HopeLives365

Mark Finley: Now in addition to meditating on God's word, the Psalmist David speaks of meditating on God's word, his law, his testimonies, and his works.

Guest (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: 3 Ways to Experience a Personal Revival, Part 2. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay updated with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: We want to take a look at that because one of my goals in our class today is to send you out of here more inspired to allow your life to slow down and to gain the spiritual strength that comes from Christian meditation on God's word, his works, his ways. So let's pause in Psalm 119. Let's go back if you have your Bible to Psalm 119.

Have you ever met a person in your life, maybe it's a member in your church, maybe it's a speaker that you've heard at camp meeting, maybe it is somebody you've listened to on tape, and you have said "I don't know what that person has, but they have something that I want"?

I felt that way when I traveled both to the former Soviet Union and China. In the days of communism, I often would travel to the former Soviet Union and after communism fell, particularly, we were in Eastern Europe before communism fell, but then Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, then after we were traveling to Russia a great deal. And I met men and women who had been imprisoned for their faith and there was a quality of faith that they had that was really dynamic. It was genuine, it was authentic, it wasn't make-believe. It was a relationship with God that was deep and was intimate.

Recently, my wife and I were in Hong Kong and we invited to that meeting 30 pastors from mainland China. They came, and I was out in a little field with them out after the meeting because I wanted to meet privately with them. We had a large meeting there of a few hundred people, but we had 30 pastors from mainland China. And I wanted to talk to them a little bit about their own spiritual life and as we were around that circle, I just sensed that there was a depth of spiritual experience.

Then I met with my friend Robert Wong. Let me tell you a little bit about Robert. Robert Wong left a youth meeting about 40 years ago now, and he is in his late 60s, early 70s. We have become wonderful friends. Robert left a youth meeting when he was 23. As he came out of the youth meeting, he was arrested by the communist police and taken to prison. He was placed in a cell four feet wide and eight feet long with three other people.

These were three older men. There was in the back of the cell a little pail for you to do your urinal in. There was an old light bulb up there and these three men were totally bald; their heads were shaved. When he came into the cell, he had a full head of hair. And they said to him, "Young man, let's tell you a little bit about what happens here. It's a good sign that they did not shave your hair. Because when they shave your hair, it means you're going to be here many years."

And they told him their stories of being there five years, eight years, 10 years, and so forth. They were just emaciated, skin and bones. A month went by, Robert's hair was not shaved. Two months went by, his head was not shaved. It was coming toward Christmas and the commander of the prison and the jail called Robert Wong in to talk to him. And the other three men said it's a good sign; they know you're a Christian, it's December 25th, they're going to let you go free.

When he walked in, the commander had a barber with him and a barber's chair and he said "Sit there." And on Christmas Day they shaved his head, totally bald. He knew he was going to be there for years. He told me later, he said, "As I got up from that chair and I began to walk, I looked back at the chair and I saw all my hair on the floor. I knew that I was going to be here for years in this desolate, dark, dingy dungeon of a place."

And he said, "As I looked at my hair, tears streamed down my face. Not because I was thinking I'd be separated from my family for years, but I remembered it was Christmas Day. And I said Jesus, I have nothing to give you today except my hair. So Lord, that's my gift to you today. And I perfectly trust you whatever happens to my life here." In that cell, he had little time for his devotions. He was taken from there and put in solitary confinement for years, locked in the darkness with a little light.

He said during that time it was as if God touched him in that cell. But what he longed for more than anything else was a Bible. More than anything else. At the end of his solitary confinement, he was allowed to write 100 Chinese characters, that's like 30 words or less, to his family once a month. Now incidentally, he was engaged to be married before he went in prison. And I think he was there like 27 years and his bride-to-be waited and they got married when he got out. I mean that's love. That's not no cheap imitation that we see in Hollywood.

