Looking the Other Way

"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...Repent of your sin or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth." 

Revelation 2:14, 16 (NLT)

The church in Pergamum was located in "the city where Satan has his throne". That could be almost any city in America today, with a few exceptions. In spite of that, they remained loyal to Christ, refusing to deny Him even when one of their own was martyred. God approves of shining His light in a dark place--it's a hard assignment though, to keep those evil influences out of the church. That was the problem at Pergamum--they allowed people into their church that thought it was okay to believe in Christ and not give up their sinful habits. They, in turn, were causing others in the church to sin.
Don't we see the same thing today? We are so afraid of offending people. Couples living together outside of marriage has almost become acceptable in the church. Dabbling in pornography, drinking, watching impure movies and television programs--all these things cause others to stumble. In his book, Messages on Revival, Vance Havner says, ,"We sin when we tolerate what God condemns and look some other way instead of dealing with it...Sometimes we become so sentimental about offending one person and so sorry for him that we risk the health of a whole church."  He also says that we do harm to the offender by tolerating their sin. We lead them to think they are right with God when they really face His judgment.
To paraphrase Jesus' message to Pergamum, and to us--Repent! If you don't take care of this problem, I will!

Repent or Else

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place." Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)

The church in Ephesus was doing everything right--or so it seemed. Jesus commended them for their deeds, their hard work and perseverance. They didn't tolerate wicked men, they put false apostles to the test, and endured hardships in Christ's name without growing weary. Sounds like a resume most churches today would be proud of. But Jesus, the One who knew them intimately, saw something serious that no one else could see--their love for Him had grown cold. All the good works could not cover or make up for this painful loss. It was so serious that, if they did not repent, Jesus would remove their light and His presence.
Let's make it personal. What was it like when we first loved Christ? Did we love Him extravagantly, not caring what it cost us? Did we serve Him joyfully, considering it a privilege rather than a duty? Did we give out of a heart overflowing with gratitude? Where are we now? Are we bogged down in the details? Just going through the motions? Finding our satisfaction in other things? Jesus has the remedy for those of us who have forsaken our first love, but it's not optional: remember and repent--do the things you once did!

Follow the Leader

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent." Revelation 3:3 (NIV)

So who is Jesus talking to when He says "Repent"? He's not just talking to churches that have long since died--he's talking to every church and every Christ follower. Most of us act as if these words were meant for someone else. Specifically, Jesus' letters to the seven churches in Revelation are addressed to the angels or ministers of those churches. Why would He be writing to them, unless He expected the ministers to lead their churches in repentance? The pastors are to set the tone for those who are under their leadership. Revival should start from the pulpit. Jesus addressed those letters to the ones He held responsible for the condition of the churches. It has been said that a church will be no more spiritual than its leader. That does not mean we have no personal responsibility for our condition. But the pastor is the leader--if he is satisfied with business as usual, his church will be too. If he is not broken over sin, it's hard for the people, themselves,  to feel that "godly sorrow that leads to repentance".

Jesus' Last Word to Us

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  Revelation 2:7 (NIV)

If you had one last opportunity to share some final words with your loved ones, what would they be? Wouldn't you want them to be the most meaningful, most important things you could think of? Wouldn't you want to warn them if they were headed down the wrong path? Jesus' last words to the seven churches in Asia can be found in the book of Revelation (chapters 2 and 3). He wrote a letter to each one and commended them for the good they had done. One thing about Jesus, though--He sees everything. In five of the seven letters, He gave them the same advice--"Repent". These letters are written for us--that we might see ourselves and our churches as Jesus sees them. We need to take God's word seriously. I think Jesus wants us to get ready for His return, but most of us are too in love with the world to care. We are the "Bride of Christ"! He expects her to be spotless and without blemish. How will it be if He returns for His Bride, only to find her with her hair disheveled, her veil ripped, and her gown and shoes muddy?

 Jesus said, "Repent".

What Revival IS--What It IS NOT

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"  Psalm 85:6 (NIV)

Many think of revival as a week of church meetings with a guest evangelist, scheduled far in advance and focused on reaching the lost. Some do get saved. The rest of us are fired up for a few weeks, then things settle back to "normal". This is not what revival is. Most of the people I know, myself included, have never witnessed the real thing. The fact that the word itself starts with "re" should tell us something--bringing back to life something that was dead or close to it. Vance Havner says, "Revival is a work of the Spirit among God's own people whereby they get right with God and with each other." This, clearly, is not the same thing as evangelism, although salvation of the lost should result from revival. It starts with God's people--maybe in the heart of just one person--realizing just how far from God they have drifted. God has so much more for us than we typically experience--we are content with crumbs, when God wants to invite us to a banquet! Prayer plays an essential role--it's been said that no great movement of God takes place without it. When people get things right with God, they will get right with others: marriages and family relationships are restored, forgiveness is asked for and given, genuine love for each other overflows. When the church looks nothing like the world, people of the world will be drawn to God. That is revival!

Pray

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT)

This week, our President will begin his second term in office.  The congress has already begun its new term and the battle lines are being drawn.  Our country is deeply divided over many issues.   Our default behavior seems to be to criticize anyone we don’t agree with, but what does that really accomplish?  Is that approach leading to ‘peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity’? Praying for all people, even those we don’t agree with, pleases God ‘who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.’ Paul’s advice to Timothy was inspired by God—why not try it?

