Encounter With God - Session 4 — Greg Frizzell

I tell you what, I'm going to miss you folks. I really am. The love of the Lord in this place is incredible. And I keep thinking about the ministry God has called you to. And obviously this is kind of a... can be a tough area, a lot of strongholds in this area.

But you know to whom much is given much is required and to me that's a great compliment to you that God's raised you up in a place where you desperately need churches. And so no telling what His future is and I'm just so excited for where I see you.

And again across this country when I see churches going where you're going in prayer it isn't long until they hardly recognize themselves often because of the growth they've had. So I'm honored to be with you and this final service really is a special service.

It's kind of like a turning point. It's kind of like pulling everything together so that you have something that kind of to drive a peg in the ground so that really you can be totally different in the days ahead.

The Promise of the Father and a Turning Point in Prayer

But I'm going to ask you to take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 1 and verse 4. And while you're finding that passage I want to give you kind of a testimony of God's greatness. And I really need to stress this.

Remember if God has convicted you about anything that we've talked about or if He does tonight and He might, remember He's never doing that to condemn you. The enemy is the one that is your accuser. He's the one that likes to beat you up and put you down.

The past is past. God is stamped justified on your forehead. He's stamped accepted on you by the blood of Christ and we have every reason to rejoice and be hopeful. But now here's the funny story I want to tell you.

I'm convinced God has a sense of humor. Partly because He called me to preach and I'm not a speaker. But He did something really great but also humorous with my marriage. When I was 22 years of age God gave me a promise that I would have a godly wife one day.

But it was kind of ominous the way He said one day. Like I was going to have to wait a long time. And so I went to my first church out of seminary as a single minister. That's unusual to begin with. And you know you've heard of churches that have a pastor's search committee.

Well our church had the most dedicated pastor's wife search committee you've ever seen in your life. Now there were five women on that thing and they weren't elected but they may as well have been. That was the most dedicated bunch I've ever seen.

Miss Minnie Parsons was the chair lady of the pastor's wife search committee. And every Sunday of the world two things were going to happen. Number one I was going to face the pastor's wife search committee.

And they were going to say we prayed another week. Have you met anybody yet? Folks for 13 years I had to tell them nothing nobody not even a cloud the size of a man's hand on the horizon. I mean it was nothing you know.

And the next thing that was going to happen somebody always had a word from God. Yes sir they had a granddaughter or a daughter but it never was right. So at the 13 year mark the pastor's wife search committee said okay we're desperate.

I thought you're desperate. And this is funny but it's so beautiful it illustrates what we've been talking about. They said we're going to start fasting and praying together. I said knock yourself out try anything you know.

But here's what they said. We're going to pray that someone out there will take time to really listen to God. And so that's what they prayed that someone out there because they said she's obviously not in this church.

We've tried everything. So they said somebody's going to hear God and know to introduce you to your wife to be. Now I'll tell you what God did. There was a pastor in 40 days of prayer. He lived on the other side of Memphis and he'd been he'd done something he'd never done.

He'd take the last 15 minutes of his prayer time and he would get very quiet and he'd say Lord I want to learn to hear your voice better. And he thought he barely knew me. He knew I was a pastor on the other side of the city and he thought I was married.

He really thought I was married. But when he asked God to speak to him he said Greg your name started coming to my mind like neon lights that I was supposed to introduce you to my sister-in-law who it was 38 at that time who when she was 22 God told her to die to marriage and children to serve him only.

And that's tough. But he told her to do that and she did. But he told her later I'm gonna let you have a husband it's going to be a long time. Well he kept getting this thought to introduce me. He thought I was a married pastor.

I'm not going to introduce my sister-in-law to a married pastor. And every day he would say God do you have anything to say to me and my name would come to his mind. He thought he was going crazy. He couldn't he couldn't believe he thought the devil was interfering with his thoughts.

It got so strong he finally called the church. He said your pastor is married isn't he? They said he is the only pastor in West Tennessee that's never been married. He said a hair stood on the back of his neck.

