Sunday Messages

Satan has to knock out the light of Jesus-followers, but he can’t as long as we stay close to the awesome power of Jesus!

It was last Sunday morning at 8:45 a.m. just before our first worship service when the lights went out in my office. I was praying with Don Burns who was scheduled for surgery the following morning. We didn’t know the extent of the problem until the next day. But that morning the majority of the power was out in the Worship Center and Administration building. There was no electricity at the church for an entire day. No light, No PowerPoint, No computers! Oh, and the reason there was no light? One of the church’s main power fuses went out. The fuse came from Chicago 14 when the zip codes were in double digits. It is very likely that this power fuse was installed back in the 1950’s when the buildings were constructed. With the power out, let me tell you, it was a dark day in worship, study, fellowship, and service.

Our word from the Word of God comes from Luke 22:31-32 where Jesus says to Simon,

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

Here's Simon Peter, perhaps the brightest light of the disciples, and basically Jesus is saying, "Satan wants to knock you out, guy." He wants to do that to anyone who's a light in a dark spot—maybe you.

Nigel Wright in his book entitled The Satan Syndrome writes… The devil is not impersonal like stones or bureaucracies; he is a non-person. The Devil has become all that God is not; he is not beyond personality--he is without it. His purpose in creation is not to destroy God; he knows that he cannot do that. He wants to draw us into the vortex of non-personhood that he has become, and the nothingness of non-being that he is becoming. Satan, in short, aims to take as many of us with him as he can.

If it's dark where you work, you're Jesus' light there, and the enemy wants the light out! Maybe it's dark in your school, in your area, in your family. But God has installed a light there—you. And Satan is trying to knock out that light. He wants to sift you as wheat, and God may be preparing you to spread the light to an even larger circle of people in your web of relationships. Don't be surprised if you're suddenly taking a pounding from Hell's pile driver. The enemy's only hope of keeping his prisoners in the dark is to knock out the light.

So, does this explain some of what's been hitting us lately, maybe? We're making a difference, or we're about to. And the forces of darkness want to destroy, or at least dim our light. We need to pay attention to the following concept:

"The ferocity of Satanic attack upon us will increase in direct proportion to our potential usefulness for Jesus Christ."

The difficulties and feelings and temptations we've been dealing with lately may not mean there's anything wrong at all. In fact, maybe there's something wonderfully right. We're starting to make an impact for Jesus! We've attracted attention in Hell!

We're not wrestling with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual forces as stated in Ephesians 6:12…

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

There's no reason to be afraid; there's no reason to be discouraged. Jesus, according to the book of Colossians 2:15 "disarmed the powers and authorities." He made a public spectacle of them, "triumphing over them by his cross."

Wheat Sifting 101

Jesus implies that if we desire to follow him and live by kingdom principles, then Satan wants to sift us like wheat. The object of this sifting evidently is to select all whose heart-desires are unselfish, who are fully and unreservedly committed to the Lord, who are so anxious to have the Lord's will done, and whose confidence in his wisdom and his way and his Word is so great, that they humbly refuse to be led either by the rigidity of others, or by plans and ideas of their own, away from the Lord's Word. These, in the sifting time, will be strengthened and will increase their joy in the Lord and their knowledge of his plans, even while their faith is being tested.

We don't live on a farm that uses technology that's 2,000 years old. But many of us have heard sermons in church about wheat sifting. In primitive farming, after harvesting the wheat you'd have to separate the useable wheat from the outer husk -- the chaff. You'd grab a big basket of wheat and chaff and toss it into the air. Since the wheat was heavy, it would fall back into the basket. The chaff was light and would blow away in the wind -- never to be seen again. The end result was a basket full of usable wheat. Sifting wheat was a process of separating the good from the bad.

In modern farming, harvesting the wheat goes through a number of steps. The first steps include the grain cleaning. Wheat is tempered (water added) and it goes to the first break (or mill). And that starts the sifting and grinding process. The chaff is removed and the sifting continues until all the flour is extracted and it is delivered to stores or bakeries.

It should go without saying that Satan -- a.k.a. the Accuser -- didn't have Peter's best and therefore, our interest at heart. Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat because he was confident that when Peter was put to the test he'd be like the chaff. The same is true for Jesus-followers today. Like Peter, we would see our own failure and then -- WHISK -- disappear. After denying the Messiah, Peter should have been too ashamed to continue on in the ministry. He should have just cut his losses and returned to fishing. The devil would have liked that timid response in Peter and in us as well.

But things didn't turn out like Satan planned. Yes, Peter did see his own failure. He discovered he wasn't as strong as he thought when he said to Jesus, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death" (Luke 22:33). But Peter's failure broke him of his own self-reliance. We must note that Jesus didn't pray that Peter's strength would not fail; he prayed that his faith would not fail. That faith was focused upon God's strength, mercy and forgiveness. And Peter, trusting in God, came back to him -- a few notches humbler. If any chaff had blown away, it might have been Peter's self-righteousness. We must follow in Peter’s steps that our faith would not fail.

We must remember the simple principles of winning against any attack from the dark side when Satan has to knock out our light by sifting all of us as wheat.

1. We depend on spiritual weapons to win spiritual battles

That means prayer and fasting.

