Welcome to the Line of Fire. Michael Brown delighted to be with you. I have been praying for you that God would light a fresh spark in your heart, a fresh hunger and thirst and desire for God.
I believe it is His will, His desire. I believe as we humble ourselves before Him, He will meet us. Friends, we are here to infuse you with faith and truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines. If you are not getting our front line newsletter, sign up now. It will be coming your way once a month full of inspiration, edification, information. You will look forward to it coming and it is absolutely free.
Go to thelineoffire.org. Today, I want to focus on the theme of repentance and revival. Repentance and revival. We are teaching this month out of my book, Revival or We Die.
Again, at the end of the broadcast, we will let you know how you can get a copy for yourself or get copies to give out to friends and loved ones. Revival or We Die, a great awakening, is our only hope. Many years ago, I read the statement that repent is the first word of the Gospel. Repent is the first word of the Gospel. What does that actually mean?
And is it true? I also read a statement by a revival leader from the early 20th century, so the early 1900s, and he said the depth of any revival will be determined by the spirit of repentance that is obtained. In other words, how deep will the revival go? How deep will the season of unusual divine visitation go?
It will go as deep as the repentance in the hearts of God's people. You get a special speaker and special music and special offerings, and everyone gets emotionally hyped up for a few days and goes back into their spiritual rut. No, that is not revival. You can no more hold a revival than you can hold a hurricane. You can no more schedule a revival than you can schedule an earthquake. Revival is not something that people work up.
Revival is something that God sends down. You say, well, why is there a need for repentance? Okay, if you are asking that question, I have to simply say, look at it.
Look around. Look around at the state of the church. Look around at the state of the nation and ask yourself the question, do we need to repent? Do we need to repent of carnality? Do we need to repent of worldliness? Do we need to repent of prayerlessness?
Do we need to repent of a host of sins? Baptist evangelist Vance Habner said many years ago, that is probably the same percentage today, that if Jesus was going from church to church in our nation, for five out of seven, it would be repent or else. For some, like Ephesus, it was leaving their first love, and we will be talking about that this week.
In fact, I believe it is going to be one of the most penetrating broadcasts you will hear in a long time about leaving your first love. But for some, that was the issue. For some, it was doctrinal error. For some, it was sexual immorality. For some, it was spiritual pride.
Remember what he says to Sardis, you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. Remember what he says to Laodicea, you say I am rich, increased in wealth, and of need of nothing, but you do not realize you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I talk about that verse all the time. It is unimaginable to think that we could be wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, and think we are rich, increased in wealth, and of need of nothing, but that is the deceitfulness of sin.
That is the deceitfulness of pride. So when God is going to send revival, he sparks prayer in the hearts of his people. That is what Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator said in the 1600s.
When God is going to send revival, he sets his people to pray. And then one of the things that begins to arise is you begin to realize something is wrong. Something is missing. Something is not right here. And then you begin to realize there is sin in my life. Judging this one, judging that one, and now the light of the Spirit comes on me, and I recognize, as Isaiah said, woe is me.
I am a man of unclean lips, or unclean eyes, or unclean hands, or unclean heart, or all the above. I thought I was so good, self-righteous, and now conviction comes on me. Suddenly my little sins become much bigger.
Suddenly I become aware of my guilt before God. But friends, he does not do this to condemn us, but to help us. Not to hurt us, but to help us. Not to condemn us, but to convict us.
To draw us near. Condemnation is the judge's gavel coming down, guilty as charged, away from me. That is the word of final damnation. Conviction is, you sin, come near me.
You are guilty, but I love you. Jesus died for you. His blood was shed for you. You can receive fresh cleansing. You can be saved. You can be cleansed as a believer. You can come back to God. Many a leader came to Pensacola in the Brownsboro revival thinking that their church people needed a fresh touch from God.
And many of them left saying, I was the one that needed a fresh touch. I felt like I got saved all over again. So, Isaiah the 40th chapter. Prepare the way of the Lord. A voice crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make way in the desert, a highway for our God. So every lofty place has to be brought down. The valley needs to be filled in. The crooked places made straight.
