This sermon delivered at the Canadian Revival Fellowship Conference emphasizes the importance of revival ministry and the need for a life's message. Brother Don Kern shares his personal journey of desolation in ministry, leading to a crisis that highlighted the significance of the Lordship of Christ. He discusses the use of 'staffs' as substitutes for a life's message in reaching the spiritually dead, focusing on promotions, possessions, personalities, and preaching. The sermon stresses the necessity of prayer, dying to self, seeing others through the eyes of Jesus, and having clean hands and a pure heart to effectively transmit spiritual life to those in need.

The following message was given at the Canadian Revival Fellowship Conference which focused on the theme, Christ is All, and was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, February 1987. May our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ richly bless you and cause you to grow spiritually as a result of viewing this tape. Brother Don has been a former associate pastor, he's been an evangelist, he's been on the staff for a period of time at Liberty, what's the name of the church? Thomas Road Baptist Church with Jerry Falwell, and God has uniquely anointed him in a revival ministry. It came as a result of desolation in the midst of his early life in the ministry, and God bringing him to the Christ life, a crisis in his own personal experience in the ministry, to see the desolation of self-effort and the importance of the Lordship of Christ in his life. And we're delighted to have Brother Don Kern, he is a part of the Canadian Revival Fellowship ministry, he's available for crusades, and God has kept him busy, he's been in the ministry for nine years, and I know our hearts are going to be blessed by the spirit and unique wisdom God's given him in the word of God. Brother Don Kern, welcome to the Canadian Revival Fellowship Conference, and I know that the folks will enjoy your southern accent and the ministry of the word. He's a short man. What is the air like up there? Oh, it's wonderful, wonderful. I'm six foot eight, I'm from Goldsboro, North Carolina, and I believe that we run second to growing the tallest behind Texas. It's a joy to be with you today, I appreciate so much the Canadian Revival Fellowship inviting me to come and participate in this conference. I'm looking forward to sitting at the feet of Jesus as he ministers through many of these men and women that are part of this fellowship. Let me just say this morning that you're going to have to pardon me, I've got a little bit of a head cold and I took an antihistamine, and it's drying up every bit of saliva that I have in my mouth, so you may have to bear with me this morning. If you would open your Bibles, please, to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings in chapter number four. Brother Ralph has asked me to share on the necessity of a life's message. Let me just share with you a part of my Christ's life testimony. Back in 1982, I was becoming more popular in the evangelistic ranks, and that year I was privileged to hold 28 evangelistic, and what the South terms as revival meetings. We had somewhere around 200 professions of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, just hundreds of other decisions for different matters in the Christian life, but at the end of that year I was quite dry, I was quite desolate, and the thing that bothered me the most, and I believe that the Lord used the most to bring me to the crisis that he initiated in my life in ministry, was that I had read in John 15 that Jesus said, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, thank you, and that your fruit should remain, and I was not seeing very much remaining fruit in my ministry, and I believe if God initiated the work and God brought it to fruition, then it would remain. So I began to search the scriptures, and I got real hungry, and as I moved into this crisis, one of my statements was, Lord, if there's nothing more to Christianity, I'm ready to quit. I saw no spiritual reality. Well, at the beginning of 1983, the Lord allowed me to come in contact once again with Brother Harold Vaughan, who, Harold will not be here this week, it's my understanding, because he's come down with pneumonia, but Harold began to share with me some of the truths that my soul had so desperately desired for such a lengthy period of time, and I saw spiritual reality in it. As I began to appropriate those truths by faith and obedience, the Lord began to make himself real to me, and then the Lord threw other men, like Brother Al Henson, and others across the land that had caught the vision of revival. Through their ministries, God began to solidify this in my heart. In 1983, we engaged ourselves in a revival crusade ministry. Still a lot of questions, and even today, even more questions than answers. But the Lord is allowing us to see remaining fruit, which I think is a definite, visible assurance that God is doing the work more and more and not Don Curran. And during those days, God created and began to cultivate within me a life's message. And I want you to look with me this afternoon at 2 Kings 4. A North Carolinian cannot tell noon from the morning here in Canada, but in 2 Kings 4, if you would, in verse number 8, you remember the story of Elisha and the Shulamite woman. This woman was very