Revival Fires Publications

by Dr. Oliver Araiza

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.  And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”  (Matthew 10:32-42) 
Young people, this passage is dealing with discipleship.  I’m a little concerned that sometimes we want to paint to you all the perks of serving the Lord in ministry, as if we could entice you to join the ranks of full time Christian work.  And don’t misunderstand me, God’s blessings are great, and there is no better life than giving 100% to God and living your life to do His work.  But the truth is, if you are going to serve the Lord, it WILL cost you something.  That’s what Jesus is talking about here — the cost of discipleship.  If you’re going to make your life count for God, it is going to cost you something.  I want to preach a message that I’ve entitled, “How To Be The Most Victorious Loser In The World.”

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by Dr. Randy Taylor

Randy Taylor is a local church evangelist out of West Union, West Virginia, president of Mt. Salem Revival Grounds and founder of God Save America conferences.

“And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts…. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth…. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah…. Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table…. And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.”(I Kings 18:1-5, 12, 16, 19, 21)

These people didn’t answer a word because they were too ashamed because they had already given up God. I want to give you a Bible illustration of what you just heard about, how Jezebel gave away all that grace she could have had. She was in the greatest nation, had the greatest God, and she turned her back on God in favor of idolatry and wickedness. Ahab, the king of Israel, and Israel who didn’t want God Jehovah, but they wanted a king like all the other nations, they gave up being the blessed people of God. I want to preach on that phrase in verse 19, “Jezebel’s Table.”

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“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

(Philippians 1:12-14)

Paul said, “…the things which happened unto me…” and if you know Paul’s testimony, most of them were not good. He testifies in II Corinthians 11:24-28 and just enumerates the things that had happened unto him. When you talk about something that happened, in most cases it’s not something you intentionally did to yourself. It is a circumstance that came about, a happening. Something happened. It was unplanned. You weren’t prepared for it. Good things happen as well. Quite frequently, the things that happen to us are undesirable. We’re not really excited about it. Paul said in II Corinthians 11:24, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.” That’s what happened. He was preaching the Gospel, trying to get the Word of God out, trying to do the will of God. What happened? They gave him 39 stripes. That happened numerous times — five times.

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by Dr. Bob Smith

Dr. Bob Smith is the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas

“Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalms 85:1-6)

I believe the greatest need of our churches today is not more buildings or more buses. It’s not even more people. (Sometimes I think we’ve got too many of the kind we’ve got!) Our greatest need is for revival. For ten years I traveled across America in full-time evangelism. My goal in each meeting was for God to help me to see revival in the preacher. You see, no matter what happens in the church, if revival doesn’t come to the pulpit, it’s not going to last long in the church. Oh, there is such a need once again for old-fashioned, Bible-believing, fundamental, Baptist, soulwinning churches to be revived. We’re still doing the right things, going through the motions, but we’ve lost the joy of it. “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”

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