And so Robert told me, he said one day he heard a call out into the prison courtyard. And Teenie, do you remember the exact number of the hymn? What was it, 118? 114? 615? Okay. So somebody called out prisoner number 615. And he remembered right away, it just hit his brain, hymn number 615 in the Chinese hymnal, that's "Give Me the Bible." So he could write 100 characters a day. So he wrote to his mother and he said, "Mama, I just would love to give a special gift to prisoner 615."

She said, "What's he talking about prisoner 615?" And all of a sudden she remembered that's "Give Me the Bible." He's asking for a Bible. He wants that Bible. The prisoners didn't have adequate soap. And so the loved ones of the prisoners, relatives, would give them soap. She would make bars of soap about this long, this high. She hollowed out a bar of soap, put a little tiny New Testament in it and put it in a plastic bag.

Sent him into the prison that bar of soap with many other things. Nobody examined it and she said, "I've got your gift, give the bar of soap to prisoner 615." He knew that she knew. When everybody was out of the room, you know by this time he was in a cell by himself, at first he was in with those four, then solitary confinement then after that he was by himself. He cut open it and he saw the Bible. And he told me, he said, "Pastor Mark, I spent hours reading the Bible, hours meditating upon scripture, hours thinking about the greatness of goodness of God." And it transformed his life.

It is life-transforming to take a pause in our lives, in the hectic pace that we have, and listen to God speak to us. Now the psalmist, let's go back though because we were going to look at Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 97. We're looking at what the Bible says about positive meditation. Psalm 119 verse 97, here it is: "Oh, how I love your law, it's my meditation all day." So David is meditating. When he says the law, it's broad. He's talking about really the first five books of the Bible, the books of the law, the very teachings of God.

You look over at verse 105: "Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path." So here David is saying I'm meditating on the very word of God. I like Psalm 119 verse 15, too, because this is a little different twist in Psalm 119 verse 15 that talks about Christian meditation, but again it's always out of ourselves. Psalm 119 verse 15 says: "I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways." Notice here's one text where meditation and contemplation are both used. What is the meditation upon? The precepts of God.

What are the precepts of God? The very principles of God's word. His ways. What is he talking about? I'll meditate upon your ways. In other words, I'll look back over my life, I'll see how you've led me. I'll look at the providences of God. I'll never forget those things. I'll never forget the way you've answered my prayer. You know I think it's incredibly beneficial to spiritual life at times to sit down and say, "You know what? I'd like to review the last six months and see how God has answered my prayers."

You know sometimes I like to get out away from it all. Where my wife and I live there are 17 miles of trails. Walking on those trails you think back, "God, you've been so good to me. Better than I deserve. You led me this way and you led me that way." When I'm looking at God's word, my heart is inspired. When I'm looking at God's works in creation I say, "God look, if you can make the sun rise and the sunset, if you can make the tides come in and out, if you can create a world this beautiful, I know that heaven's going to be a great place and I want to be there, don't you?"

So what is Christian meditation? We're meditating on God's word. We're meditating on God's works, the way he works in nature. We're meditating on God's ways according to Psalm 119. Christian meditation focuses our thoughts on the grandeur, the greatness of God. It lifts us from what is around us and within us to what's above us. Often what is within me is discouraging. Often what is around me is discouraging. If you are a pastor or a church leader, you can see often times that there are so many problems and so many difficulties. It can just weigh you down and discourage you, right? Or you look sometimes in our own families. There are challenges that can be discouraging.

Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence his life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: The infinite, unfathomable love of God through Christ became the subject of his meditation day and night. That's Enoch. And with all the fervor of his soul, he sought to reveal that love to the people among whom he dwelt. Enoch, the one who is a model and example for the Seventh-day Adventist Church of being translated to heaven without dying, spent time in meditation. What did he meditate on? The infinite, unfathomable love of Christ was the subject of his meditation day and night.