There is a stirring picture of the Lord’s intercessors in Exodus 17:10-13…

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

It was Israel’s first battle. They battled the Amalekites. Joshua commanded the forces of Israel, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up on the mountain to pray. Moses had the rod of God in his hands. As Moses grew weary in holding up the rod, his friends Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under him and held up his hands on either side so they would be steady. And Joshua prevailed in that battle.

We need to recruit a team of prayer warriors to cover us now with daily prayer as we're becoming “lights” into a darkened world.

2. We put on the spiritual armor regularly

This armor is described fully in Ephesians 6:10-18…

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

As Paul writes, the soldier’s armor suggests a picture to him. The Jesus-follower too has armor; and part by part Paul take the armor of the Roman soldier for protection and translates it into Christian terms. We put on spiritual armor for spiritual battles. We must not leave home without it!

3. We don’t give the devil a foothold

Humility is essential to Christian discipleship as described in James 4:7-8…

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

We can never be truly humble if we are not willing to actively resist the devil.

Thomas Brooks writes…Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure and pays with pain; he promises profit and pays with loss; he promises life and pays with death.

James says that out of the heart are the issues of life, and most needful of all to be in right condition is the heart. How is our heart? Is it proud, boastful, independent, self-conscious and self-willed? If so, we must take care; we will be very liable to this epidemic of having our light knocked out, no matter how far from it we may seem to be. So we make haste to labor and pray for

"A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
The dear Redeemer's throne,
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone."

With such a heart we are safe. In meekness and lowliness, we will never think of redeeming ourselves from the condemnation of sin by sacrificing present sinful desires, but we will flee to the cross, where God himself opened the fountain for sin and uncleanness, present as well as past. Does this offend anyone? It might offend some, though is it not designed to offend any.

The grace of God is readily available to all who will trust in the Lord and follow him. Our conduct must be clean as we wash our hands, purify our hearts, and forsake being double-minded. We remove any sin or compromise in our hearts that the devil could use to get in and knock out our light.

4. We keep our power line strong.

The power line is described in 1 John 2:14…

I write to you, young people, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Evil is powerful but its power is limited by a greater authority. God’s decision, his Word, is more permanent, more powerful than the power of darkness. This power flows out from God’ Word and flows into our relationship with Jesus Christ. So we must not miss a day of being with Jesus through his Word.

So do we feel like Satan has knocked out our light? Feel like there's no place for us to serve God anymore? We don't give Satan reason to gloat. He wants to knock out our light. God wants our light to shine. The sifting that Satan intended to scatter us with can be used by God to get rid of some of the chaff in our lives. We confess our sin to God and trust in his mercy and forgiveness. Then we turn and encourage others by telling them of God's goodness shown to us.

Yes, Satan may desire to have us, but Jesus says, "I have prayed for you." The enemy wants the people around us to spend this life and forever like people stumbling in the dark. Satan has only one way to make it dark. He has to knock out the light. But he can't; not as long as we stay close to the awesome power of the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that reveals the vital sign of a strategy for reaching people—a temperature affecting those in our relationship webs.

We enter our third week in a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life. Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church. Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ.

God disclosed to us in our last message the first essential vital sign of exhibiting a spirit of revival. It’s possible for a church to become lukewarm with a weakening pulse rate for renewal. This message focuses on the second essential vital sign of revealing a strategy for reaching people. Changing our worlds for Christ is a necessary means toward spiritual vitality.

This essential is likened to the vital sign of body temperature. Body temperature is a measure of the body’s ability to generate and get rid of heat. The body is very good at keeping its temperature within a narrow, safe range in spite of large variations in temperatures outside the body. Churches with a low body temperature rate have lost their ability to generate a passion for reaching lost people. Lost people matter to God, so they must also matter to us.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18…

… “I will build my church, and the gates of death [Greek Hades] will not overcome it.”

Jesus promised the power, provided a plan and prepared his followers. And, we have to admit, Jesus sounded pretty excited when he said, “Go change the world!” So, why are most churches today in decline? Is the power gone? Is the plan faulty? Or are the people simply unprepared?

What do people want most in the world? What is the most sought-after goal? From the moment we awaken to the moment we close our eyes at night, what is it we seek every minute of the day? We want to feel good. The primary motivation behind every action we take is the desire to feel happy. Even when we're focused on moving away from pain, we are, in effect, moving toward feeling good physically, emotionally and spiritually.

As a kid, I often asked myself, "Why do people engage in life-endangering activities like sky-diving, car racing and mountain climbing?" Even today I wonder, "Why do people choose dangerous jobs like being a firefighter, cop or ambulance driver? I am also confounded by the large amounts of money and time people spend going to the opera, rock concerts and sports events. I’ve asked myself, "What do all these activities have in common? What's the compelling force driving people to invest most of their precious free time, or whole lives, in these pursuits? What, in heaven's name, are people looking for?" A Rush Is a Rush Is a Rush! At one point, I saw the light. It's so obvious really. We want to feel! We want to feel something.

On some level we all know that life is about feeling. If we don't feel life we miss life. And, of course, the most popular choice is to feel good. Whatever way we choose to get ourselves to feel the end goal is the same: to experience the good side of life as fully and powerfully as possible! We want to feel really alive and happy. Some people call it joy. Some pleasure. Some rush, electricity, juice, fire or passion!

The Zone =

Living in the Zone is when everything goes right! We feel great! We're on top of the world. Somehow we're magically in the right place at the right time and everything is working out just like we want. To be in the flow is to be dialed into our natural state of clarity, presence and personal power. It's being free of tension, worry and draining emotions. It's living with a sense of ease, vitality and deep inner calm.

Now when we talk about the need of reaching people for Jesus Christ, this task instills fear into the lives of most Jesus-followers—not “living on top of the world” feelings. So Jesus shared with his followers on a hillside an understanding how they can be likened to a city on a hill that cannot be hid. He revealed an object lesson in which his followers could fully identify.

Jesus tells his hearers that citizens in his kingdom are to be like lamps, lights in the world as recorded in Matthew 5:14-16…

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

As we observe these verses, light is a precious commodity for Jesus-followers today. A city is a community and represents the church. The community of Jesus-followers, the worshiping, witnessing community, is like a city on a hill for all to see. The world watches the church to see if it will, in fact, produce light.

Light Up the World

In the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, we catch a glimpse of high expectation. Jesus anticipated that the kind of followers described in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) would be rich in “good deeds.” It is these good deeds to which Jesus is referring when he speaks of their being the light of the world. This is the greatest compliment that was ever paid to the individual Jesus-follower, for in it Jesus commands the Jesus-follower to be what he himself claimed to be.

Jesus said in John 9:5…

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When Jesus commanded his followers to be the lights of the world, what did he mean? He demanded nothing less than that they should be like himself.

1. Light is meant to be seen

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

In biblical times every home in Palestine had its lamp burning all night. The lamp did not give much light, but it testified to the fact that the house was inhabited. These lamps, small oil-filled bowls, were set high on pottery stands. Jesus’ followers were to be like lamps, lights in the world.

Our faith is something which is meant to be seen. Our Christianity must be perfectly visible to all people. Further, this Christianity should not be visible only within the church. A faith whose effects stop at the church door is not much use to anyone. It should be even more visible in the ordinary activities of the world. Our life in the world, our Christianity must be evident to all.

2. Light is meant to be a guide

15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

Jesus-followers must make the way clear for others. That is to say, a Jesus-follower must of necessity be an example. One of the things which this world needs more than anything else is people who are prepared to be the focus of goodness. There are many people in this culture who have not the moral strength and courage to take a stand by themselves, but if someone gives them a lead, they will follow; if they have someone strong enough to lean on, they will do the right thing. Many people shrink back from following Jesus because they don’t see the life of Jesus lived out in the life of his followers.

It is our duty as Jesus-followers today to take a stand which the weaker person will support; to take the lead which those with less courage will follow. The world needs its guiding lights; there are people waiting and longing for a lead to take the stand and to do the thing which they do not dare by themselves.

3. Light is meant to be a reflector

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Jesus told his followers that kingdom citizens are to be like lights that reflect his light and bring glory to the Father in heaven. The good deeds performed by Jesus’ followers are to testify to the fact that this world, however dark it may be, still is inhabited by the King. When the good deeds of Christ’s followers are seen, people will grasp the source and praise God.

If we shine light on most objects, those with reflectors will return light like a mirror or else they return the light in all possible directions (diffuse or dull reflection). For example, road reflectors send the light back in the direction it came from. This property makes the reflectors appear unnaturally bright to an observer who is in nearly the same direction as the light source. As Jesus-followers, it is our responsibility to send the light back in the same direction it came from. When we reflect the light of Jesus Christ, it makes the reflection bright to an observer who is in nearly the same direction as the light source. So it is crucial that we get people near to Jesus. Our reflection which comes from Jesus will be a source of light to those who are close to him.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration weekend, he spoke often about Jesus-followers illuminating the light of Jesus in the church and in the world.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that…Every man must decide whether he will walk in the creative light of altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's persistent and most urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?

We must not let anyone deny the role of doing good deeds in the life of the Jesus-follower. A Jesus-follower who does not perform good deeds is as useless to God and others as a lamp hidden under a bowl.

It is not a question of producing this light. Jesus does not admonish his followers to be the light of the world. He does not call them to do good deeds. Rather, as we become the kind of men and women described in the Beatitudes, the good deeds will naturally follow. Out of the spirit of poverty, repentance, meekness, and love, in the midst of mercy, purity, peacemaking, and suffering, great deeds will be reflected from Christ. We ourselves will recognize these works as not of our own doing. In moments of humility and meekness and faith we become instruments of God’s creative action.

So what design has God given us to breakdown the displeasure and build up the delight of living in the zone? God has given each of us in our web of relationships, on the average, anywhere from three to sixteen people [316]—people God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our relational worlds. Reaching lost people includes those with whom we share kinship (blood or marital ties), interests (work, recreation, community) and proximity (neighbors, coworkers, classmates). Every Jesus-follower shares some space with people who have not heard the Gospel or seen it lived out in an authentic way.

Oikos =

A Greek word meaning “extended house or household” (Acts 10:2, 24, 27; 11:14; 16:31), “one’s circle of influence composed of family, neighbors, coworkers, and friends.”

Now around ninety percent of the people in our churches come to Christ the same way. And it probably has little to do with a pastor’s sermon, a church’s program or an evangelistic crusade. More than likely, most people in our church came to Christ because of, that’s right, our oikos. Oikos is not a program. It’s not an event. It’s not an emphasis. For Jesus-followers, oikos is a relationship. It’s everything. It’s that important.

We must equip the body of Christ with a strategy of reaching lost people. What is the purpose of our church? Why are we still alive? Where does oikos show up in the Bible? Who makes up our oikos? What does God expect us to do about those people? God is using strategies to reach our oikos—extended households. Here’s the main premise of any strategy of reaching people:

“If we think our job is to witness to everyone, then we won’t witness to anyone!”

We can take a few minutes this week to analyze our oikos. If most of our relationships are with coworkers, we start there. The fundamental idea is to start with our most significant relationships.

We can use the box below to write down the people who make up our oikos. Let’s ask

As we pray for people in our oikos, and initiate conversations with them, we will see God use us in new ways. Some of the people listed above should be the first ones we invite to be a part of a class, small group, or even invite to worship or church activity. We focus on meeting the needs of people in our oikos.

Living in the Zone as Jesus-followers is founded upon four important assertions:

For two thousand years, the church has existed for only one reason…to change the world.

Worldchange begins when we establish a personal relationship with God.

Before our world will take relationship with God seriously, we need to officially and publicly declare our allegiance to Christ.

As fully devoted followers of Jesus, we need to follow in his footsteps and make worldchange our life.

Thus, witnessing is every person’s job, but our job is not to witness to every person. We must come to grips with the words of Jesus that will enable us to reflect Jesus as the light of the world. Lost people matter to God; they must matter to us.

The danger today in the church is not that there will be no good deeds, but that we will fail to let the deeds be seen. In order for the deeds to illuminate our worlds, they must become visible in our lives as Jesus-followers. This may fail to happen if we separate ourselves from our oikos. Rather, we are challenged to be “living in the zone”—openly in the midst of our worlds, in close human contact with other people, so that the light of God’s accomplishments in us may reflect the light of Jesus, and shine forth to the glory of God! Amen.

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that exhibits the vital sign of a spirit of revival power—a pulse rate empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We enter our second week in a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life. Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church. Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ.

God disclosed to us in our first message the health condition of the church of Ephesus. This church had lost their passion for their “first love.” So the first essential vital sign is a spirit of revival power. Renewal in the Spirit toward Jesus Christ is a necessary means toward spiritual vitality.

This essential of a spirit of revival power is likened to the vital sign of the pulse rate. The pulse rate is a measurement of the heart rate, or the number of times the heart beats per minute. As the heart pushes blood through the arteries, the arteries expand and contract with the flow of the blood. Taking a pulse not only measures the heart rate, but also can indicate the heart rhythm and strength of the pulse.

In the spiritual body the church, revival is a must for dynamic and effective evangelism. Churches monitoring decline and dissention do not grow. Like the church of Ephesus, the “first love” of every church is lessened. This tends to lower its pulse rate, and then outreach declines. The church loses its ability to sustain a passionate heart rhythm and strength for Jesus Christ.

God’s activity through his Spirit is needed to cleanse the church from three things that lower the pulse rate in the church: self-interests, clinging to its comfort zones, and a lessening of love for Christ.

Eddie Fox, an evangelism leader, writes…

The sin of the modern church is not the sin of commission, nor the sin of omission, but the sin of no mission.”

Worked up enthusiasm and organizational effort alone cannot renew the church and cause it to grow. A revived church is motivated, renewed and energized by the Spirit for the mission of Christ. A spiritual awakening sweeping across our land to bring renewal to churches is essential to reaching lost people for Christ.

A pastor tells of visiting a church in California while on vacation and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. "Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!" it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The pastor was also interested in the sign directly underneath the banner which said: "Fire extinguisher." So much for that church’s commitment to spiritual renewal.

Revival has everything to do with passion. [Video Clip]

Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea accuse this church of lacking passion as recorded in Revelation 3:15-16…

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

This church had lost a passionate pulse rate in their ministry for the Lord. They were so lukewarm that they had no impact whatsoever on the culture around them. So what is revival?

It’s the renewal of the Spirit in the life of Jesus-followers.

Revival is an invasion from heaven that brings a conscious awareness of God. Stephen Olford.

Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing. Robert Coleman.

Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again. G. Campbell Morgan.

A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the spirit of worldliness, making God's love triumph in the heart. Andrew Murray.

Revival is the church falling in love with Jesus all over again. Vance Havner.

Revival is the visitation of God which brings to life Jesus-followers who have been resting and restores a deep sense of God's near presence and holiness. Hence, it springs a vivid sense of sin and a profound exercise of heart in repentance, praise, and love, with an evangelistic outflow.

We must restate that a revived church is motivated, renewed and energized by the Spirit for the mission of Christ. What are the key ingredients of a spiritual awakening that is empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Jesus shares key ingredients of revival with his followers as recorded in John 14:12-16…

12 “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”—

We can observe in these verses that God is going to support us for ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit. If God is going to answer our prayers and give us peace in our hearts, there are certain conditions that we must meet. In fact, the meeting of these conditions is a blessing in itself, and a means to renewal.

Power to Perform

God is mightily at work today. God wants to give us a revival movement and use us in ministry. God is waiting for us to get ready to meet his conditions. Jesus leaves his disciples with his final, departing words just hours before his betrayal. If they are to continue his work after his death and resurrection, they will need his power to perform it.

There are three prerequisites for renewal. The prerequisites become evidences of revival when it enters the lives of Jesus-followers in the body of Christ.