He said I've been hearing God. I'm glad he didn't tell me the whole story it just scared me to death. But he said would you take my sister-in-law to lunch I thought oh I've heard that before. I thought well yeah I'll take her to lunch I thought what harm can it do.

Folks within one month we knew beyond any shadow of doubt God had moved heaven and earth. Our paths would have never crossed in a million years and we were married a year later. Talk about a big event in the church.

And it was just so miraculous how God did it. Now God doesn't always work that way but friends when we wait on him and there were a lot of times it would have been easy to go ahead and get involved with someone but you know God has a perfect plan and sometimes it's later than we think and he's got a sense of humor so let him learn to let him speak to your heart.

He's got a solution and it's himself. It came to a point where it was okay if I never got married and that's what he did in my wife and that's what he's really after that he be more to you than anything then he can do a lot of things in your life.

I hope you got a kick out of that. But God is a great God is a merciful God. And so in this passage tonight we're going to see what God wants to do in us as individuals and as a church and you know we're going to pray before we read the word of God.

So let's bow together Father thank you that your grace is greater than all of our sin and weakness. Oh God thank you. You want us to know you so intimately father you want to use us so mightily father help us not to sell ourselves short and oh father tonight get me out of the way that God we may hear you and Lord come to a turning point tonight help us Lord to truly let you take us where you want to take us father thank you for your mercy you never father speak to us and changes cleanse us God let it be a turning point for we ask it in Jesus name I'm in well Acts chapter 1 verse 4 really describes the power he wants us to have and he says being assembled together with him he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the father and then that word wait didn't go sit mean sit and twiddle your thumbs or eat it meant go pray.

It was an expectant word go expectantly pray for the promise of the father which he said you've heard from me and here was the promise John truly baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

That was incredible because look at verse 8 what that was going to look like and if you if you're saved he lives inside you you were baptized into his body. But look at verse 8 he says you're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit's come upon you now that word power in a Greek text is a word called dunamis.

It's a word we get dynamite from God was literally saying you are going to become spiritual dynamite now did you look in the mirror this morning and say praise God I'm spiritual dynamite probably didn't do that but you know the truth is dynamite lives in his people.

But the truth is it's not really showing up much in many cases. So what's holding back the power. But look at what he said he said you're going to be witnesses to me right here in Jerusalem. Now do you remember what they've been doing up to this point.

The early church had been hiding. They were scared to death. The Romans wanted to hang them on a cross and they meant business. So they've been hiding. They didn't have much boldness. They believed in the resurrected Christ.

They'd seen him but they still didn't know how to reach their world. And so he said you're going to be so empowered. You're going to walk right up to those Romans right up to those Jews. And you're going to tell them about Jesus.

And the whole world is going to be turned upside down. But credible power. They were going to lose their fear and they were going to lose their lack of power. Well we need that today. Don't we. But he said something else he didn't say.

It's going to be a miracle by the minute and goose bump by the hour. He said many of you are going to die. He said many of you are going to be tortured. And they were. But you know what. They turned the world upside down.

And it wasn't long after that old Peter preached and terrible sermon but the power of God was only three thousand people got baptized in one day. And not long after that the Bible says that their enemies said here comes those people that are turning the world upside down.

Wouldn't that be wonderful in Petaluma to have them saying that about this church that are turning the whole world upside down. Well folks that same God lives in us and that same God is doing that right now in India and in China right now.

Well where is he. Well he's beginning to work here. He really is. You're headed right where this is going. But we have to ask the question what's the secret to the full power. I mean the flood the great revivals of history.

How could that come to Petaluma. And it could. I'll tell you I'm so encouraged for you the way these pastors begin to pray together that is God at work the way your Friday night group is beginning to pray together.

Listen that's God at work. And that is exactly how he brings the power. If you're not in that group yet I'd encourage you to be because it'll revolutionize your life. It really will. But where does he take us from.

Kind of where we are seeing some blessing some growth to the explosion in our own life. And in our church there's a little principle here that we have to get. And that's what we're going to try to get tonight.

It is the turning point. They not only prayed in that 10-day prayer meeting we know they spent 10 days praying fervently praying together praying united for the outpouring of the Spirit of God. And it came.

