[The following is a manuscript of the message I delivered at Paul's Chapel Church in Lexington, NC at their revival service on Monday evening, the 25th of September, 2017.]
Brothers and sisters, family, we have gathered here tonight as the faithful. We come seeking a revival in our lives, a revival of our spirits. We ask to be made fresh again so that we might better serve our Lord. And we also ask that this revival ripple out from here and into the greater community. For that is where the work truly needs to be done.
Sadly, the people who most need to be “revived” will likely never set foot into this beautiful building. They won’t come sit down with us to hear about the Lord. They are lost, and don’t even know it. They’ve either rejected Jesus outright, fell away by the wayside due to neglect or the busyness of life, or they’ve just plain never really heard or understood the Gospel, the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. And they are all around us, just as is Satan and those who serve him.
Lest we think this is some new phenomenon, know that the church of our Lord has been surrounded by non-believers and by the devil’s forces from day one. Listen and follow along as I read from the Revelation of Jesus Christ as shown to the Apostle John, chapter 2 verses 12 through 17, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…
Sadly, the people who most need to be “revived” will likely never set foot into this beautiful building. They won’t come sit down with us to hear about the Lord. They are lost, and don’t even know it. They’ve either rejected Jesus outright, fell away by the wayside due to neglect or the busyness of life, or they’ve just plain never really heard or understood the Gospel, the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. And they are all around us, just as is Satan and those who serve him.
Lest we think this is some new phenomenon, know that the church of our Lord has been surrounded by non-believers and by the devil’s forces from day one. Listen and follow along as I read from the Revelation of Jesus Christ as shown to the Apostle John, chapter 2 verses 12 through 17, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…
12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the One with the sharp two-edged sword:13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to Me. You refused to deny Me even when Antipas, My faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it."--Revelation 2:12-17 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, we have come together tonight to worship You and to seek a refreshing of our spirit by Your Holy Spirit. Fill us anew, please Father. Stoke the fire within us that we might be of more service to You and to Jesus, Your Son. Speak to us now, Father, through Your Holy Spirit directly into our hearts, that we might better understand Your will for each of us. Imprint Your message on our hearts so we never forget. Prepare and enable us to carry our Your commands and our Lord’s great commission. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
During World War II, General Creighton Abrams found himself and his troops surrounded on all sides by enemy forces. With optimism characteristic of the General, he told his officers, "For the first time in the history of this campaign, we are now in a position to attack the enemy in any direction."
Talk about putting a positive spin on what most would consider a dire situation! The reports come in that the enemy is on all sides. There’s no way out, no escape route left. In that situation, some would raise the white flag and surrender. Not General Abrams. No, he looks out and sees that his men can strike at the enemy in any direction!
Family, it’s kind of like that today, for Christians. I see three factions at work in this world. There are those who believe in Jesus, those who don’t believe but don’t make any big deal out of it, and those who work fervently against Jesus, doing everything they can to keep the second group in disbelief and to shake the belief of the first group! The second group has a chance of still being saved, if they can come to know our Lord and accept Him as their personal Savior and Master. Those in the third group are pretty firmly in Satan’s camp, with hardened hearts and blinded eyes. And they surround us on all sides.
But rather than surrender to what the world would say is the inevitable collapse of Christianity, we need to follow the example of General Abrams. No matter which way we go, we can strike at the enemy and his forces in any direction. And even though we sometimes get into heated and bitter arguments among ourselves within our churches, our true enemy is Satan, not other Christians.
Pergamum was already a fairly old and rather important city in Jesus’ day. Located near the Aegean Sea in Greece, it reached its greatest heights under Roman rule. The city had a long history of paganism, first under the Greeks and then the Romans. The people worshiped all manner of gods, with temples and shrines everywhere.
And in this environment a Christian family took shape. In this soil a church was planted. How many of us would have given them a snowball’s chance on the sun of making it? What odds do you think Las Vegas would have given? Surrounded on all sides by one of Satan’s greatest inventions: idolatry, the worship of false gods. The people even worshiped the Roman Emperor, with a temple to him erected there.