The rough ground made level. That is a picture of repentance. How is that fulfilled in the New Testament? It is fulfilled in the New Testament by John the Immerser, John the Baptist, preaching repentance. He is the one crying out in the wilderness, prepare a way for our God.
And what is the message? Repent. In other words, turn away from your sin, turn to God, because he is ready to come.
He is ready to meet you. And Matthew 3 says that there was a baptism of repentance. And he said to the religious hypocrites, bear fruit worthy of repentance. Repentance doesn't just mean change your mind.
It means a change of mind and heart and action. Think of it like this. I'm driving in the car with you. And we're talking as we're driving. And I'm going in the wrong direction on the highway. And you say to me, Dr. Brown, you know, you're going in the wrong direction. You're going to exit and turn around. And I say, hey, no, I've been this way many times. It's the right direction. No, no, no.
Look at your GPS. You're heading in the wrong direction. It's like, oh, you're, you know, what are you talking about? I'm going the right direction. Look at the exit signs I see this is like, whoa, you're absolutely right. I'm so sorry.
You're right. I'm heading in the wrong direction. Friends, that's not repentance until I exit the highway and turn around. Just recognizing that something is wrong is not repentance.
Changing your thinking so it changes your life. That's repentance. So that was John's message as the forerunner before Jesus. When Jesus begins to preach in Matthew 14, he takes John's exact words, John the Baptist's exact words and says, repent.
For the kingdom of heaven is near. And this is his great theme in his preaching. Luke 13, unless you repent, you'll all perish.
And then in Luke, the fifth chapter, this is how he summarizes ministry. I've come to call sinners to repentance. Repent really is the first word of the gospel. When he sent out the 12 in Mark six, he sent them out that they should preach repentance and then anoint many sick people with oil, heal them, drive out demons. That was their mission to preach repentance. So John the Immerser preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance. He sent out the 12 to preach repentance. The great commission in Luke, the 24th chapter.
What does it say? That repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in all nations beginning in Jerusalem. That's the gospel. Friends, how many messages do we hear today that focus on repentance? You say, well, that's just guilt driven.
That's just behavior modification. But how did we know better than God? How is that we know a method today better than God?
How is it that we can diagnose the human problem better than the divine physician, than the one who made us? He knows that things start with repentance. Now repentance can be a response to a revelation of the love of God, the goodness of God, the kindness of God. And we think, oh, what a ungrateful wretch I am. Or it can come with a deep conviction of sin and death.
Guilt. That's what happened in my life when God convicted me of my guilt of being a rebellious sinner at the age of 16 in 1971. And then the revelation of the love of God brought me to transformation and salvation.
Praise God for that. But repent is the first word of the gospel. So you now get into the book of Acts and Peter preaches. And what does he say? When everyone is convicted, he says, let all the house of Israel know that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified.
Both Lord and Messiah in Acts 2 36. The people cry out in the next verse, what do we do? What do we do? Peter says, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. Repent. Turn from your sin. Turn from the sin of rejecting Jesus. Submit your lives to God. Ask for mercy.
That's what it is. And Acts the third chapter after the healing of the layman. And crowds come to Peter as if he was the one who did the healing.
And what does Peter say? Repent and turn to God that your sins may be bought out. That times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Repentance brings refreshing. Repentance brings refreshing. Why is it that we see so little outpouring in so many of our churches today? In some cases it's because we're not preaching repentance.
And in some cases we're not preaching repentance because we're not living close enough to God to have the conviction of the Spirit in our own lives. Or we become complacent. Or we become discouraged. Or we become beaten down. Or we're so afraid of legalism.
Which is deadly and destructive. Legalism is externally imposed religion. Legalism is laws without love. It's rules without relationship.
It's standards without a savior. Legalism is trying to change someone from the outside in. That's what legalism is.
It's deadly. But some of us are so afraid of legalism that we swing all the way to license and to hyper-grace. And we don't preach against sin.
