but is longsuffering to us who are not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a fief, and the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved.

What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and in godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless, in an account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking unto them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye, also being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, to Him be glory both now and forever.

Amen.". It is amazing, you know, when you and I begin to study the life and the ministry of the Apostle Peter in the New Testament, specifically in the 89 chapters of the four Gospels, and the first 12 chapters are the Acts of the Apostles, and then in the epistles that God has given unto us through the Apostle Peter, that you will discover that from the moment that he was invited and challenged to become a follower of the Lord Jesus, and he was not just challenged to become a follower, but he was also instructed as he sat under the ministry of Christ for three or three and a half years or so, but he was also inspired by the life of the Lord Jesus.

And if you study the life of the Apostle Peter, you will discover that if there was one word that dominated the life of this man, then it is the word growth that took place in his relationship with the Lord Jesus.

I so often have looked upon the life of Peter, and I have asked myself the question, why is it in the New Testament that there are such vivid examples of the development of character in the life of the Apostle Peter?

One of the reasons is that you will discover that he was such an impulsive individual. He was one of those privileged free that so often found themselves alone in the presence of the Lord Jesus. When the Bible is saying unto us in Luke 11, that Jesus was praying at a certain place, and as He was praying, that one of His disciples came to Him and asked Him and said, Lord, teach us to pray, I often look at that passage and I would say to myself, if I would ever be allowed to wonder which one of the disciples that was, I suspect that it was probably the Apostle Peter.

Christian Growth From Truth to Experience

I want to speak to you tonight about Christian growth. I want us to look upon this marvelous subject because, my brothers and sisters, what has happened to us is that we are sat in this week, and we have been exposed to the wonders of the Word of God.

And the secret of the Christian life is that God does not want you to grow or rather to go from experience to truth. But the secret of a Christian life is that God wants you to grow or rather to go from truth to experience.

You see, that's the secret of biblical interpretation. Because if you are going to go from experience to truth, you will find the possibility that you will interpret Scripture in the light of experience.

And there is the possibility that you will isolate the Word of God instead of allowing the Word of God to wash through every aspect of your relationship with God. When you and I would study this subject of growth in the Scriptures, you will find out that the Bible is speaking to us about growth in a number of different ways.

The Bible is speaking to us about growth in the botanical sense of the word when we read about seed in the Word of God. And as we look upon that seed, we discover that when the seed is planted that it becomes a little plant in a tree that is bringing forth fruit eventually.

The Bible is speaking to us about growth in the physiological sense of the word when we read about a newborn babe and we discover how this child is growing up into adulthood and eventually became a man or a woman of God.

The Bible is speaking to us about growth in an architectural sense of the word when we read about the foundation of the building that found itself being erected. I want us to look upon Christian growth.

You see, the Apostle Peter was a family man. That's why he's saying to us in 1 Peter 2, that as young born babes desire to the sincere milk of the Word of God so that you may grow thereby. He's using terms to try and explain to us what growth is all about.

He's speaking to us about adding unto your faith. He's using the word multiplying. But in 2 Peter 3, he's coming unto us this evening and he's saying unto us, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Downward, Upward, and Outward Directions of Growth

I want this evening for us to look at what I would refer to as the dynamics of Christian growth. If time would allow us, it would have been marvelous this night to spend an hour or two on the direction of Christian growth.

You say, Brother Gerard, what is the direction of Christian growth? You see, the Apostle Peter is saying unto us, he did not say to us, grow into grace, but he's saying unto us, grow in grace. You see, growing in grace, so the grace of God is not only the unmerited favor of God towards us, but brethren and sisters, the grace of God is also the unmeasured fullness of God in us.

And when you and I look upon this direction of growing in grace, you will discover that it is a downward growth in my capacity to receive the fullness of God. It is an upward growth in my capacity so that I would be able to perceive the fullness of God.

And my brother and my sister, the combination between this downward growth in grace and this upward growth in grace bring me to the place where it becomes an outward growth in my capacity to release the fullness of God.