But there was something else that happened that was the key to the whole thing. And it really is the missing element that takes us from here to here. And the missing element is total surrender of our heart to his lordship.

You say well does it say that in that verse. Doesn't say it but it certainly shows it. Because you see they had to decide in that 10 days. Are we ready to walk out there and stop hiding and walk up to the Romans and up to the Jews.

And some of us get killed. They had to decide that and that's what they decided in that 10 days. And we see that throughout all history when God's people come to a place saying Lord I want to give you everything.

It's then that God can feel the sacrifice. It's then that he can fill you with what the Bible calls that mighty rushing river. But the problem is we're very good at not surrendering everything and don't be intimidated by everything.

Well I can't do that. I'm not strong enough to do that. None of us are strong enough. But tonight if we'll be saying God I want to be willing he'll take you there. It's his grace. He'll help you to do this.

Now there's another passage that is the secret of God just doing incredible things is 2nd Corinthians 7 1. 2nd Corinthians 7 1 and in a moment I'm going to give you another testimony about a hopeless church in Memphis and a hopeless little preacher me that God just did some wonderful things through.

But it happened because of this verse. And this is exactly what he's saying to a church right now. There's a great revival going on in Louisiana right now. I mean the real thing. It's incredible. A whole town has been revolutionized.

It's just incredible. And it happened by this verse. We're about to read 2nd Corinthians 7 1. The Word of God says having therefore did I say chronicles a minute ago. Okay. In 2nd Corinthians 7 1 the Word of God says having therefore beloved these promises.

And the promises were Christ in us the grace of God. Having these promises beloved. Let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. So can you cleanse yourself of the filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Well it says it. But of course we have to understand what he meant by that. He's not saying in our strength. He's not saying by our our strong will. But he is saying it's all the grace of God. But he's saying you and I have to make a choice.

He's saying we have to want to be yielded and clean. So he says having cleansed ourselves of all filthiness and that's a that's a whole life process. We're all the work in progress. He says let us he says literally cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

Then he says perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now here's what's happened in modern America. We're pretty good at asking God for things and we're pretty good at doing a little surface surrender at the top.

But when he says filthiness of the flesh and spirit that gets different. The flesh is things we look at things we say things we do that we know we need to yield to God. But the spirit that's a whole different matter.

That's letting God go down into the attitudes. You know maybe the the complaining that gets a hold of us going down into the anxieties that really get a grip on us going down into the jealousies going down into that to that bitterness that kind of gets lodged deep down.

And he's saying I want even that now don't panic he'll help you do this. But he's saying we have to really be willing to open up and you know it's just like going to a surgeon. If you were to go to a surgeon and say I want you to really change my heart.

I want you to give me heart surgery. But then about halfway when he came to the anesthetics oh I'm not going to do that and I don't really want you to cut me. You know you wouldn't get your heart fixed.

So he's saying I want to go all the way down into the very attitudes and he's going to help you do it. And this is the turning point. It really is has to be deep but we have to want it and he'll help.

You want it tonight. And so I want to give you the testimony. Now the church I believe will encourage you. And by the way you know better than to pray for experience. Don't you. That's an awful lot like praying for patience.

Be careful when you pray I know him better right out of seminaries. Oh God give me experience. What did he ever write. When I was they were dealing with me with church in Memphis. I was going as associate pastor minister of evangelism first church out of seminary and turned on the six o 'clock news.

And there was that church on TV. Six o 'clock news first of the news. But it wasn't a publicity campaign. They were leading a woman out of that church in handcuffs said she had sexually molested little children in the daycare.

This was 1984. You hadn't even hardly ever heard of such a thing in 1984. Now the church I'm about to go to is the biggest horror most horrible scandal in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention.

I was terrified and it was on the news. Of course the first 10 minutes was all about that. You know how the media is. And so it was just unbelievable and I was I was scared to death. But they called and they said we killed.

They said we're devastated. We can't call a staff member with all this going on to be honest with you I thought I'm glad you can't. I didn't want to go but it was just getting worse by the day. The allegations were awful.