Our Love Affair with the World

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”  James 4:4 (NIV)

This is the church in America. We love the world and all its toys.  But let’s get personal. What consumes the majority of our time?  Is it reading and studying God’s Word? Are we ministering to the widows and orphans?  Are we caring for the needy, setting the oppressed free?  Are we showing love and compassion to a hurting world?

God doesn’t want us isolated from the world—He wants us to be in it, but not defined by it.  Is our allegiance to God or to our own selfish desires?  Would we skip church to attend a sporting event? Do we waste time doing mindless things on the computer?  Are we caught up with having the latest toys and gadgets that are so prized by the world?  I confess to you that these questions are convicting to me.  It’s easy to get caught up in the attractions of this world, but when we do, we are investing our time and money in something that is perishable—it will have no lasting effect on anyone. And, it is seductive. We cannot play around with it—it leads to adultery.  God takes it seriously, and so should we.

Repentance

“For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy; ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”  Isaiah 57:15 (NIV)

 Repentance is the message for the church in America.  Why is it not being preached?  I believe we are like the frog in the pot of warm water. The water is gradually getting hotter, but we haven’t noticed—in fact, it feels pretty good. We have become comfortable with our little sins to the point that we don’t even recognize them as sins.  We think that some of the things in God’s word are optional.  Do we realize it is sin…

• To worry—“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…” (Matt. 6:25). 
• To speak carelessly—“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matt. 12:36).
• To not show mercy—“judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful” (James 2:13).
• To prefer the things of the world over God—“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?” (James 4:4).

Vance Havner once said, “The times are desperate, but we are not.”  The church is worldly and lethargic—we do not take God, or His Word, seriously. James 4:17 says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”   We will not see revival until we are broken over our sinful condition. 

Isaiah 57:15 says that God lives in a high and holy place, but also with the contrite and lowly in spirit—to them He will bring revival.

True Worship

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind.

Then when you call, the LORD will answer.

‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

Isaiah 58:6-9 (NLT)

Going Through the Motions

“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.

Tell my people Israel of their sins!

Yet they act so pious!

They come to the Temple every day

and seem delighted to learn all about me.

They act like a righteous nation

that would never abandon the laws of its God.

They ask me to take action on their behalf,

pretending they want to be near me.

‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.

“Why aren’t you impressed?

We have been very hard on ourselves,

and you don’t even notice it!’

‘I will tell you why!’ I respond.

‘It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.

Even when you fast,

you keep oppressing your workers.

What good is fasting

when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance,

bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind.

You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes.

Is this what you call fasting?

Do you really think this will please the LORD?

Isaiah 57:1-5 (NLT)

Forgetting God

“Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear:

should you not fear me?” declares the LORD.

Should you not tremble in my presence?

I made the sand a boundary for the sea,

An everlasting barrier it cannot cross.

The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;

they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;

they have turned aside and gone away. 

They do not say to themselves,

‘Let us fear the LORD our God…’

Jeremiah 5:21-24 (NIV)

The Crossroads

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’ But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

 Jeremiah 6:16-19 (NIV)

God’s people stood at the crossroads—they had a choice to make. They could choose their own way or God’s way, the path of destruction or the path of blessing. As angry as God was at their rebellion, He still called them to return to Him.  Even as He warned of the coming judgment, He offered them a way out.  He made it clear which path they should choose, but they refused to listen.

Are we, the church, standing at the crossroads today in America? We hear what God says in His word, but we don’t really believe there are consequences for not following Him. We continue to ignore His warnings, thinking that God surely would not bring destruction on our nation.

 James 1:22-25 says this: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

Yesterday and Today

“To whom can I speak and give warning?

Who will listen to me?

Their ears are closed so they cannot hear.

The word of the LORD is offensive to them;

they find no pleasure in it.”

“From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;

prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

‘Peace, peace’, they say

when there is no peace. 

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when I punish them,

says the LORD.

Jeremiah 6:10,13-15 (NIV)

The Same God

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)

“I am the LORD and I do not change.” Malachi 3:6 (NLT)

Most of the articles I have written for this blog find their origin in the Old Testament books of the prophets.  Why is that?  Doesn’t God have anything new to say?  How can what happened more than 2,000 years ago be applied to our lives today? That is one of the most amazing things about the Word of God—it is just as relevant today as it was in the time of Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. Not only that, but God has not changed in all that time.  He still loves His people, He still gets angry over their sin, and He will bring judgment on them if they do not repent.  How do I know this? Because that is the pattern of the Old Testament, and Hebrews 13 says that Jesus (who is one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit) does not change. Malachi 3:6 expresses the same truth. When we read the Old Testament, we also see that man has not changed—he is still disobedient and rebellious, and treats God with contempt.

1Corinthians 10:11-12 says this about the history of Israel: “These things happened to them as examples for us.  They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”  Are we paying attention?

Pharisee or Tax Collector?

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’  But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’  I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

Not many of us would admit to being like the Pharisee— it’s not a pretty picture.  Yet what are our motives in praying? Are we, consciously or unconsciously, trying to impress others with our words when we pray?  Prayer is communication with God, not man.  If we find ourselves worrying about what to say in group prayer, maybe it is man we are trying to please and not God.  The tax collector’s prayer was short, but went straight to the heart of the matter. He did not care what others thought, or if they even heard him—what he had to say was strictly between him and God.  Humility is one key to communicating with God.  If you are earnest about revival, you must follow the pattern of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and humble yourself, pray, seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways.