God wants to throw us into a good kind of crisis! There’s no more time or room in the Kingdom of God for complacency and comfort. We need revival, and revival requires a certain kind of preaching.
Matthew 10:34 says, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but it is not time yet for peace to fill the earth. Instead, Jesus brings His sword, cutting us off from everything but Himself.
Why Preach?
Most of the preaching today teaches us to include everything…and have Jesus, too. This is the opposite of what Jesus taught. The Kingdom of God cannot be just one of many things in our lives. Jesus is The Way. There is no other way.
What is the purpose of preaching? Is it to soothe us? Is it to make us feel better about ourselves? Neither of those purposes matches what Jesus did while on the earth. Jesus was a revival preacher. He preached to throw people into a crisis.
Biblical Examples:
Jesus called the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and follow Jesus. The ruler was thrown into crisis but said no (Matt. 19:21-22).
When the prodigal son’s brother returned home, the father celebrated and threw a party. The other son was angry and in crisis: he had to decide whether to join the celebration, to stay angry outside, or to leave altogether (Luke 15:25-31).
Jesus threw the religious leaders of his day into crisis. He himself was bringing back the prodigals. Also, Jesus directly challenged the religious leaders, such as when he told them to forgive seventy times seven (Matt. 18:22) and to love their enemies (Matt. 5:44).
“Revival preaching isn’t here to make you feel better about yourself.”
Thrown Into Crisis
Jesus does not bring the sword to simply free us from addictions, bad behaviors, and other negative things in our lives. The repentance and freedom we can have goes much deeper. We need to be wholly touched by the power, presence, and glory of God!
We need to let ourselves be thrown into the crisis and into revival. It will be costly. The Kingdom of God has to be the most important thing in our lives. We must cut off everything else that has a grip on us.
Revival preachers do not preach to be popular and successful. They come to burn with fire from Heaven.
You must want to be set on fire for God! Revival preaching isn’t here to make you feel better about yourself. It’s here to shock you about yourself so that you’ll want to be changed. The Kingdom of God is here, and God is calling us.