We must be constantly meditating upon the word. Eating it, digesting it, and by practice assimilating it so that it's taken into the life current. Is there a difference between simply reading the word and meditating on it and applying it to your heart? Is it possible to read the word and not have any benefit from what you're reading? Can you read the word and have not... well, what does the Bible say? Hebrews 4 verse 2, take your Bible please. Hebrews 4 verse 2. Is it possible to read the word and not be benefited?

Here's what it says: "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. But the word which they heard did not profit them." Did these people hear the word? Yes. But did the word profit them? No. Why not? Look: "Not being mixed with faith in those that heard it." So you can read the word of God but unless you meditate upon it, constantly meditating upon the word. Eating it. Not simply reading it but taking it into our heart, our mind, our soul. Letting the same spirit that through the word of God created the world recreate us.

We eat it, we digest it. We then put it into practice. We assimilate it so that it's taken into the life current, so it becomes part of our very life. Meditation is always rooted in God's word, his works, and his ways. Isaiah 30 verse 15, let's read it together: "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Now there are two words that are linked together that are quite fascinating: quietness and confidence.

Very often it is difficult to be quiet. I remember when I first came to the General Conference. They said to me, "Mark, we've got to get you into the technological age. We are going to get you an iPhone." I was so incredibly excited to get my iPhone. Until I woke up this morning and I had 28 emails that I had to answer. They're right here. I had 15 or so messages that come over the messaging system. I have all these phone calls. I used to be able to go on preaching assignments before the iPhone and run and hide.

Now every place I go and they say, "We are going to get you a four-band iPhone so wherever you are in the world we can contact you." Oh, God have mercy on the brethren. It is hard wherever you are today to find quietness. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. May I be so bold to say to you that without quiet moments with God, in which we spend time meditating upon his word, seeking him through prayer, contemplating his goodness and his greatness and his majesty, that our spiritual experience will be superficial and it will be hollow and a sham and hypocritical.

It's only as we allow God to do something in our lives through that quietness that our confidence comes. When every other voice is hushed and in quietness we wait before him, the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God. He bids us be still and know that I am God. This is the effectual preparation for all labor for God. Amidst the hurrying throng, I just see this and I say that's me. Amidst the hurrying throng and the strain of life's intense activities, he who is thus refreshed will be surrounded with an atmosphere of light and peace.

He will receive a new endowment of physical and mental strength. Isn't this a promise? What a promise. When you're rushed, when you're hurried, when life gives you a strain, as your soul is refreshed in prayer and Bible study and contemplation and meditation of the grandeur and greatness of God, you're surrounded with an atmosphere of light and peace. You receive a new endowment of physical and mental strength. There's a new energy that flows into your life. His life will breathe out a fragrance and will reveal a divine power that will reach hearts. Ministry of Healing page 58.

Don't miss that one. Contemplating Jesus. What do we contemplate? Look, the Bible is God's voice speaking to us just as surely as if we could hear it with our own ears. Wow. I wish I could hear Jesus speak to me. You can in the Bible. If we realize this with what awe we would open God's word, with what earnestness we would search his precepts. Here's a principle that I think's going to help somebody here today. When you read the Bible, before you begin to read, pray a prayer like this: "Dear Jesus, I'm coming to your word. This is your voice speaking to me."

"I'm coming with excitement. I'm coming with a sense that you're going to talk to me today and I believe that you are. Lord, guide me as I read your word." Coming with that sense that God is going to speak to us and offering that prayer of faith that we'll hear his voice. The reading and contemplation of the scriptures, notice the word contemplation, would be regarded as an audience with the infinite one. We better go back and look at that. You don't want to miss it. The Bible is God's voice speaking to us just as surely as if we could hear it with our ears.

Now the next word, what's the word here? What's this word? If. What's if mean? If means what? Certainly, definitely, absolutely? If means what? It's a conditional word. If we realized this, realized what? That the Bible is God's voice speaking to us, just like we could hear it with our ears. With what awe we would open God's word. With what earnestness we'd search its precepts. The reading and contemplation of scripture would be regarded as an audience with the infinite one. Wow. That's amazing stuff, isn't it?

