Thermometers, or Thermostats                      May 8, 2009

ACTS 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

I know that we are in the season of Pentecost, but this isn't really about that.

Well, maybe some, but not completely.

This is something I've been letting simmer in my mind, and heart for a couple weeks now.

It was inspired by one of the daily devotions from Tommy Tinney.

You have probably heard that story about how you can put a frog in a pot of water, and slowly heat it up, and the frog won't notice it, and sit there and boil to death.

Personally, I haven't ever done this, nor do I know anyone who has, but it is something I've heard all my life.

Maybe somebody did it once.

Maybe they had a lazy frog, or a dumb one, I don't know.

Scientists, and pollsters, have clever ways to slant their findings, to obtain the results they want, not the true results.

In business college, we were taught how to put questionnaires together, how to word the questions correctly, and how to word them to get the results we wanted.

Have you ever heard the story of the scientist, probably one that pushes global warming, who was doing tests on frogs?

He sat a frog on a table, and said, "jump frog," and the frog jumped.

So, he wrote in his notebook, "frogs with 4 legs can jump.

Then he cut off a leg of the frog, and did the same thing, saying, "jump frog," and it jumped.

He then wrote, "frogs with 3 legs can jump."

Then he cut off another leg, and did all this again.

When the frog hopped a little, he wrote down, "frogs with 2 legs can jump.

Again, he cut off a leg, and set the frog down saying, "jump frog."

The poor frog moved a little, and he wrote down, "frogs with 1 leg can still jump."

Finally, he cut off the fourth leg, set the hapless frog on the table, and said, "jump frog."

It just laid there.

He then shouted, "jump frog," but it remained motionless..

He then wrote in his notebook, "frogs with no legs, can't hear."

Going back to our hot little frog friend here for a moment, I wonder if the opposite of that analogy is true as well.

If you put a frog in a pot of cool water, and slowly brought the temperature down, would it sit there, and freeze to death?

Again, I don't know, but I have a suspicion it might.

This frog thing can be paralleled with the modern church.

What I mean is, the church has a horrible habit of starting out strong, hot, and powerful, and as the years go on, complacency slowly, and quietly, sneaks in.

Look at so many of the mainstream denominations, that started out on fire for the Lord.

Lots of them were full gospel, and extremely powerful in the beginning.

I won't name them here, but you know who I'm talking about.

The denomination I came from, has slowly been sliding downhill.

To the point, where a fellow Pastor, in that fellowship, a friend of mine, expressed a concern that it was actually going to split into a Pentecostal part, and a non-Pentecostal part.

He didn't express this from his own observations, but it came directly from the man who was the president of that denomination at the time.

I don't think there has been one fellowship, denomination, or group of Believers, who haven't experienced a cooling down.

This cooling down, is symptomatic of what is happening in the individual's own personal heart, and life.

That is why it is reflected in the greater church.

The time is getting short for this world.

I don't care if it comes many years from now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize the signs.

The time is getting short.

That means, that as the Anti-Christ and the spirit of it is emboldened, and wickedness abounds, and grows exponentially, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is going to become much more active.

The true body of Christ, is going to be sparked, ignited, and an all consuming fire is going to burn in their hearts.

Listen, do you think that the last great revival, is going to be lead by weak, philosophical Christians?

That the Power of God is going to be poured out on the over educated, pompous stuffed shirts?

I highly doubt it, in fact, I just don't think it will.

I am not criticizing education, not at all.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I firmly believe in education.

Running around ignorant of things, is not the way to prepare oneself to do the Lord's work either.

So many members in full gospel, or Pentecostal churches, don't really know what they believe, or why they believe it.

We tend to be experience oriented.

Hey, I don't need to study the Word, I just have the annointin.

Give me a break!

That's how foolish things get started in churches.

That's how 900 people were convinced to drink poison Kool-Aid.

That's why people bring snakes into their services.

Hey, if you are going to do that, why not just hold a loaded pistol to your head, and have the faith, that when you pull the trigger, it will misfire, or miraculously not blow your head off?

You see, when we aren't firmly grounded in the Word, we won't know what is right, or wrong.

On the other hand, if we reject experience completely, and go by the strict letter of the law, we will have knowledge, but no smarts.

Like that song said a few years back, “your head gets smart, but your brain gets dumb.”

Balance is the key.

However, the mainline churches, have been sitting in a pot of water, that has been gradually cooling down.