Surprisingly enough, though, the church was making it. Jesus noted that even in the face of all the wickedness around them, the church managed to remain faithful and loyal to Him. One of their own was executed, martyred, yet they refused to deny Jesus as Lord. There in Satan’s city.
Family, think about where Christ’s church is today. I don’t mean Paul’s Chapel or Pilgrim Reformed here in Lexington or Emanuel Reformed in Thomasville. I mean the entire body of Jesus left on earth to continue His work here. Where are we? Doesn’t it sound kind of like we’re in Pergamum?
We’re surrounded on all sides by people who worship all manner of false gods, who practice idolatry daily. They worship the gods of convenience, of self-centeredness, of wealth, of hatred, of lust, of sex. They spend far more of their time and resources on entertainment than on Jesus or our Father God. They make idols of sports and movie stars, of singers and politicians. They make gods of themselves.
Family, the church is surrounded on all sides by the enemy’s forces. We live where Satan has his throne.
Unfortunately, there’s one other point we share in common with the church in Pergamum. We tolerate some among us who teach and practice committing all manner of sin. It is, it would seem, very difficult to sit in the midst of the enemy, surrounded on all sides, and not have some slip in unnoticed from time to time. Just as in Pergamum, the church has allowed the world in through its doors.
Now in all honesty, that is something we kind of want, isn’t it? We want the worldly to come in, in the hopes and prayers that they might be saved. But the problem is, rather than changing the worldly into more righteousness, we – the church - have adopted the ways of the world and become more wicked.
We don’t have to look too far to see this. Watch TV a while, or browse a Christian bookstore. You’ll see preachers and church leaders teaching apostate ways. “There’s more than one way to heaven besides Jesus.” “Just do good – that’s all that matters.” “No one is going to hell – God loves us too much for that to ever happen.”
According to my understanding of our Bible, God’s words, those statements are blatantly false teachings, leading people to sin. The result is that we too sin. We too lust for the sinful pleasures this world offers.
The Apostle Paul understood this. Listen to what he told the church of Ephesians, in chapter 4 of his letter, verses 17 through 24…
We must stop living as the Gentiles – the pagans – live. They are confused. They don’t understand what is truly important. Their minds have been clouded by Satan and his endless temptations. They have no shame. They live only for the lustful pleasures this world offers and practice every imaginable kind of impurity, of sin.
Even we who are followers of Christ can fall prey to this lifestyle and wander far from our life with God. But this isn’t what we learned from Jesus. We have no excuse. We know all about Jesus and what He did for us, and why, and we know the truth that comes from Him.
So we must throw off the sinful nature of the world. We must resist those temptations that the world says is really OK to indulge in. We need to get rid of that “everyone else is doing it so we can too” mentality.
This is not the way of Jesus! This is not the way of God! We must be careful of what we allow into our homes through our TVs and computers, in our books and magazines. We must guard our hearts from the wants and desires of the worldly.
We live where Satan has his throne! We must not let him into God’s home, the Holy Spirit’s home – our hearts, our lives. We have no choice but to live in the world, but we can choose to not live worldly lives.
In the last two verses of what I just read from Ephesians, Paul reiterates why we are here tonight. We are here to let God’s Holy Spirit renew and refresh our thoughts and attitudes. We are here to be revived, to rededicate ourselves to serving Jesus. If we remain faithful and loyal to Jesus, as was the church in Pergamum, and not stray from His teachings where they failed, we will be victorious with Christ when He returns to set the world aright. And our rewards will be great, more wonderful than we could ever imagine. We just need to stand strong, surrounded here as we are by Satan’s army. Even as we open the doors to our buildings and invite the world in, we must bar the doors to our hearts and resist the world’s inroads into how we live our lives.
We’re surrounded, here in the city where Satan has his throne. So it doesn’t matter which direction we take to attack our foe. Let’s leave here tonight revived, reinvigorated, rededicated to the fight to win souls for Jesus. Let’s go out and help save the world from itself.