1. A believing faith with far-reaching results

12 “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

The Father will continue the work of his Son through his followers. When we sense a need for revival, we must give full attention to the works that Jesus has already done. The concentration of doing “even greater things” than what Jesus performed in ministry is the focus that renews Jesus-followers. The Bible says that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

If we give our attention to work that primarily focuses on accommodating people to our standards of behavior and seeking for others to be like us, others will fall short of our mark of expectations or perceptions. Jesus is clear concerning our love for one another—giving attention to righting wrongs and reconciling to God and to one another in other passages of Scripture (see Matthew 18:15-17).

However, the focus of Jesus’ words in this passage is upon the power that the Holy Spirit will give us to minister with far-reaching results, not merely a performance we can achieve. Jesus’ life mission statement gives us a true understanding of the works we must be doing in Mark 10:45… “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So how can a mere human being, even though he or she believes in Jesus, do “greater things” than Jesus did here on earth? This is another of those puzzling verses of Scripture. One suggestion is rooted in the observation that Peter, in preaching just one sermon recorded in Acts 2 won more converts than Jesus did in his years of ministry. However, something more significant is implied. The works Jesus did here on earth were in accordance with the will of the Father, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They were special—but not amazing. Our “greater works” are greater in wonder—in the awesome realization that God can use weak, sinful creations like us to accomplish his purposes in our world. Thus, renewal comes to Jesus-followers when we concentrate on allowing the Holy Spirit to perform greater works of service in us that are in accordance with the will of the Father, not in accordance with the whim of the believer.

2. An intimacy with God through extraordinary prayer

13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Any time renewal is happening, we will observe that extraordinary praying is present. Intimacy with God through prayer is experienced by the people of God as he moves in revival. God is using such movements as Experiencing God, Downpour, Concerts of Prayer, Intercessory Prayer Ministries, and other means to spread the revival.

To pray in Jesus’ name means to call on the authority of Jesus; but it also means taking his desires into account. Extraordinary prayer isn’t passionate for our wants—it is passionate for Jesus, his will, and his glory. Where is our emphasis when we ask God for things? Is it not frequently on the things asked for? On security? Healing? Deliverance from trouble? Rightly so. However, the thrust of these verses is not that God will do anything and everything we ask, but that everything done should bring honor to Christ.

For me, on many occasions, praying has caused me to stop seeking God to heal my cancer and to ask God to increase my faith in Christ that this sickness might be to his glory. The cancer is being treated, but the entire sickness proves to be a rich blessing and a time of empowerment by the Spirit.

Therefore, our main concern should not be in the granting of our requests, but the honoring of God and Christ. In what way would this understanding of extraordinary prayer change our way of praying? It must cause us to ask what Jesus would ask, what would please him, and what would bring his glory by furthering his work.

3. A long walk of obedience in the same direction

15 "If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever”—

Our life with Jesus is likened to a walk—a long obedience in the same direction. Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commands. Jesus’ command to every one of us is for us to be his witnesses. Renewal will motivate the people of God to the discipline of witnessing consistently. A spirit of humility, brokenness, repentance, and submission in pastor and people is the key. God will give us the ability to share Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit if we become obedient to his commands.

Friedrich Nietzsche in his book entitled Beyond Good and Evil writes…The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is…that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

This long run that makes life worth living is being captured by the tourist mindset of our current culture. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site to be made when we have adequate leisure. Then we simply return home to our places of comfort. For some it is a weekly jaunt to church; for others, occasional visits to special services. We’ll try anything—until something else comes along. It is this “long obedience in the same direction” which the mood of the world does so much to discourage.

It is not difficult in our world today to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is extremely difficult to sustain the interest. There is a great market for religious experience; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of obedience that requires a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Jesus-followers called holiness.

The prophet Jeremiah proclaims in 12:5… “If you have raced with people on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” If we don’t acquire this patient obedience with Jesus, then we will not be prepared to handle even the small challenges that life throws at us. Renewal will be impeded; the Spirit quenched. This long obedience in the same direction characterized Jesus’ walk with his Father. He therefore asks the same response from us. Love can be sentimental and possessive with little obedience. Obedience can be duty-bound, uninteresting and loveless.

The wonderful truth here is that God does not expect our long obedience in the same direction with Jesus to be performed in our own power. This is the first of five sections in John 14-16 that deal with the promise of the Holy Spirit. This Advocate (Counselor) is a friend forever! Often he is with us and we do not recognize him. Those hunches, those leadings, those thoughts like “Why didn’t I do that when it first occurred to me?” are evidences that the Advocate is already at work in our lives.

We must praise God for sending the Wonderful Counselor to be present with and in us. We must give praise to Jesus for sending the Holy Spirit that is leading, guiding, and comforting us with God’s truth.

Throughout the course of church history there have been several movements. Something new can invariably be described as a “movement”.

Movement =

Any group of people called by God who are dedicated to pursue individual and corporate transformation; resulting in the renewal and expansion of the church in its mission.

Those who are students of revival are encouraged because they see a divine pattern repeating itself. We are on the threshold of revival due to the development of increased concerts of prayer with a growing concern for revival among our young people.

Dr. J. Edwin Orr was born in Belfast in 1912 and concluded his work on earth in 1987. Professor Orr was passionately committed to Jesus Christ and dedicated his life to understanding and furthering the work of God—especially in revival and spiritual awakening. He summarizes for us in the twenty-first century one sentence his 60 years of study on prayer and spiritual awakening represents when he wrote… Whenever God is ready to do something new with his people, he always sets them to praying.