We just stir people and awaken them. Even though the New Testament is filled with messages like that. The New Testament. The letters of Paul are filled with words of repentance and calling us to turn to God. In fact it's Paul who gives us the best picture of repentance in 2 Corinthians 7.
Saying that worldly sorrow leads to death. But godly sorrow leads to repentance. And from that we don't need to repent. From that we don't need to change our minds again because we've been made right with God. How deep will the move of God go? How deep is the spirit of repentance? You know it's just like there's an outpouring of rain.
If it comes on concrete it's going nowhere. If that outpouring comes on thirsty ground it's going down deep and will bring about revitalization. Alright friends. You are the reason we are on the air. You help us. You support us. You pray for us. We are listener supported. Tell us your own story about Trivita and how you can be blessed personally and help the line of fire.
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Trivita.com. Welcome back to the line of fire. Michael Brown delighted to be with you here to equip you and empower you to help you stand strong on the front lines like it or not. All of us are in the line of fire today. So friends, be sure you're getting our frontline newsletter at the line of fire.org.
If you're not getting our emails, you want to get this. You'll be blessed. You'll be encouraged. You'll be edified.
You'll be informed the line of fire.org. Alright, we're teaching all this month out of my book, Revival or We Die, and that is our theme. Today we're focusing on repentance. Repent is the first word of the gospel and revival will only go as deep as the spirit of repentance that is obtained.
That's what Frank Bartleman observed at the beginning of the 20th century and he was absolutely right. It doesn't mean beating people over the head with the Bible and telling them you're bad, you're bad, you're wicked, you're terrible. It doesn't mean saying God hates you and he just wants to get rid of you so leave and go away.
No, it is a revelation of the holiness of God and the beauty of God and the grace of God that comes with such shining light that we see our guilt, that we see our sin, that we stop trying to justify ourselves and blame everybody else when we say God it's me. It's me. I take the responsibility. Have mercy on me.
Forgive me. Wash me. Cleanse me. And when the conviction is deep and you recognize I'm having a wretch in God's sight, you almost feel like you're coming to the end of your soul. It's too much.
I can't take it. Charles Finney often saw that where people got to the point of despair and thought it's all over for me. God has forsaken me. And in that place of desperation, they said, God, I just want you more than anything.
Take my life, all of it. And they were radically, wonderfully, gloriously born again. You see, revival starts first for the people of God, first for you and me. Some of you, even as I speak, feel that conviction of the Spirit. Let me say again, it's not to drive you away, it's to draw you near. So you say, God, have mercy on me.
Wash me clean. Revival starts with the people of God and then as we're touched, it goes out and touches the world around us. So we keep going through the book of Acts. When Peter summarizes the Great Commission in Acts 5, why God raised up Jesus, what does he say?
Same as Luke 24, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. Repentance and forgiveness of sins go hand in hand. And then in Acts the 11th chapter, when the Jewish believers talk about what happened to Cornelius and the other Gentiles and how they came to faith, they rejoice.
They say God has given them repentance to life. And then when Paul preached, yes, the same Paul who said, believe in the Lord Jesus, you'll be saved. In Acts 16, to someone under conviction and recognizing he deserved death, what do I do to be saved?
Believe in the Lord Jesus. Well, there are two sides to faith. There's the side of turning to God saying have mercy and the side of saying I find that mercy through Jesus. So what does Paul say in Acts 17 verse 30? Paul, the grace preacher, God commands all men everywhere to repent. And what was the first thing they did to repent of in that context? Idolatry.
Idolatry. Friends, you cannot follow Jesus and cling to your sins at the same time. You cannot serve two masters. If you're struggling, say God, I want help. That's one thing.
He will help you. It's another thing if you say I'm going to serve God and I'm going to do my thing. No, you cannot serve God and do your thing. Your thing dies. When you come to Jesus, your thing, my thing dies and we live for him. We live for his thing. I'm just making it plain, friends.
I'm just making it plain. What does Paul say in Acts chapter 20 verse 21 as he's summarizing his message? This is what he preached to both Jews and Greeks in Ephesus for three and a half years. He said, I preached that people should repent, turn to God.