In the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, the world hates You. Satan hates You and is doing everything he can to hurt You. He knows You cannot be overcome, so he attacks Your people instead, Your body left here on earth, Your faithful. He lures the weak into his service by offering temptations they cannot resist. He uses the weak to attack the strong, to persecute the faithful, all the while tempting Your followers in the most cunning ways, that they might slowly stray from Your side until they, too, become lost. Lord Jesus, we live where Satan has his throne. His forces completely surround us, his armies batter at our defenses without ceasing. Strengthen us, Lord, to stand in Your name. Embolden us to strike out against the enemy, against Satan, even where he lives. Show us the weak and the lost and help us bring them back to Your loving arms.
Father God, Satan’s onslaught is relentless. He batters us constantly, and from all directions. He uses everything this world has to offer in his attempts to pull us away from Your Son Jesus. He has even infiltrated our churches – our houses of worship are no longer safe havens. Help us, please Father. Forgive us our disobediences. Strengthen us to stand. Refresh us with Your own Holy Spirit that we might be revived and reinvigorated to continue doing the work of our Lord, here where Satan has his throne.
This we pray in the glorious name of our Christ Jesus, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
During World War II, General Creighton Abrams found himself and his troops surrounded on all sides by enemy forces. With optimism characteristic of the General, he told his officers, "For the first time in the history of this campaign, we are now in a position to attack the enemy in any direction."
Talk about putting a positive spin on what most would consider a dire situation! The reports come in that the enemy is on all sides. There’s no way out, no escape route left. In that situation, some would raise the white flag and surrender. Not General Abrams. No, he looks out and sees that his men can strike at the enemy in any direction!
Family, it’s kind of like that today, for Christians. I see three factions at work in this world. There are those who believe in Jesus, those who don’t believe but don’t make any big deal out of it, and those who work fervently against Jesus, doing everything they can to keep the second group in disbelief and to shake the belief of the first group! The second group has a chance of still being saved, if they can come to know our Lord and accept Him as their personal Savior and Master. Those in the third group are pretty firmly in Satan’s camp, with hardened hearts and blinded eyes. And they surround us on all sides.
But rather than surrender to what the world would say is the inevitable collapse of Christianity, we need to follow the example of General Abrams. No matter which way we go, we can strike at the enemy and his forces in any direction. And even though we sometimes get into heated and bitter arguments among ourselves within our churches, our true enemy is Satan, not other Christians.
Pergamum was already a fairly old and rather important city in Jesus’ day. Located near the Aegean Sea in Greece, it reached its greatest heights under Roman rule. The city had a long history of paganism, first under the Greeks and then the Romans. The people worshiped all manner of gods, with temples and shrines everywhere.
And in this environment a Christian family took shape. In this soil a church was planted. How many of us would have given them a snowball’s chance on the sun of making it? What odds do you think Las Vegas would have given? Surrounded on all sides by one of Satan’s greatest inventions: idolatry, the worship of false gods. The people even worshiped the Roman Emperor, with a temple to him erected there.
Surprisingly enough, though, the church was making it. Jesus noted that even in the face of all the wickedness around them, the church managed to remain faithful and loyal to Him. One of their own was executed, martyred, yet they refused to deny Jesus as Lord. There in Satan’s city.
Family, think about where Christ’s church is today. I don’t mean Paul’s Chapel or Pilgrim Reformed here in Lexington or Emanuel Reformed in Thomasville. I mean the entire body of Jesus left on earth to continue His work here. Where are we? Doesn’t it sound kind of like we’re in Pergamum?
We’re surrounded on all sides by people who worship all manner of false gods, who practice idolatry daily. They worship the gods of convenience, of self-centeredness, of wealth, of hatred, of lust, of sex. They spend far more of their time and resources on entertainment than on Jesus or our Father God. They make idols of sports and movie stars, of singers and politicians. They make gods of themselves.
Family, the church is surrounded on all sides by the enemy’s forces. We live where Satan has his throne.
