"Behold, all souls are mine; (Ezekiel 18:4)

​God lays claim to the title rights of every human body. No person, neither one who has trusted Jesus Christ as personal Savior, nor one who has rejected Him, can lay claim to his or her own body. God is the owner of every human being as demonstrated in Genesis 2:7; “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul.” God further claims ownership of every person when He states in Isaiah 57:16, “and the souls which I have made.” Additionally, God declares in Ezekiel 18:4 that, “Behold, all souls are mine.”
    To trespass against, violate, or usurp God’s right to our bodies brings the just condemnation of God. Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” In Hebrews 2:2, God says that those who disobeyed His Word, “received a just recompence of reward.” The height of human foolishness and arrogance is to say, it’s my body; I can live in it, and do with it as I please. As stewards of the bodies which Almighty God has given us, He holds us accountable to bear His image and glorify Him in all matters of human sexuality. Fraudulent use of the bodies which He has given us is warned against in Galatians 6:7-8, “Be not deceived’ God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth of the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
    Therefore, the high court of our land, the liberal media, infidel politicians, and the apostate church have all trespassed against God’s right to ownership of the human body when espousing the sexual perversion and individual licentiousness sweeping our land. It has been said, that what one generation will tolerate, the next one will embrace. In America, it appears that we have crossed that threshold. No true believer should compromise on God’s ownership of the human body and the honorable deportment of such. We, of all people know we are not our own. Having been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we are to glorify God in body and spirit, which are God’s. Our biblical mandate from God is found in Ephesians 5:11-13, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”
    May both preachers ordained of God and saints of the Lord Jesus Christ resist the social pressure to tolerate the evil of self-ownership in these last days. We preachers, must live above reproach in our moral conduct, and all saints must zealously surrender to the admonition found in Ephesians 5:3 “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you.” The god of compromise and apostasy lies hidden in self and our own rights. Let us stand for the truth with our testimony being “We are not our own” for the honor and glory of God!

“For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness.”                                                                                                                                                           (I Thessalonians 2:5)

I have seen over the past several years a professional pulpiteerism that is both nauseating and disgusting to endure. This type of preaching has not Christ and the gospel at the center, but rather self,
achievement, and money. The Independent Baptist churches are not exempt; instead they seem to be birthing the growing ranks of preachers given over to it. Preaching of this sort exalts self either
consciously or subconsciously and is adept at making appeals for the necessity of money for ministry purposes. This professional pulpiteerism sheds a negative light on the character and ministry of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible’s model preacher. It brings defilement to those who practice and accept it, inoculating the church against any intervention of the Holy Spirit both individually and corporately. Dearly
beloved, beware of it and run from it, using the Apostle Paul’s letters to identify it and “all the counsel of God” as the only standard of measurement for godly preaching. This type of preaching may be sound doctrinally, dynamic in delivery, and true to the gospel message, yet it subtly adapts to the arena in
which it gets opportunity with financial means as an underlying motive. The preacher who either makes or allows the pulpit to be his profession can be a pastor, an evangelist, or a missionary. God help us to escape
from our ranks and to find preaching in the fashion of Christ and his pulpit ministry. The man called to preach by God, and to stand in the pulpit in the house of God, is just that ---Called of God! God has
ownership of him; God will take care of him, and provide for him. God wants him to be a man that cannot be bought, and money cannot dictate his theology or be the motive for his ministry. Paul, as stated in the verse above, said, “For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness.” Paul and Silas had gone into Macedonia on his second missionary journey preaching the gospel in Thessalonica with folks getting saved and baptized, and a local church being established. Notice carefully that in expressing his pure motives for preaching, Paul vehemently repudiates the use of flattering words and a cloak of covetousness. He made no attempt to take the Word of God and
deceitfully appeal to his hearers nor did he use material gain as his ambition. Paul openly declared that “God is witness” with a clear conscience and utter transparency. The godly preacher who exalts Christ in his own heart and denies self with no affection for material gain will do the same.
James N. Spurgeon’s poem titled “Job or Ministry” is a good template for identifying the preacher who is sold out for Christ and Him alone.

 A job is your choice;
      a ministry is at Christ’s call.
 In a job you expect to receive;
     in a ministry you expect to give.
In a job you give something to get something;
    in a ministry you return something
That has already been given to you.
    a job depends on your abilities;
A ministry depends on your availability to God.
   A job well done brings you praise;
     a ministry done well brings
     honor to God.