hospitable, the scripture said, with all of her care and hospitality. The Bible goes on to tell us that Elisha blessed the woman for her generosity by allowing her to have a son that she so desperately desired through the years of her life. And one day this young man went out to his father. While he was working in the field, the young man had what many theologians believe to be a heat stroke, and he died. The scripture goes on to tell us that this woman went to her husband and requested permission to go and see the man of God. And he granted her that permission, and she went with a servant. And as he approached the man of God, Gehazi, Elisha's servant, came to thrust her away. The Bible tells us that Elisha prohibited Gehazi from restraining the woman, for he could discern that her soul was vexed within her. Now as we move into the story in verse number 29, the Bible tells us in 2 Kings 4, in verse 29, Then he said to Gehazi, gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go thy way, if thou meet any man, salute him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again. And lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child. But there was neither voice nor hearing. And wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awake. Now you know I'm convinced today that there are many people that we come in contact with on a daily basis that are dead in trespasses and sins. If you would permit me to do so this morning, this session, I'd like to just draw some things out that I trust that possibly the Holy Spirit may give you a point of identification with. And that is, I believe with all my heart that not only outside of the church, but also inside the church, possibly even within our own domestic relationships, our families are dead spiritually, as this young man was dead physically. They're alienated from the life of God. Their mind is blinded from the truth of the gospel. They've heard consistent religious repertoire expressed to them. But because there's been no life in it, it has not appealed to their spiritual need. And consequently, they're still even today dead in trespasses and sins. Now, I fear today that we have taken things that men have given us and used them as substitutes for the Christ life being expressed freely through us in order to reach people that are dead in trespasses and sins. And this morning, what I'd like to do is just highlight four staffs that we have used as a substitute for a life's message to see those that are spiritually dead resurrected unto newness of life. Four staffs. Number one, I found that we, especially we in the South these days, have utilized the staff of promotions in order to reach men and women that are spiritually dead. What is promotion? Using temporal means to entice men to come under the ministry of the word. Now, may I say this morning that I believe that one of Satan's greatest devices is that of extremism. And many times when we get a spiritual truth, and possibly during these days a revival ministry, you may receive something fresh from the Lord. And it may be the will of God for you to receive that. But the problem is, is as you have received that and God has given you stewardship of that thing and you experience the life of it, there is a tendency for the evil one to come along and begin to sow seeds of deception. And specifically in the area of getting you to go off on a tangent to the point that you separate that truth from the rest of the truth of God's word. I believe that there is nothing wrong with promotion as long as it's put in its proper place. But we better make sure, friend, that it runs a far distant second behind a life that is devoted and yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I'm sure it has its place. I don't have the answer of what place it is as of yet. But I believe that what should take far preeminence over everything else in my life and in your life is the life of Christ being preeminent in our own heart and in our own life. Promotions. I highly esteem a number of men in America that have associated themselves with the independent Baptist movement. I believe they're just a part of the body of Christ. They're not the entire body of Christ. I believe that those that believe in the cardinal doctrines of the faith are a part of Jesus' glorious body. But a man that I've esteemed over the years since I cut my teeth on the theology that came through independent Baptist circles is a man by the name of Dr. Lee Roberson. And Dr. Roberson was speaking to a group of preachers back a couple of years ago. He had just left his ministry there in Highland Park, Tennessee in the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga and during the course of his preliminary comments one night in a church in Brevard, North Carolina, he made the statement. He said, you know, we're running better than 11,000 people in our church there at Highland Park in Chattanooga as well as our satellite churches out of that church. And he said, you know, he says, I fear that if we were to discontinue our promotions next Sunday, we'd lose better than half of what we've got. For he said, I discovered something. And his voice began to break. And he expressed his testimony in a tear. He said, gentlemen, I discovered this, that whatever you use to get them there is what you're going to have to use to keep them. My friend, I believe that we've taken the staff