But they called back in about a month and they said you know we're just devastated. But you know we still think you're supposed to pray about coming. Would you pray about coming. I said oh yes I'll pray about it.

I thought I'm not going but I prayed about it and God said you're going. Well I went. I hadn't been there six weeks. That thing blew up like an atomic bomb. They arrested the pastor of the same charges only a lot worse now.

They said he was baptizing children in the name of Satan in the church Baptist Street six o 'clock news every day. They arrested two other people. Now I'm right in the middle of this. Oh guess what. The church was also divided right down the middle and they forgot to tell me that on top of everything else it was in the most gang infested area of Memphis and Memphis is a wicked city in terms of violent crime.

This church is right in the middle of that the only major business there big factory moved out and the gangs totally took over the area and the legal bills quickly shot to three million dollars 1984 dollars.

This church was about 300 on Sunday morning with a big building debt. It was absolutely the worst thing that's ever happened. And that's not my opinion. History professors said never has anything like this happened in the history of our convention.

Probably in the other convention and still hadn't. It was hopeless. And now it really gets bad. It's bad enough isn't it. Within six months I'm now their pastor kid with no experience right out of seminary.

This battle went on for five solid years. I'm not exaggerating one iota for five years that church was on the six o 'clock news about two or three nights a week and they you know how they are. They give the same allegations show the pastor out of the chair handcuffs devil worship all that.

Now what chance do you think that church has of even surviving much less thriving. Well it had none. Now I was young and I hadn't had Lyme disease at that point had all kinds of energy. We did every strategy we could get our hands on and God in his mercy blessed a little.

But that church was going to die. How could it not die. But then God brought me to this passage I just shared with you and I was so whipped and folks I could put on a show but I was whipped. I was beat.

Maybe some of you feel that way. You're just hurting. I mean you're tired you're burned out. You've done everything you know to do and you haven't seen the miracles in your life. That's exactly where I was.

I was moaning and groaning. I was about to quit and I said oh Lord we'd start a prayer ministry. You know we'd done everything we could do and it got so bad. We even last thing we did before God showed me this and this will apply to your life believe me.

And by the way don't you feel good about problems you might have in your life right now. Hey your church is doing great isn't it. Hey folks it don't get too bad for God. What I'm about to tell you is how God took that hopeless mess and turned into global publishing ministry and a multi-state radio.

God I didn't have anything to do with it. God did it but through the people did what you're doing on Friday night. So I'm excited about where you're headed. Well right. But it got so bad. I said folks if we don't if we don't reach some people gonna die.

And so I said let's go to 10 ,000 households. That's a lot of households door to door in six weeks. And those precious little people they did it in August in Memphis it was hot. It went to 10 ,000 people in six weeks just to try to tell them about Jesus.

And folks after visiting 10 ,000 people not one person visited that church after that. That's it. Okay. That's it. It's over. I'm quitting I'm leaving it. I've done all we can do. God said 2nd 2nd Corinthians 7 1 you haven't let me search your heart all the way to the bottom now I had a pretty good little quiet time and I'd gone through some of those cleansing lists.

God was saying you just think you've let me search you you really hadn't. And then he showed me the list that came out of returning to holiness those scriptures. And he took me on a journey and he said let me take you all the way the bottom.

He started showing me sell a lot of selfish motives I had. I was more worried about my comfort than than God's kingdom. And he showed me some some people I really said I'd forgiven it but I really hadn't because I've been hurt really bad during that five years.

And you know I'd say I'd let it go but deep down God showed me you really hadn't let it go. And God showed me some people that I'd kind of hurt their feelings and I kind of glossed over it. And God started showing me a lot of things that I thought were little especially a spirit of complaining.

I kind of had a complaining spirit and didn't realize it. And God showed me this is really grieving my spirit. And he's not talking about us being perfect but he's talking about us just getting totally honest and and letting him start working on the stuff down in our attitudes.

And he said you hadn't really done that. And when God got through me with that seven weeks folks the church was worse than ever. It was a mess but there was a supernatural joy that came and it just they people could tell it.

