If we would expect God to visit us, we need to be sure and keep the channels of love open for Him. We can’t let the channels be clogged up with sin or things that grieve the Holy Spirit. Whatever it is in our lives that may be keeping us from walking closer with God and knowing the love of Christ, let us be done with it!
This is an excerpt from the full sermon, “Do You Have Expectation?“
Charles Leiter - this undoubtedly is in one of his books, but I just remember him telling me about how Mona visited some of these Welsh folks where Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to vacation. And they lived in this farm. They got their power from water that flowed off the mountain and turned a generator. They got their power, but sometimes their power would go out. What would happen? Well, limbs and garbage would collect in there. And right before the generator was a screen, and so this stuff would come down pushed by the torrent of water and it would collect there on this grating. And if it impeded the flow? No power. No electricity. No flow beyond that point. And so they'd have to go out and pull the stuff off. Charles talks about that as being a good illustration of the Christian life - keeping those channels open. There's things that clog the screen. Putting ourselves in an optimal position to be visited by the Lord. Perhaps there's things in your life that you know they're impeding the flow; they're grieving the Spirit; they're quenching the Spirit. James just this morning was telling me about a covenant - reminding me - he'd told me before, that he made concerning a certain thing in his life. Brother Craig just the other day was talking about earlier back in January just making a determination about something. You know, some of us - and I've been at those points - where it's just like you get aggravated with something and you recognize it's impeded your Christian life long enough. And you say no more! I don't want that anymore! Lord, I'm done with it. For good. You want to be careful when you begin to make vows before the Lord. Be careful. But I know that. I know that inner feeling when you've had it with something that has been a distraction to you for too long. What is it? What's impeding? See, we want to put ourselves in the place where God is most likely to break through. We don't want to be grieving Him. We want to try to comprehend the love of Christ. Get the distractions out. If you really want to climb this mountain, because this is what will fuel everything - you're rooted and grounded in this love. You're overcome by this. I remember years ago when I preached on this, and I think I got this actually from something John Piper said. But you know, when you're filled with the fullness of God and you're overwhelmed by the love of Christ for you, you don't easily go out and have sex with your neighbor's wife. That might be an exaggerated way to put it, but you get the reality. You don't easily go have an argument with your own wife. You don't easily just go off into sin. Because there is something about the love of Christ that is compelling and constraining. It constrains us. It's hard to be melted by the kind of love we're going to look at in the weeks ahead and then just to say, you know, I think I'm going to go get drunk. Or, well, that's nice, but after all, "Lord of the Rings" is better than that. You don't do that. This love of Christ has an influence.