of promotions and we've used it solely as a substitute many times for a life's message individually and collectively within the Church of Jesus Christ. Promotions. The Bible tells us that it's not by might, not by our own mental ingenuity, but by His Spirit, saith the Lord. You remember Jesus. Obviously, Jesus used the miracles and the meat that He gave the people to draw those under the sound of His own ministry and life. But He didn't use that solely, and there came a day where He extracted that from the people. In John chapter number 6, you find that Jesus looked at him and He says, You come because of the meat and the miracles that I provide for you. When the Scripture says that you begin to give them hard sayings, unless you can eat my flesh and drink my blood, identify in my death, you'll have no fellowship with me. The Scripture says that even they testified that these were hard sayings and they were offended by them. And as we reach the end of John chapter 6, the Bible says that they turned and they went away, and Jesus asked His disciples, Will you also go away? Secondly this morning, I believe there's another staff. As Yahazi took the staff of Elisha and laid it upon the face of this child, we too are taking staffs and laying them upon the faces of those that are spiritually dead. That is, we have used the staff of possessions, the staff of possessions. How in the world can we take these liberties of thinking that if we provide the best for our community as far as physical blessing is concerned, that somehow, someway, this will be a drawing card to get them under the sound of the gospel. Now, friend, I'm not against nice facilities. Praise the Lord if God provides that in His own timing, according to His own will, according to His principles of finance. But I want to tell you something, friend. If we have to resort to those means to draw people under the sound of the gospel, there is something terribly wrong. Possessions. Many of us, possibly even in our own works, are much like the Laodicean syndrome, increased with goods and have need of nothing, including God. There's such an independent spirit that's prevailing today, for while everything else is flourishing as far as physical ministries, and maybe they should, but you know the preaching ministry couldn't be better. Many churches have a soul-winning ministry, and that's going fairly good in many churches that have been willing to stick it out. The Sunday school ministry is great when you have so many various curriculums to draw from. And there's all sorts of ministries in the South these days that our churches are using. And there's nothing wrong with these ministries in and of themselves, but the prayer ministry is waning. There's very little emphasis on prayer these days, at least the right kind of prayer. Well, in the Laodicean church, Jesus said, you're deceived, and you know not that you're wretched. It means deep distress. Or miserable, deserving of pity. Or poor. Listen to this one. You have no source to draw from during seasons of distress and anguish. I believe Mr. Spurgeon was right when he says that the greatest judgment of God upon the church of Jesus Christ individually and collectively is for God to give us our requests but send leanness into our souls. And then fourthly, blind. You're unable to perceive spiritual things, especially your own spiritual condition. And then you're naked. You have no garment of salvation whatsoever. Deadness breeds deadness. Well, you know I'm convinced these days that shallowness is God's rebuke to a disobedient church. But there are other promotions, other staffs that we use in the Christian realm these days with ministry. How about this one? How about the staff of personalities? You know, we've promoted man above measure these days. And somehow we have the thought in our mentality that if we get this man, if we get this name in our pulpit, surely that'll draw more people from more churches and more people out of the community. But when are we going to realize that God says, no flesh shall glory in my presence? And could it be these days that we've grieved the Holy Spirit because we have deified man? I want to tell you something, friend. I don't know what church you're from. I don't know what circle you're identified with. But any time you see flesh glory behind the pulpit, any time you see flesh glory in the church, any time you see flesh talking about what it's done in its endeavors through the ministry, any time you see this visible manifestation of flesh glory, guess who didn't show up? No flesh shall glory in His presence. These days, sometimes people have elevated Brother Curran because God did a work in that particular meeting that they were identified with. In some meetings, we don't have that kind of work. It's a constant struggle throughout the week. But then there are others where we experience mercy drops. And during those times, people are refreshed by the presence of the Lord, and they think that Brother Curran had something to do with it. So they'll invite me to their church, and before I go, it's Brother Curran this, Brother Curran's coming to town. And they promote me as the greatest thing since Elijah. But when I get there to the church, nothing happens. Why? Because the Spirit of God has long taken His flight. Because no flesh shall glory in His presence. The stamp of personalities. Henry Jowett