I wonder this Friday night, if I may ask you in this gathering, as these men who have been with us this week, my brethren, would I be able to ask you tonight, are you going back to your homes and you are going to grow in the grace of God?

You say, how do I grow downward in my relationship with God? My brothers and my sisters, God needs to come and put the sentence of death upon the self-life. And I wonder if you sit here tonight and if I can ask you this evening, because the reason why we have come together this week is not just to be exposed to some of the great wonders of what God and His Word is about, but the reason why we have come together is because we want God to meet with us.

And if you sit here this Friday night as a man, as a husband and as a father, and you have come to be at the leadership this week, and you have not met with God, my brother, I want to challenge you tonight.

You can't leave this leadership conference without being able to say that God and His Spirit has met with me in my relationship with God. You say, well, Brother Gerard, it's a downward growth. You see, the way up is the way down.

J .C. Ryle used to say, if I want to reach high, he said I need to begin low. I will never be able not to remember this, because a number of years ago, a friend of mine in whom I have an accountability relationship, you say, what is an accountability relationship?

It's a relationship where we met with one another once a week. And we would spend two or three hours together. And I put together 20 questions that we would ask one another. And the first one was, where are you in your relationship with God?

And we will talk about our quiet times and the things that God has been saying unto us. And then we would ask one another, what is the areas of your life that you are struggling with? And we will discuss it and we will pray about that.

And I remember at the end of the year, I phoned him one day and I said, you know, we've had some great times together this year. And I said, the year is coming to an end. And I said, can you and I just meet one day for lunch?

And we just looked back over the year, and we talked about it. And as we came out of this restaurant, we were standing there looking at one another. And he turned to me that day as we were talking, and he just challenged me in my own relationship with God.

And as he looked at me, he said to me, Brother Gerard, he said, what was the greatest hindrance in your ministry this last year? And I am so afraid of this word, my ministry. I don't know if we've got a ministry.

We have the privilege of being involved in the greatness of the work of God. And as he asked me that question that day, it was the last time at the end of that year, that somehow he took out the sword and he pierced it once more into my heart.

And as he pierced it into my heart, something deep within my soul began to break. And I turned to him and I began to weep like a child. And he turned to me and said to me, Brother Gerard, he said, did I hurt you?

And I said, yes, John. And I said, you've really hurt me. And he said, I'm sorry, Brother Gerard. And I said, no, you don't understand. Oswald Chambers said, if you are hurt, there is an area in the self where God wants to do something.

Do you know what happened? He looked at me and he said, I want you to look me in the eyes. And I could hardly do that. And he said, he's a Mennonite. You say, what did he do? He put that sword and he turned it in.

And he put it afresh in and he turned it into my being. And as I looked into his eyes, he said, what was the greatest hindrance in your ministry this last year? And when I got myself together, I looked him in the eyes and I said, Brother John, you know what it was?

And he said, what? I said, it was me. He said, what do you mean? I said, if I could have just got more out of the way. I wonder tonight if I can ask you here as a husband, my brother, are you in that downward growth?

You see, there is the birth of the vision, there is the death of the vision, there is the resurrection of the vision. Now listen, brother and sister, the problem with our country tonight is there is a backlog of unconfessed sin.

And you can't rededicate to God that which has never been dedicated. And I want to ask you tonight, because this is our last night. You see, I've seen through the years and many of his leadership weeks, not necessarily here, but in places where I find myself, that it is so possible that there are some of us, and you know what we are like?

We are just like the dark of the blacksmith. That when the man walked into the blacksmith shop, the dark was sleeping under the table. The noise was unbelievable. The sparks were flying. And the man turned to the blacksmith and he said, why is this dark asleep like that?

And the blacksmith said to him, he said, you don't realize, this is my dark. He said, the first day in the shop, he said, I couldn't get him into this place. But he said every day he came closer and closer.

And he said the sparks were flying and the noise. And then the blacksmith laughed. And he pointed to the dark who was sleeping at the table. He said, you know what has happened? He said, my dark has got used to the sparks.