That's what do you know that we don't know. Do you know something's coming. But it was just the presence of God. Then I asked them to do the same thing I told me you got to really do it and mean it. You can't just read read these scriptures.

You've got to really let him search your heart and get totally honest with him. And some of them did that course all 300 said they'd do it. You know how that goes. But about 25 out of 30 really did it.

That's all God needs. He doesn't need a whole crowd just a few what you got on Friday nights enough to see God begin to move mightily when it when it goes deep and he just go in there. I'll tell you what God did when we really embrace this cleansing.

That's what we're going to kind of experience tonight. I'm going to take you through just a few little things to help you come to a turning point if you're not already there. And when they did this his presence became about 10 times more real to all of us than he'd ever been.

And we'd seen him do some pretty good things. But boy just got so much more real. And that's when people started seeing their kids turn around and and and sometimes that takes years and don't be condemned if you hadn't seen that sometimes they're just mysteries.

But it's so beautiful. What began to happen. Let me illustrate this for you the difference that it made now we had a prayer ministry and we had even a little prayer meeting going on but we weren't seeing the mighty power of God.

But when they embrace the deep total total cleansing of the heart on a whole new level. This was so funny. We'd gone to 10 ,000 people and not one person visited the church and we were gonna die and so.

But as they prayed together they got a promise from God and the promise was pray the Lord of the harvest that he'll send forth labors in the church. So I said you mean Lord you want us just to ask you to miraculously send people to join this church.

Now who's gonna join a church with all that on the six o 'clock news they wouldn't even come in on the property much less join the church. But guess what happened when that group got their hearts really clean and started praying together like that some of them started seeing their kids get touched and their husbands get touched.

But another thing happened. They got that promise that asked God to send people and nothing happened for a month. But one month later after that prayer group started and got serious. I walked out on a Sunday morning.

I got done for five years and there were 35 new faces sitting out in that congregation. That's a lot in a church of 300 or less. You know what I thought. And I'm not kidding you the only people visited our church for the first five years and I'm not kidding was the FBI and the news media.

I'm not kidding. I saw those faces. It scared me. I thought what are all these news people doing here. I couldn't believe it was just people. We'd never seen that. But folks when the invitation came in seven people walked down the aisle.

I sat a practice. I didn't know what to say to them. I asked why are you coming. I couldn't believe it. You know what do you want. You know I'm not kidding. I was almost didn't know what to say to them.

And about three of them said we don't know. I said what do you mean. You don't know. Baptists don't do that. You know. And they said we just felt led of God to come visit this church. That's in all this trouble.

And now God's telling us to join this church. Seven of them joined the first Sunday. Next Sunday came five more next thing come four or five more. And within about six weeks about thirty five new people had joined that church and they were from all kinds.

Wasn't a big church split and a bunch of people coming. You know it was from different churches that God just told people go to that church in all that trouble. And then he told them to join it. And they were boy.

They were godly people. Some of them were deacons and teachers. But it gets even far better. We had a list of sixty lost people we'd been praying for for about five years and only three or four of them had come to Christ.

But man when they got their hearts clean and those people started praying in faith they started praying in the power of God. Within four months forty five of the sixty had been gloriously born again. I'd have trouble getting any of them baptized.

They were changed people. That same little group it got to be about that size of your Friday night group maybe not even quite that big. They kept adding people to that prayer list. They had about a hundred lost people they were praying for.

And when the just a little over a year ninety of those people had come to Jesus Christ we never seen anything like it in our life. He shook that church. And then he gave the church a global publishing.

I mean gave it to her just incredible. God cleared the church itself got totally cleared of the charges totally cleared got proved the church got proven totally innocent and God got great glory took five bloody years.

It don't get too bad for God. So friends are you interested in a new touch of God. And I don't want to mislead you. It's not always a hundred ninety out of a hundred every year or two. I don't want to mislead you.

It's not. But it's very powerful. If we'll really embrace the total cleansing now how do we do that. What I want to do is very quickly but but hopefully thoroughly deal with just a few little things that are blocking that full explosion of God in most most believers in America in our life.