says there is something wrong when the vessel robs the treasure of its glory. And Dr. Warren Wiersbe says we're living in a day where we have made the vessel a costly exhibit. We have taken men and elevated them beyond measure. Then fourthly, there is the stamp of preaching. Listen very carefully. You may misunderstand. I believe that God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them which do not believe. But on the other hand, friend, we don't need more preaching today. We need more Spirit-anointed preaching. And there is a difference. As Dr. Stephen Oldford and Dr. Stanley these days have been emphasizing the need for incarnational preaching. You say, what is that, Brother Don? That's a life's message, friend. It's when the Word of God gets alive in you and me as the people of God. You say, how does it become alive in us? By simply obeying God and believing God. When God speaks, we listen, we obey God, we cooperate with His Spirit. Then the truth of God's Word becomes alive in us. And then when we speak, we take on the dimension of a ministry like Samuel when the Bible says that God never allowed His words to fall to the ground. Can you imagine that? That even though some people may outwardly give you the impression they're not hearing one thing you've got to say, still though, because you have lived in the reality of what you say you believe, that when you speak, God speaks through you and He touches their spirit whether they express an outward desire to hear it or not. The staff of preaching. You know, I'm convinced today that any time that what we say we believe and what we preach gets one inch ahead of what we're living, the ax head falls off the handle. We begin to move into the realm of the flesh. But when we obey God and we live up to the life that God has given, then God can speak through us and He can channel His grace and anointing and power through us to minister to others individually and collectively. The staff of preaching. I tell you, my friend, I long to have the ministry of a Stephen. And even though they were opposed to what he had to say there in Acts chapter 6, the Bible said that they were not able to resist the spirit and the wisdom by which he spake. Can you imagine that? And even though people are not cooperating with God's word outwardly, still though, they're not able to resist the spirit and the wisdom by which you speak. Why? Because you're living in the realm of spiritual reality. Why? Because you're cooperating with God in what He has entrusted you to be a good steward of concerning His truth. These are just a few staffs. And as Gehazi laid the staff of Elisha upon the face of this dead boy, even we today have taken these staffs that men have passed along to us and laid them upon the faces of those that are spiritually dead. And there is no life. There is no spiritual vital signs that are restored. The Bible tells us in verse 33. Let's move on. He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon them twain. Notice the impulse of a man that has a life's message. Notice his action. The very first thing that he did in verse 33 was the Bible said that he prayed unto the Lord. I wonder, friend, do you have the kind of prayer life that is not crisis praying, but rather it's prayer that comes from conviction? You know, I've always preached that there is a difference between praying and saying your prayers, but I had never really tapped into the spiritual reality of that until recently. Of going before the Lord and waiting on Him to initiate the prayer and then having my heart strangely warmed by His presence and knowing that I'm right there in the very presence of God. Many times it's a struggle. Have you ever noticed the ministry of Jesus that when He ministered, He rested, but when He prayed, He agonized? And I took that one day and I began to apply it to my life and I found many times that when I minister, I struggle. I sweat. But when I pray, I pray so smoothly. I find that many times we have to resort to expressing and communicating our prayers in more of an articulate way as a cover-up, as a camouflage for the lack of real spiritual stability that we have in our own life. But this man prayed. It was his vital breath, prayer. Let me give you this morning a definition of intercession. I believe He interceded for this man. I believe He interceded for this boy that was dead. I believe the only way that we can see a mighty work of evangelism transpire in the lives of those that are lost and dead is to catch the vision of intercessory prayer. Listen carefully. Someone has said that intercession is a ballistic missile that can be launched from a launching pad no larger than a place to kneel, travel at the speed of light, land precisely on target thousands of miles away, and there is no defense against it. But I want to tell you something, friend. It all breaks down if there's sin in your life. The very first thing this man did was he prayed. He had a communication with God that was beyond the measure of man. The Bible tells us in verse 34 that he went up and laid upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands. Notice the very first thing that he did after he prayed. He laid his life upon the child's life. You know, as I think about that, to me that is the most sickening feeling because obviously mortification had set in. Possibly even the stench of death had surfaced. You