In 1746, Jonathan Edwards published a book on "concerts of prayer" -- a term used in his day and repeated in subsequent prayer movements over the last 250 years. Well aware from biblical and historical accounts that united prayer was the only way to sustain the spiritual awakening that already had begun in the colonies, Edwards called for Jesus-followers on both sides of the Atlantic to pray for revival.

Revival movements last; moments come and go. Church history has recorded an incredible diversity of renewal movements, each making their unique contribution. Each revival movement has its own distinctive features, but the most effective share five common characteristics.

White-hot faith—God's people begin to unite in prayer and intercede for revival. These people, broken before God, cry out to God for an encounter that would change their lives.

Consecration—God answers prayer by pouring out a fresh new manifestation of the person of Christ. God’s people as a result set apart themselves to him, and each other, and to the work of Christ in the world.

Commitment to a Cause—Movements make life uncomfortable for all God’s people because they are uncompromising. They heighten tension inside the church and with the surrounding culture. They are born in conflict because they stand for something.

Rapid Mobilization—Out of revival the gospel is further advanced, the church makes a greater impact upon the surrounding culture, and a general spiritual awakening takes place on many levels.

Adaptive Methods—Unencumbered by tradition, movements feel free to experiment with new forms of the church and new effective methods of ministry. Religious organizations are notoriously difficult to change. Over time our methodologies become even more sacred than our message. In contrast, dynamic movements are deep-seated in doctrine but far-reaching in methodology.

Renewal movements adapt themselves to the world around them. They pioneer new and effective strategies without compromising their message. All around us we see the evidence that the church as a human institution is in continual decline and decay. Today, much of the church is still grappling with what mission looks like in the modern world and has no idea of the deep social changes that are being ushered in by the emergence of a postmodern culture—a culture that needs a personal encounter with Jesus.

So let’s get personal as we bring this message to a close. In Parker J. Palmer’s book entitled, A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey toward an undivided self, he seeks to help us “rejoin soul and role” when it comes to a spirit of revival or renewal in our lives. Too many of us as Jesus-followers have “divided lives,” with personal values that don’t match what we are asked to do in the world to experience significance. He shares the following meditation on the Jack Pine Tree from Douglas Wood.

Jack pines…are not lumber trees [and they] won’t win many beauty contests either. But to me this valiant old tree, solitary on its own rocky point, is as beautiful as a living thing can be… In the calligraphy of its shape against the sky is written strength of character and perseverance, survival of wind, drought, cold, heat, disease…In its silence it speaks of…wholeness… an integrity that comes from being what you are.

It is a known fact that every spring and summer I go to Yosemite National Park. My first trip, over thirty-years ago, was a family vacation, pure and simple. But as I returned time and again to that elemental world of water, rock, woods, and sky, my vacation began to feel more like a pilgrimage to me—an annual trek to holy ground driven by spiritual need. Douglas Wood’s meditation on the Jack Pine, one of the many pine trees native to Yosemite, names what I go up north seeking; images of how life looks when it is lived with integrity. I continue to take treks to Yosemite every year for vacation, camps, and time for personal renewal. My knowledge of the divided life comes first from personal experience: I yearn to be whole, but dividedness often seems the easier choice. In Yosemite, I sense the renewal of spirit so crucial in my personal walk with Jesus. It is in the scent of the pines, the sight of magnificent granite rocks, the sound of water lapping through the valley, signs of a bedrock integrity that is eternal and beyond all doubt. And when I return to my world that is transient and riddled with unbelief, I have new eyes for the wholeness hidden in me and my kinds, and a new heart for loving even our imperfections.

Renewal means embracing brokenness personally and corporately as an integral part of life. Knowing this gives us hope that human wholeness need not be a utopian dream, but a daily opportunity to exhibit in our lives as Jesus-followers: a believing faith with far-reaching results; an intimacy with God through extraordinary prayer; and a long walk of obedience in the same direction. Prompting a movement of renewal is only possible as we allow the Holy Spirit to be our advocate and counselor—a friend to help us and to be with us forever! Amen.

The Big Idea: A healthy church has spiritual vitality that shows vital signs of life as it gets back to authentic Christianity with a passionate love for Jesus.

We begin the New Year in God’s Word with a four-week series on Vital Signs of Life.Like the physical body, a healthy church has certain “vital signs” of life which can be observed, measured and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which the church is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and health condition of the church.

When patients are brought into a hospital emergency room, they are immediately checked for “vital signs.” of life. We could do the same check on the body of Christ. If we are not manifesting the same signs of life in our lives that Jesus did, our world will never see him as they should. Vital Signs or signs of life, in relation to our physical bodies indicate that a person is alive. Vital signs include the following objective measures for a person: heart beat (pulse), body temperature, and blood pressure. When these values are not zero, they indicate that a person is alive. All of these vital signs can be observed, measured, and monitored. This will enable the assessment of the level at which an individual is functioning. Normal ranges of measurements of vital signs change with age and medical condition. So what is true for the physical body relates as well to the spiritual body.

A healthy church will change their worlds for Christ. Church growth is a result, not a goal. Many Jesus-followers want their church to grow. But true church growth is the result of the church’s being a healthy body of Christ living in obedience to him. A healthy church will reach people for Christ and grow.

Vital Signs of Life is designed to be a catalyst for Christ First Baptist church to develop our own strategy for being the church and reaching the Covina Valley and beyond for Christ. Vital Signs of Life show how exalting, equipping and evangelizing help the church, and how worship, study, fellowship and service fit into the missional purpose of the healthy church.