Here is exact words. He said, I preach repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus. Repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus. Repentance and faith, two sides of the same coin.
And then in Acts the 26th chapter, the 20th verse, as he's talking to Agrippa and they're summing up his life message. He said, I preach that people should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Friends, when John the Immerser preached repentance in Luke 3, he didn't just say change your mind. He didn't just say, hey, listen to my teaching and renew your mind according to my teaching and that's repentance.
No, change your mind, your heart, your life, your behavior. So when people, when they heard him preach, they then said, what should we do? Well, you now live differently. And that's, oh, how can I describe it? That's what happens in times of revival, a supernatural and deep and glorious outpouring of a spirit of repentance. I'll tell you a true story from the Browns revival. And one of my colleagues knew one of the ladies involved for years after this. Early on in the Browns revival, there were two Playboy bunnies that flew in from northern states.
I think it was Chicago area, but that I don't have exactly. They flew in for a photo shoot on the beach as Pensacola is famous for its white sands. And I've told so many hundreds of stories from revival over the years.
You may hear me repeat some, but I know many of you tuning in the first time, this will be the first time you're hearing it. So these two ladies, these Playboy bunnies, come to Pensacola for a photo shoot. There's hurricane-like weather. They're going to take a photo shoot on the beach.
The photo shoot is canceled. They're just hanging out in Pensacola. They've got a free night. So they hire a taxi.
True story. And they say, where's the action in Pensacola? Well, he takes them to the Browns revival because people are coming from around the world to attend services. They take them to church.
They think, well, whatever, just go in, just kind of on a lark. They go into the meeting and they get overwhelmed with conviction. At the end of the service, they are weeping and crying and shaking. It gets the attention of the pastor who goes to talk to them and they begin to tell them about their lifestyles and what they're doing.
One of them says, I feel like God's shaking the hell out of me. You say, OK, well, they had the emotional experience. What happened afterwards? Well, one of the ladies in the church befriended them, gave them Bibles. A few weeks later, they call and say, we've been reading the Bible. We can't do what we're doing.
We can't live like this any longer. I believe both of them moved back to Pensacola and became solid disciples. But I know for sure, because a colleague of mine was a friend of one of them, that she became a solid disciple.
He said, if you saw her years later, you'd never recognize it was the same person. That's a picture of repentance and transformation. And I watch with my own eyes, night after night, people that came in. You could see them before the service. You could see them looking around mocking. You could see them hardened. You could see them just off arms folded. Maybe a family member brought them or some friend came and they just decide, well, it's a stupid thing happening. I'm going to go here and expose it. What kind of nonsense is this?
And they they show up and you'd watch them. And maybe during the worship, they're kind of looking around. What's going on here? All the emotion and jumping, dancing, celebrating, weeping. What's going on here? And then you can see as the message was being preached, they're getting more sober.
And every night that was the central theme. Repent. Turn to God. Get the sin out of your life.
How? Through the blood of Jesus, through the mercy of God, through the cross. And by the end of the night, you'd see them running to the altar.
You'd see them crying like babies. Some of them became students in our ministry school. Some of them are out on the mission field today, 25 years later. That's what happens, friends, in times of revival. OK. Revival or we die, a great awakening is our only hope.
That's what we're teaching out of this month. Chapter one, there is more. Chapter two, revival or we die.
Chapter three, rediscovering the book of the law. Chapter four, from amazing grace to amazing sinners. Chapter five, a psalm of repentance. Chapter six, restore my first love. Chapter seven, set the trumpet to your mouth. Chapter eight, do you not know that your honor is at stake, Lord? Chapter nine, celebrity Christianity, superstar saints and political prophets. Chapter 10, asking the question again, is it too late for a revival, too late for America?
Chapter 11, from revival to awakening in chapter 12, which is very personal for each one the world has yet to see, meaning the world is yet to see what God can do through a man fully yielded to him. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to the line of fire dot org, the line of fire dot org and click donate.