I'll tell you, it's late Friday afternoon and these are Adventists, they're not Pentecostals, I knew it. But isn't this amazing? I'm telling you, I've been preaching it 45 years, I still get excited when I think "Man, I'm going to open the Bible and God is going to speak to me." This is an audience with the infinite one in the very living word of God. In the Bible a boundless field is open for the imagination. The student will come from the contemplation of its grand themes, from association with its lofty imagery, more pure and elevated in thought and feeling.

That's more than if he had spent the time reading any work of mere human origin, to say nothing of those of a trifling character. I spend much less time reading human authors today. A lot more time reading the divine. Because I recognize that human authors may have something good to say, but the good they have to say is not life-transformational. And many have a trifling character. Fixing our mind on the Bible and divine inspiration makes a big difference. It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour, some time every day in contemplation of the life of Christ.

We should take it point by point, let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon his great sacrifice for us, our confidence in him will be more constant. Now what's going to happen as we meditate on Calvary? What's going to happen as we contemplate the love of God? What's going to happen as we focus on the cross? Our confidence in him is going to be more constant. Our love for him is going to be quickened, that's made alive. We'll be more deeply imbued with his spirit.

And if we are saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross. So here is a call to quietness, to meditation, to contemplation. Jesus said in John 17 verse 3: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus whom you have sent." So what is eternal life? It's knowing God. Knowing him through prayer, knowing him through meditation, knowing him through his word, his works, his ways. We need to be incredibly aware of the fact that the devil has a counterfeit form of meditation.

And what I'm talking to you about today is a million times away from that. It's not a mindless, aimless meditation. Now unfortunately, within the Christian church today, as I will show you and in the Adventist Church, there is this tendency on the part of some to lean toward an eastern mystical form of meditation and prayer. Why has that taken place and why is it taking place? It's largely taking place for this reason: There are many people who are tired of formality in religion. They're tired of Laodicean complacency. They want something genuine and real and authentic.

They don't want to be a religious hypocrite. They don't want to go through the motions. And for them, they begin looking for a Christian experience that is genuine. If you combine that with this thought, we are living at a time of superficiality in society in general. We're living in a time of instants. You watch television and in 30 minutes you go from the problem to the solution. You look at computers and your computer if it doesn't start up in milliseconds, you're frustrated. This thing's not starting! This thing's not starting!

So we live in a society where everything has been compressed and you want something fast. We live in a society where the cognitive thinking processes of the brain have been largely anesthetized and put to sleep by the mass media. So what the devil does in this society is says "I will give you something and that's an experience." And that experience, see, in a society that longs for experience, the devil palms off a counterfeit religious experience that gives a sense of euphoric peace, but it doesn't give a sense of life-changing transformational power.

Jesus said in John 6 verse 63: "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life." In other words, you want a spiritual life? The words that I speak to you, they're going to bring spiritual life. Second Peter 1 verse 4: "By which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises." God's promises are great. God's promises are precious, but beyond that they're exceeding great and exceeding precious. That through these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world through lust.

How do we escape the corruption in the world through lust? How are we partakers of the divine nature? As the Holy Spirit imprints upon our minds his very word. James 1 verse 23: "Lay aside all filthiness." How do I do that? "The overflow wickedness." How do I do that? "By receiving the meekness of the implanted word that is able to save your souls." It's one thing to read the word, it's another thing by the grace of God to have it implanted in your life.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Spirituality is not gained or achieved separate from the world. Jesus said, "I pray not that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil in the world." So genuine biblical spirituality is between the mountain and the multitude. It's between a life of prayer and Bible study and activity. The scribes and Pharisees prayed and studied the Bible, but they crucified Jesus because they were self-centered egotists. So all authentic Christianity, which is life-transformational, leads us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.