Unfortunately, there’s one other point we share in common with the church in Pergamum. We tolerate some among us who teach and practice committing all manner of sin. It is, it would seem, very difficult to sit in the midst of the enemy, surrounded on all sides, and not have some slip in unnoticed from time to time. Just as in Pergamum, the church has allowed the world in through its doors.
Now in all honesty, that is something we kind of want, isn’t it? We want the worldly to come in, in the hopes and prayers that they might be saved. But the problem is, rather than changing the worldly into more righteousness, we – the church - have adopted the ways of the world and become more wicked.
We don’t have to look too far to see this. Watch TV a while, or browse a Christian bookstore. You’ll see preachers and church leaders teaching apostate ways. “There’s more than one way to heaven besides Jesus.” “Just do good – that’s all that matters.” “No one is going to hell – God loves us too much for that to ever happen.”
According to my understanding of our Bible, God’s words, those statements are blatantly false teachings, leading people to sin. The result is that we too sin. We too lust for the sinful pleasures this world offers.
The Apostle Paul understood this. Listen to what he told the church of Ephesians, in chapter 4 of his letter, verses 17 through 24…
17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.
--Ephesians 4:17-24 (NLT)
Even we who are followers of Christ can fall prey to this lifestyle and wander far from our life with God. But this isn’t what we learned from Jesus. We have no excuse. We know all about Jesus and what He did for us, and why, and we know the truth that comes from Him.
So we must throw off the sinful nature of the world. We must resist those temptations that the world says is really OK to indulge in. We need to get rid of that “everyone else is doing it so we can too” mentality.
This is not the way of Jesus! This is not the way of God! We must be careful of what we allow into our homes through our TVs and computers, in our books and magazines. We must guard our hearts from the wants and desires of the worldly.
We live where Satan has his throne! We must not let him into God’s home, the Holy Spirit’s home – our hearts, our lives. We have no choice but to live in the world, but we can choose to not live worldly lives.
In the last two verses of what I just read from Ephesians, Paul reiterates why we are here tonight. We are here to let God’s Holy Spirit renew and refresh our thoughts and attitudes. We are here to be revived, to rededicate ourselves to serving Jesus. If we remain faithful and loyal to Jesus, as was the church in Pergamum, and not stray from His teachings where they failed, we will be victorious with Christ when He returns to set the world aright. And our rewards will be great, more wonderful than we could ever imagine. We just need to stand strong, surrounded here as we are by Satan’s army. Even as we open the doors to our buildings and invite the world in, we must bar the doors to our hearts and resist the world’s inroads into how we live our lives.
We’re surrounded, here in the city where Satan has his throne. So it doesn’t matter which direction we take to attack our foe. Let’s leave here tonight revived, reinvigorated, rededicated to the fight to win souls for Jesus. Let’s go out and help save the world from itself.
In the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. Amen.
Let us pray… Lord Jesus, the world hates You. Satan hates You and is doing everything he can to hurt You. He knows You cannot be overcome, so he attacks Your people instead, Your body left here on earth, Your faithful. He lures the weak into his service by offering temptations they cannot resist. He uses the weak to attack the strong, to persecute the faithful, all the while tempting Your followers in the most cunning ways, that they might slowly stray from Your side until they, too, become lost. Lord Jesus, we live where Satan has his throne. His forces completely surround us, his armies batter at our defenses without ceasing. Strengthen us, Lord, to stand in Your name. Embolden us to strike out against the enemy, against Satan, even where he lives. Show us the weak and the lost and help us bring them back to Your loving arms.
Father God, Satan’s onslaught is relentless. He batters us constantly, and from all directions. He uses everything this world has to offer in his attempts to pull us away from Your Son Jesus. He has even infiltrated our churches – our houses of worship are no longer safe havens. Help us, please Father. Forgive us our disobediences. Strengthen us to stand. Refresh us with Your own Holy Spirit that we might be revived and reinvigorated to continue doing the work of our Lord, here where Satan has his throne.
This we pray in the glorious name of our Christ Jesus, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
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