We will explore together in our first message the importance of returning to our first love. A question we need to consider is: Do we still have our first love? It is crucial that we monitor the health level of Christ First before we outline a plan for continuing growth in the church. A church may be at one of three growth stages. It may be at the growing, plateaued, or declining stage. A church that is growing today may eventually begin to plateau. Every church is moving toward plateau and eventual decline unless it comes to grips with making the necessary adjustments to grow again.

I remember my first love. I was attending elementary school in Palo Alto, California as a third-grader. During the first-week of school my eyes were riveted and my heart pulsated for a girl with long blond hair and big blue eyes. Her name was Mary. Mary was a very common name in the early 50’s, but according to my observation she was anything but common. My love for Mary increased as the school year moved on. But what does an eight-year-old boy who is very bashful do when it comes to expressing his fondness for a beautiful classmate? I kept my love for Mary a secret and just looked at her from across the room. It satisfied my desires just to see her in school each day. I never really entered into a conversation with Mary. My first love was a splendor love across a crowded classroom.

Enter college. I was attending Biola College (now University) in the early 60’s. I met another blond hair, blue eye girl named Sue. Again, a very common name, but an extraordinary woman. However, this new “love” was different. Not only did we talk, but we dated. In fact for three years we dated off and on. We shared some great times together during those three years. Then we were engaged to be married. To make a long love story short, we married almost 40 years ago. As I look over the loves of my life, there is a startling contrast. You see, my “first love” Mary was not really a first love. It might be called a first “crush.” It was a fondness and feeling but without any substance in relationship. My true “first love” Sue was a “commitment”. There is a big difference between a crush and a commitment. A commitment demands time and energy in a relationship. It involves two people who are willing to walk together in the same direction with the same values and purposes for living.

In the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, God comments on the spiritual condition of seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. These churches were on a common mail route and each congregation is mentioned in the order in which the letter was to be delivered. The first church on this route was the congregation at Ephesus.

Paul’s planting of the church at Ephesus in Acts 19 is an intriguing story. Paul came to Ephesus and preached Christ at the Jewish synagogue for three months. “Some believed, but others were obstinate and publicly ‘maligned the Way.’”Paul left the synagogue and went to downtown Ephesus to the school of Tyrannus. There he had daily dialogue with the residents of the town as he shared the gospel. As far as we know, he did not leave the city for two years. Yet Acts 19:10 says, “This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”

How did this happen? The answer is: Paul implemented the strategy of Jesus of total penetration of the area through total participation of the believers. He led people to Christ, equipping them, and they led others to Christ. Thus, within two years, the gospel penetrated all Asia. The church of Ephesus was filled with the power of God and experienced remarkable growth.

However, within a few short years, by the end of the century, we hear Jesus saying to John in Revelation 2 that the church had left their first work of getting the gospel to every person and their first love was gone. Jesus counseled them to remember, repent and return to their first love. So plateau and decline is not unusual. Here, one of the greatest churches in all of history had come to the point of plateau and was in danger of decline.

The Ephesian church persevered in the faith and was thoroughly grounded doctrinally. Christ’s commendation reflects the stage of growth in Revelation 2:1-3…

¹ "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

These positive and encouraging observations could lead some to conclude that the brothers and sisters at Ephesus were spiritually sound; however, they had a serious spiritual deficiency. Christ, the spiritual head of this congregation, actually threatens to remove his lampstand from their presence if they did not repent.

Christ’s condemnation reflects the stages of plateau and decline in Revelation 2:4-5, 7…

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place… ⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Even though they were doing a lot of right things, many lost sight as to who they were called into a relationship with. While struggling to defend against doctrinal corruption, they lost sight of the most important aspect of their Christianity—Jesus Christ Himself. While it is essential to remain faithful to the teaching once delivered (Jude 3), Jesus-followers must remember their relationship with Christ is paramount. In fact, to remain faithful to our profession of faith requires that we keep our relationship with God as a first priority, while not neglecting the other.

Many within the church at Ephesus had forgotten this truth. No wonder John was inspired to write, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Sadly, many in the 21st-century church have succumbed to the same problem. The warning contained in this verse spans the centuries, reminding us to guard against forgetting the relationship we should have with our loving Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ cautioned them to consider the magnitude of their problem. What did they fall away from? What lessons can we learn at Christ First from this ancient congregation?

Overcoming the Ephesus Tendency

Churches today, as did Ephesus in New Testament Times, tend to plateau and decline after they have grown to strength and affluence. Our nation is full of formerly growing churches—churches that are experiencing the Ephesus Tendency.

The stages of the Ephesus Tendency can be charted on the bell curve as follows:

Struggle, as the church is planted and begins its ministry.

Surrender, as the church is driven by its struggle to depend on the Lord and obey him in its life and mission. It is characterized by vitality.

Strength, as the church becomes fruitful and grows in maturity and in number.

Significance, as the church makes it mark upon the culture in which it lives.

Satisfaction, as the church enjoys the blessing of growth and vitality.

Self-centeredness, as the church turns its attention inward instead of keeping its mission primary and continuing to focus on loving Jesus and reaching people. They like what has been happening and attempt to reinforce it to keep things as they are.

Stagnation, as the church continues to focus on its own comfort and turns the ministry inward instead of outward. Plateau has begun.