know, friend, those that are spiritually dead these days, they're unleashing, they're releasing from their very life a stench. It's a stench of spiritual decay, of odor. You know, many times when you and I get around those people, we're intimidated by their presence. I don't know about you, I've never really had a problem witnessing to people one-on-one, at least most people that is. But there were a couple of different groups of people that I had a very difficult time witnessing to. One was the real intellectual. And the stench of that intellectualism intimidated me to the point that when I got around them and I shared a witness for Christ, the whole time I was full of unbelief because I never really felt like I was saying the proper words that would communicate the gospel in an adequate way to them. But you know, one day as I look back, I found that more of God's power was manifested when I felt comfortable, when I was so self-confident because it was during those times of ministering to these people that I felt like were head and shoulders above me intellectually. Those were the times that I had to depend upon God the most and God's strength was being made perfect through my weakness. Down South, there are some that are intimidated by witnessing to black people. Can you believe that we even have preachers down South that don't even believe that black people have a soul? And this philosophy is carried over into the lives of people that do believe that they have a soul but they don't want to reach out to them. They don't want to win them to Christ because you see, they can't stand the stench. They've never died to the stench, friend. Now obviously, to me, Elisha had died to the stench of physical odor, decay. Let me ask you this morning, have you died to the odor, the stench of spiritual decay in the lives of those that God has entrusted you, the stewardship of witnessing to you? Is there somebody on your job that you have a very difficult time sharing a witness before because somehow you just don't click with them physically? Normally, those are the people that God has appointed you to share Christ with. And friend, when we have taken on this dimension of death, of being identified with Jesus in his death, we take on the very nature of God and God is no respecter of persons. We die to those that we have the most difficult time sharing a witness boldly before. We die to the stench that we don't like about them. Boy, they're so fluent in their speech and I seem to stutter and stammer. You're so conscious of self. You've never died to that. Well, you know, I just don't like their looks. Their outward appearance doesn't appeal to me and I'm afraid I'd say the wrong thing. You've never died to your Pharisee-ism. You see, before we can place our lives upon the lives of those that God leads us to witness to, we're going to have to die to the stench of that spiritual decay, die to their own prejudice, die to various things in our lives that God puts his finger on that we have got to mortify through the Spirit of God so that we can witness to these people with the freedom that God's made available to us through Christ. Death. Notice secondly what he did after he laid his body upon the child. Notice he put his mouth upon his mouth. Now, friend, listen carefully. I dare not spiritualize the Scripture, but I believe we can use this as an illustration to convey our approach in witnessing. Revival. One of the main criticisms of revival ministry that I have had to receive and endure, and it's been a pleasurable experience because I believe that true revival will resolve to genuine, legitimate evangelism. But I've had so many brethren in the South say, well, I'll tell you something about these revival ministries. People become so heavenly-minded they're no earthly good. People become so prayer-conscious that they never reach out to the lost. And I said, dear friend, if that's the case, then what they experienced was not revival. It was a cheap counterfeit. For when we experience genuine revival, because we're filled with the Spirit of Christ, then the Spirit of Christ, that same nature, exemplifies itself through you and I, and that nature is that we seek to save that which is lost. One man put it. Matter of fact, I believe it was Dr. Paul Billheimer. He said, once we take on the cross of Jesus and we die to ourself and we allow the Spirit of God to make real the death of Jesus as our own death, then, he said, we will become sensitive to a lost world about us. Watchman Nee says that if we're not sensitive to a lost world, then the cross that we're bearing is not the cross of Christ. It's the cross of our own self-interest. The Bible tells us that he put his mouth upon the child's mouth. And friend, may I suggest this morning that no matter how spiritual you become, and you'll speed up the process of sanctification when you enter into the realm of revival, but I want to tell you something. The more and more you do, the more of a burden, the burden of the Lord that you're going to receive for people about you to see and to experience the same salvation that you've been a recipient of by his grace. You are never negated, regardless of who you are, from your responsibility of sharing Christ with others. Revival is a means to an end, the ultimate end to glorify God. But a genuine evidence of revival is evangelism, soul winning. I believe