The Preacher of preachers, Jesus Christ, offered the greatest example of a godly preacher with the following attributes:
1. “For your sakes he became poor…” (II Corth 8:9) 2. “[He] made himself of no reputation…” (Phil 2:7) 3. “…yet learned He obedience by the things which he suffered; (Heb 5:8)” The pulpit ministry should always
be an honorable representation of Him in manner, message, and motive.

  In I Kings 18:24, Elijah the prophet of God challenges the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the grove, to call on the name of their gods. Then, Elijah proclaims that he "will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God." There is a pandemic today among preacher and people alike in our churches representative of Elijah's reproof to all the people gathered on Mount Carmel of "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." This reproof of God's people, Israel, found in I Kings 18:21 ends in sad commentary, "And the people answered him not a word." 
   Thank God, the prophet of God didn't settle for silence and inactions. Thank God, and I say many times over that Elijah took the bullock by the horns', pun intended, and challenged all assembled there with an indictment of their indifference by thundering "the God that answereth by fire, let him be God." It is my observation that many a preacher and the people in churches where I preach have dwarfed God into a midget of their own making, with unbelief, self-sufficiency, and blatant indifference. Consequently, revival tarries and apathy grows among believers, advancing the church to a showdown with the devil in which God seems to be relegated to a mere bystander. The outcome is frightening to consider, for the church and America as a whole, should this spiritual malady continue.
     There is hope with God, however, and He is ever merciful toward those who truly repent and return unto Him. A solemn and sincere surrender to the edicts of God as found in Jeremiah 6:16 justifies this appraisal of hope and mercy with God.  "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein." But, the pastors and leadership in our churches must stand up and be counted with God. Dr. Lee Roberson is quoted as saying, "Everything rises and falls upon leadership." Throughout my 39 years of both pastoring and local church evangelism, I've learned and exercised a conviction that leadership makes all the adjustments. Thank God Elijah did not consider his own neck when confronted by the wicked King Ahab, but brought the apostasy and apathy of God's people to a conflict on Mount Carmel. 
     Tacked on the wall of the home of a young African pastor was a sheet of paper that reads:

                                                My Commitment as a Christian
                                      I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
                                     I have Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast.
                               I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made.
                                            I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back,
                                          let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
                                       My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, 
                                       and my future is secure. I'm finished and done
                                        with low living, sight-walking, small planning, 
                                       smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, 
                                    mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
   
Dear preacher and people in our churches, may we share the same commitment as this African pastor. Let us not be guilty of "when all is said and done, more is said than done!" May we get out of the way and let Almighty God be God!

   The word of God predetermines the candidate or the one who is eligible for personal revival. To 'revive' means to nourish up, preserve, quicken, or restore. A person in need of revival finds himself or herself in a fallen state due to unconfessed sin, excessively heavy burdens, or a prolonged period of unbelief concerning the will of God. Although a person can pray, confess sin, and seek God's face, they may not yet be a candidate for revival. 
    So many of us, preachers included, put up a stiff barrier against God's intervention in our lives and expect Him to meet with us on our terms. Pride or self-consumption either puts us above the need for personal revival, or our close examination of others causes us to view them as better candidates for God's intervention. 
    For others, the effort is made to pacify ourselves with a week of special meetings intended to give us an emotional boost or spiritual jolt for the work of God. We would do well to take heed to the edict of God proclaimed in Isaiah 55:7-9, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
    The person who is a sincere candidate for revival understands and submits to the qualification set forth in Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite ones." Let us be careful to note that God promises to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 
    My friend, God blesses and uses 'broken things' but not partially broken things. He intends to break us into 'pieces', so that when we allow Him to put us back together He might get all the glory. Please be reminded that in Isaiah 48:11 God gives the following warning to Israel, "I will not give my glory to another." The renowned evangelist Charles Finney proclaimed revival to be a "renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire in obedience to God. It is giving up one's will to God in deep humility."
    The real candidate for revival finds themself in the crucible of testing and the furnace of fire by the hand of Almighty God. If we submit to God's purging we can experience the truth of Proverbs 25:4, "Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer." 

Do you really want revival? 
Do you really want God's power?
Do you really want His Spirit to control your life this hour?
Oh, repent and turn to Jesus,
Seek His face and humbly pray; 
Do you really want revival?
Are you willing to obey?


"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart,
​O God, though will not despise" (Psalm 51:17)
​