And you know I can look at this group tonight and pretty well assume probably nobody who shot anybody this week probably no one here robbed a bank this week. Those are not the things that's doing it. It's things that have gotten under our radar screen.

You know what that means. If it's on the radar screen it means it's there but you don't see it or you don't realize how significant it is. And there are three or four things in in most Sunday night folks lives that that have slipped under there and we've kind of tolerated them.

We've confessed them but hadn't really worked on turning from them and they really are hindering the full power of God. Oh we see some blessing we see some answers. But God is ready to turn the power on and he's ready.

He's looking for a church and for individuals teenagers senior adults that he can really begin to move into the incredible. So what are these things. What we want to do for just a few moments is kind of let him take us through three or four things that that absolutely is what he did in Memphis what he's doing across this country in the churches that are really seeing this big turning point in the believers that's seeing this turning point.

Abiding in Christ Through Deeper Prayer

The number one thing is this and we've talked about it all weekend. It's John fifteen four. We have to make a decision that we really are going to abide in him with a deeper prayer that we're not going to stay where we've been that we're going to let him take us into kingdom prayer.

Let me explain that real clear real simple what's happening. Believers are dropping the excuses we dealt with this morning you know well I don't know how or I don't have time or I'm not good enough or I can't do it every single day which we probably can't.

But they they drop that they make a commitment that they're going to abide in Jesus the way he means and they embrace the cleansing of their heart in their prayer time at least a lot and that's the one that's been missing.

But they they embrace that not legalism not condemnation but they just learn how to add five or ten minutes to what they're doing and let God really do that that continual cleansing. And then the fullness gets greater and greater and greater.

But this is this is a non-negotiable we all need this. So they make a covenant and a commitment. They're going to get serious about this and they're not going to make excuses. Oh well I'm beyond that.

That's a pride's the worst thing that happened to us when we start thinking we're more spiritual than we really are. That really gets us. So they make this covenant. And here's what else happens along with this.

They start praying for lost people. You know when all those people started getting saved and then the revival of churches that we're seeing getting turned around. That's exactly what the people are doing they're taking.

They're saying God tell me who you want me to be praying for. That doesn't know Jesus some some of them are people at the coffee shop the grocery store some family members. But they're really adding that to their prayer time and they're getting serious about it.

And then God has given them promises for these people. And when they get specific it's incredible what God begins to do. And the little book you're going to get on the how to pray ahead your protection and how to unite with others to pray for your family.

They're starting to do that. And it is incredible when they take it a little deeper they start praying in faith. They start praying very specifically for lost people and for strongholds to come down and God will give you insight on how to pray for those strongholds.

And he wants to give us insight. It really does matter what we pray and don't be afraid. It's hard or complicated but but general prayer is not near as powerful as just that spirit led specific prayer that he'll give you now.

Don't let any of this sound hard. But what he's calling us to do right now is say you know what God I'm going with you. You know what Lord I'm not going to stay kind of in the the average prayer. I'm gonna let you take me a little deeper and it doesn't take two or three hours a day.

He'll work with you. And they're making this commitment. And tonight you say I want you to understand the things you're going to get in the mail this week these two little they've got these prayers in them and not magic prayers.

But they'll show you exactly how to do this. And so tonight God is simply saying would you be willing to say Lord I'm going deeper. I hope many of you if you're not already in it will say I'm gonna try that Friday night prayer group.

Don't be intimidated. You want to pray out loud if you don't want to. But it's amazing what God will do. And and they're doing this. People are making this commitment across America. They're just giving God a little more opportunity.

They're praying a little more specifically for lost people. We're gonna send you something put right in your Bible. It's a thing to just write down those those people those that you're praying for. It is incredible when we get specific and when we let the heart get really clean the faith gets a lot stronger.

And it is I'm telling you folks you can become a Miss Polly. You may not say 21 out of 30. You may be just two or three but hey that's pretty good. Isn't it wonder what if half the folks in this room saw two or three come to Christ within a year that'd be we'd fill this room again.

Wouldn't we twice or more that could really happen. No question about it. But if we don't make this covenant absolutely won't happen. And so God is just calling us right now to get serious. And he doesn't want us to remain a child forever.