Can I ask you this Friday night, have you met with God? He said, what is it? It's a downward growth. It's a downward growth in my capacity so that I can receive the fullness of God. That's why in Romans 6, the Apostle Paul made this statement.

What did he say? He said, knowing this therefore, that our old man is crucified with Him. Why did he say that? He said, so that the body of sin might be destroyed. You see, where does Paul come with this concept?

He's speaking that out to the Roman government of that day, my brother and sister. Where did he get that from? I can tell you where he got it from. Because in the times of the Romans, when someone was guilty of committing a murder and they found this dead body, now they were looking for the murderer.

And there was a day that they find the murderer and they are keeping this body. And when they found the murderer and they have got this dead corpse, they are tying the two, one to the other, and they take this murderer with his dead body and they throw him out of the city.

That's the way he's going to die. And the Apostle Paul came and do you know what he said? He said, knowing this therefore, that our old man is crucified with Him. Why? So that the body of sin might be destroyed.

Can I ask you this Friday night? Has God dealt with sin in your life? My brother and my sister, are we still afraid of sin? It's a downward growth, you see. That's why the Apostle Paul is saying to us in 2 Corinthians 6, he's saying unto us, Come ye out from among them and be ye separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.

And you see, I think it's possible this Friday night that there are many of us who sit here and you say, I'm really separated from this world. But my brother and sister, can I ask you tonight, do you really know what it means to be separated unto God?

The Apostle Paul came and what did he say? He said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Do you know what Paul said?

And I love this word. In fact, in my own quiet times in these days, I'm listening through the Greek New Testament on a CD with my little Greek New Testament. And it's so precious because I love his Scriptures.

And I was looking at this word, reasonable. Do you know what the Apostle Paul said? He said, this is your reasonable service. Do you know what he said? It's in the light of your understanding of the mercies of God.

He said, I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God. And when you come to grips with the mercies of God, when this just becomes reasonable, you don't have an option. Let me ask you tonight, have you presented your body as a living sacrifice to God?

I was so broken up, and I guess this young fellow didn't realize that. But before the service started tonight, there was a young tall lad that came to me and we were just talking away. And I said, what's your name?

And we got talking. And I began to ask him some questions about this walk with God. And as we were talking, I said, listen, how old are you? And he said, I'm 20 years old. And my heart is broke. Because I look at my own life.

I'll be 50 in May of this year. Some days I feel like an old man at 70 years old. I mean, the work of God takes absolutely everything from you. If you can't follow God with all your heart, don't follow Him.

But I look at that young 20-year-old life and I just felt in my heart if I could take him and just say to him, listen, you've got one life to live. Live it for Christ. Let me ask you this Friday night, is your life on the altar for God?

I don't think you will appreciate me sharing this testimony, but I want you to get the message of it. When I was in my homeland of Africa, I was a chaplain. I didn't want to do it, but it was the law of the land.

There was a war situation going on. Communistically inspired terrorists were coming into my country. Three months every second year, I had to preach to these young lads that were facing death. And because I was a chaplain, I could go wherever I want to go.

And I would hear sometimes two or three o 'clock in the morning, I would hear these Bedford trucks coming in. And as they were coming back to the base, and then what happened, they killed these communistically inspired terrorists in combat.

And they would take their bodies and throw them in the back of these Bedford trucks. And then they would bring them into the hospital. And these young surgeons and doctors would be there and they were doing autopsy on the bodies.

And because of what I did, I was allowed to go wherever I want. And there were times that three o 'clock in the morning, I would stand next to an operation table and here is the body of a communistically inspired terrorist lying on this table.

And these young surgeons would come and they would cut this body open. And they would cut the stomach open. And as I would stand there and look at that, and when they opened the stomach, and they opened it up and there was green stuff in these stomachs.

And I would stand there and I would say to them, what is this? And they would turn to me and they would say, Padre, you don't understand. I said, what is it? They said, it's a drug. I said, why is it?