Stress, as the church loses it vitality and faces the stress of no vision and disobedience. The stress sets the stage for blame, cliques, and disrupted fellowship.

A continued atmosphere of self-centeredness, stagnation, and stress result in the down-side of the bell curve of decline, dissension, deterioration, defeat, and deadness. Every church faces the reality of the Ephesus Tendency.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We must open our ears and hear what the Spirit is saying to us—to diagnose in what stage Christ First is presently living.

Rising Above the Plateau

The defining question is, “Can vitality be restored?” Yes, it can! It could then and it can now. Jesus’ counsel indicates that the Ephesus Tendency can be overcome.The New American Standard Version renders Jesus’ words as follows…“Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first…” (Revelation 2:5).

How can we restore our first love?

1. Remember. “Remember therefore from where you have fallen…”It involves the church in diagnosing its current status. Dissatisfaction with the present situation is essential for the church to take the action steps necessary for recovering spiritual vitality and beginning to grow again. Godly dissatisfaction gives a basis for repentance.

2. Repent. “Repent…” It means more than an emotional response of sorrow and regret for the church’s condition. It means “to change.” The church that reinforces its current status and resists change will continue in plateau and eventual decline.

3. Return. “Do the deeds you did at first…” It signifies that we will do the things we did at first. The deeds Ephesus did at first were sharing Christ with every person, “dialoguing” with them about Jesus, and equipping them to reach others. The reason the church started was to spread the good news about Jesus. When the church gets back to the first work, the first love returns. They work hand in hand. Spiritual vitality will return when we get back to the vision of Jesus and his mission of reaching lost people.

So change is essential. It is true with the signs of physical growth. As a baby grows, its diet and manner of dress change. The adult does not eat strained spinach and wear diapers unless there is a serious developmental problem. As the church grows, its must also make adjustments. It will need to change procedurally to take care of the needs of people as the number grows. If it refuses, the number will stop growing.

In the next three messages of our series we will be discovering the essential vital signs for a church to experience spiritual vitality:

v A spirit of revival power (pulse) — “Prompting a Movement of Renewal”

v A strategy for reaching people (temperature) — “ Living in the Zone”

v A structure for renewing and reaching priorities (blood pressure) — “Ministering with a Purpose”

Every church must have these three vital signs which are essential to spiritual vitality working, not so much sequentially but simultaneously.

So Jesus made this point: the continued blessing of God on a given body of Christ is not guaranteed. Unless they continue in or return to “first love attitudes” and “first deed acts,” they are in danger of Christ “darkening” the life of the church. “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”How can we tell if a church has lost its Lampstand?

In his book entitled, The Power of Loving Your Church, David Hansen brings three criteria to mind. A “church” without the Lampstand:

• Lacks the capacity to accept pastoral ministry that keeps the lamp burning;
• Is indifferent to prayer;
• Has a long history of raising its hand against God’s anointed (and therefore can no longer bear the presence of the Spirit that anoints pastor and church for ministry.)

As with any relationship, our personal bond with God the Father and Jesus Christ must be nourished if it is to grow. When we first became Jesus-followers, we desired to spend time with God in prayer, Bible study and meditation. We hungered for fellowship with others who shared the same beliefs and convictions. Our zeal was evident to others, and perhaps, even inspired others to review their relationship with God.

The apostle Paul understood this dynamic when he spoke of his longing to visit the brethren in Romans 1:11-12… For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

Jesus Christ came to introduce a new way of living motivated by a unique relationship between God and the believer. That relationship, when properly understood would radically alter the way people respond to each other and the world.

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

There was once an old stone monastery tucked away in the middle of a picturesque forest. For many years people would make the significant detour required to seek out this monastery. The peaceful spirit of the place was healing for the soul. In recent years however fewer and fewer people were making their way to the monastery. The monks had grown jealous and petty in their relationships with one another, and the animosity was felt by those who visited. The Abbot of the monastery was distressed by what was happening, and poured out his heart to his good friend Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a wise old Jewish rabbi. Having heard the Abbot's tale of woe he asked if he could offer a suggestion. "Please do" responded the Abbot. "Anything you can offer." Jeremiah said that he had received a vision, an important vision, and the vision was this: the messiah was among the ranks of the monks. The Abbot was flabbergasted. One among his own was the Messiah! Who could it be? He knew it wasn't himself, but who? He raced back to the monastery and shared his exciting news with his fellow monks. The monks grew silent as they looked into each other's faces. Was this one the Messiah? From that day on the mood in the monastery changed. Joseph and Ivan started talking again, neither wanting to be guilty of slighting the Messiah. Philip and Nathaniel left behind their frosty anger and sought out each other's forgiveness. The monks began serving each other, looking out for opportunities to assist, seeking healing and forgiveness where offence had been given. As one traveler, then another found their way to the monastery word soon spread about the remarkable spirit of the place. People once again took the journey to the monastery and found themselves renewed and transformed. All because those monks knew the Messiah was among them.

When we return to our first love, only then is Jesus Christ among us. This unique relationship can restore love, fellowship and servanthood. So when we as Jesus-followers come to the Table of the Lord today, we experience remembrance, repentance and renewal to our first love as we receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. It links us with God and one another.

The message to the church at Ephesus remains relevant after two millennia. It warns God’s people against losing sight of the importance of having a proper relationship with him. The message warns us to return and to cling to our first love, and to truly understand what our love for Jesus Christ must entail. “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Amen.