it with all of my soul. And anything short of that is not revival. It's a spirit movement. Then notice something else. He put his eyes upon his eyes. You know, I'm finding these days tremendous liberty in my approach to people that do not know Christ as Savior by learning to see them through the eyes of Jesus. Friend, when we see people only through our eyes, we have a tendency to classify them. Boy, this fellow over here, whole long-haired, grimy fellow, you know, I mean, he's a hippie. Here's a woman over here, I mean, boy, it's obvious that she's so arrogant and proud and boy, she's just a headstrong woman and I'll not witness to her because there's probably no use. When we see people through our eyes, we have a tendency to judge them and classify them. And it becomes a deterrent in our witness. But when we see them through the eyes of Jesus, we can understand them better. Why do they talk the way they do? Why do they act the way they do? Why do they respond in this fashion? I'll tell you why. Because they're sheep having no shepherd. Why did Jesus have an overwhelming compassion for these people? Because he saw them as sheep having no shepherd. How are you and I going to be able to reach these people? By seeing them as sheep having no shepherd. Finally this morning, you notice that he put his hands upon the child's hands in verse 34. I believe that we could draw a spiritual analogy out of this by referring to what James tells us in James chapter 4. How do we draw nines to God that he might draw nine to us? By cleansing your hands, ye sinners. Our spiritual hands. Our spiritual service for the Lord. And friend, I want you to know this morning that if our hands are impure, if they're filthy, if they have the saber of self on them, it's because self is in control of our hearts. The evidence of impure hands is an impure heart. And before we'll be able to reach people effectively and place our life upon their life and expect God to use our life to resurrect those that are spiritually dead in a soul-winning endeavor, we're going to have to have clean hands and a pure heart. Can I ask you a question this morning? Do you have clean hands and a pure heart? Sin says, I have a right to myself. God says if you're crucified, the seat of your rights has been put to death. You have no right. You live unto me to glorify me that I might glorify myself through you in imparting life to those that I lead you to lay your life upon. Notice what the Bible tells us there in verse 34. And he stretched himself upon the child and the flesh of the child waxed warm. The vital signs began to return. In verse 35, And then he returned and walked in the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him again and the child sneezed seven times and the child's eyes were opened. Listen. Some people when they get saved beautifully in a very exciting fashion express life that they've received from Christ. But some people all they can do when they receive Christ is just sneeze. Friend, don't expect too much out of people that God channels his power through into their lives through you. Sometimes there's just little things that will begin to manifest themselves in that person's life. Sometimes all they can do is sneeze. But God gives us also the responsibility of continuing to lay our life upon them that his life through us might become formed in them. Staffs. I share this word of testimony during the days of consistently operating in self-will and for self-glory. It was a lot easier for me to resort to the staffs of men. To enticing words of man's wisdom. When I had no sense of God's anointing and presence upon my life. And you know as an individual of a part of the body of Christ wherever you go to church as possibly even a corporate body of Christ your own church it's real easy friend when you don't have the anointing of God present in the service, the glory of God manifesting itself to gravitate to the staffs of men. May God lay bare the selfishness of all of our hearts. That he might glorify himself through our lives by reaching others. That we're willing to die to the stench of their own self-life in order to lay our life upon them. That God might have something to use to transmit spiritual life. Let's bow our heads together in prayer. Father we want to thank you this morning that we have received a dispensation. A dispensation of the indwelling Christ. And Father you didn't impart to us this treasure that we might sit back and bask in the glory of what we have received. Revival breaks the outer shell. That the treasure might beget itself in the lives of those that are without the treasure. So teach us today the importance of laying our lives upon those that are dead in trespasses and sins. Teach us Lord to die to the stench of spiritual decay that comes from their life. That we might freely lay our lives upon their lives. That Jesus might be glorified and that he might beget his life through us in the lives of those that do not know him as personal savior. Deliver us from staffs that we've used solely to resurrect men. I don't think there's anything wrong with these staffs as long as they're in their proper place Father. But give us the discernment to know where their proper place is. And then use us for thy glory. For Christ's sake. For copies of this and other audio and video tapes please contact the Canadian Revival Fellowship post office box.