Not so much that you'd notice, not for many years, but look at their beginnings, and where they are now, and you can't help but ask, is this really where God wanted His body to be?

Is this where Christ wanted us to be?

You, and me?

If we are brave enough, to be completely honest with ourselves, and with the Lord, I think we would all have to give a resounding, “NO!”

In our opening passage, the Holy Spirit is officially introduced to the world, and to the church.

It was a day of wind, and fire; of tongues, and salvation.

Oh, we love to talk about the wind, fire and tongues, but we don't always want to talk about the salvation part.

Do you know why?

Because it isn't comfortable.

Jumping around, rolling on the floor, shouting in tongues, and all that stuff, may be fun for a season, but does it change us?

Does it turn us into the witnessing machines we are supposed to be?

Jesus said the power would come upon us, and we'd be His witnesses.

We want to do the works, we want to heal the sick, raise the dead, and do all that really awesome, and cool stuff, but if we are trying to do these, before we can witness, we are putting the cart in front of the horse.

We used to sing, “oh Lord send the power just now.”

That's great, that's wonderful, but why should He send His power on us?

So we can make noise?

So we can make a scene?

So we can look spiritual?

So we can feel holy?

The churches of today, many of them anyway, have become thermometers.

A thermometer will show the ambient temperature.

It shows what the surrounding air is like.

It doesn't really do anything, just measure, and report.

Sadly, we have become thermometers, reflecting the social temperature.

In the late 60's and early 70's, the Jesus People were around, and excited for God, and witnessed, and it was socially acceptable to be numbered with them.

Everybody wore Christian jewelry, and t-Shirts.

Even if they didn't believe, or even know what it was about.

Then, the 70's died out, and the cool 80's came in, which ushered in the cold 90's, and now we are living in a society, in which Christians are being considered enemies of the state, dangerous fanatics.

Good is being called evil, and evil is being called good.

ISAIAH 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Oh yeah, doesn't that sound familiar?

It has been coming for a long time now.

It just seems worse, because evil has decided to come out of the darkness, and proclaim itself as light.

Wicked things are being done, by people who claim to be followers of Christ.

Remember the so-called Christians, who were shooting the doctors who performed abortions, and burning down the clinics?

That isn't how God works!

The church, by being a social thermometer, has let itself rise, and fall with popular opinion.

We were never called to be thermometers.

We aren't to reflect our soft soap religion, just because it keeps us out of trouble.

Jesus said this.

JOH 12:36  A. "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light."

It is time for a quote from the Davis Book of Deep, and Weighty Sayings.

"Sons of light, don't play in the dark."

They don't become chameleons either.

If we are supposed to be undercover Saints, how do we explain these words of Jesus?

MATTHEW 5:16  "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Or, 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The church is called to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.

A thermostat, may show the ambient temperature, but it also has a much more important role.

It controls the temperature.

It controls the air conditioner, and the furnace.

You adjust the heat in your home, by adjusting the thermostat.

We, as the body of Christ, if we expect to be the true body of Christ, have to let the fire of God's furnace burn in us.

It is our job to heat things up in the society, not just drift along with it.

By this, I mean, it is up to us to shine the light of Christ.

It is up to us, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to be witnesses.

It is our job to evangelize a world that is hurrying its way to hell.

We can't do this, by being lukewarm.

We can't do it by being holier than thou either!

We can't do it by being judgmental, and critical.

Love is the key.

Share what you feel, and what you know.

Help others in tangible ways, not just by saying, “I'll pray for you.”

The giant body of Christ, is stirring, and it will be populated with on fire, ignited and heated up saints.

Not perfect people, not weaklings, not chickens, but lions!

People who aren't afraid to take a stand, and go out on a limb for God.

No one will be healed, or anything else, if we aren't willing to be obedient to God, and step out, and do it.

It is up to us, you, and me.

No point in waiting for the next generation, or our parents to do it.

We are here, and now, and guess what.

It is our job!

I want to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.

A thermometer is passive and reactive, but a thermostat is proactive.

It is time for us to stand up, step out, take chances, and be prepared to do mighty things for Christ!

We've done our homework, we all know what to do.

We just need a fire lit under us, to make us get off our seats, and move!

I pray that God lights that fire under me, and turns up the heat, and I pray that He does it to you as well!

We need it, the church needs it, and more importantly, the lost need it!

Let's pray.