Alright, well we’re there in second Kings chapter 22. And we’ve been going through a series on Sunday mornings on the subject of revival. And if you remember, a couple of weeks ago when we started this series, we learned about revival. And we learned that revival is to know God and to make God known, to know God in a deeper, fuller way. And to make God known in a very profound way. And last week we talked about revival through dying to self. And we’ve been studying these ideas of revival. We’ve been looking at the revival passages in Scripture. And we learned that you cannot have revival, something could not be revived until it first dies. And in order for you and I to be spiritually revived, whether we need it or not, because of spiritual death in our lives or churches that die, we all need to learn to die to self. We learned about that last week.
Today we’re going to continue with this idea of revival and today we’re going to focus on the idea of revival through the house of God. Revival through the house of God. And of course, King Josiah, as we read here in 1st Kings 22, lead one of the greatest revivals in the Bible. In fact, we’ll read it next week. Chapter 23 and we’ll look at the characteristics of that great revival. And I’m not going to preach a lot about Josiah’s revival this morning because that will be the subject of the sermon next week. Next week we’re going to go through and break down the revival that Josiah led. And we’re going to learn about it and apply to our lives. What I do want you to notice this morning, and what I want to just start off at is that I want you to notice that the revival of Josiah began with the house of God.
If you look there in second Kings 22, you’ll see that there was a return to the house of God. 2 Kings 22:3, the Bible says this, “3 And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah,”. And for many years the house of God had been abandoned and ignored. Here we have this king, King Josiah. He “sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe,” Notice “to the house of the LORD, saying,”. And we see that the revival that Josiah led really began where they returned to the house of God. I thought that was fitting since for the last few months we’ve been in lockdown and we’ve not been able to meet in the way that we’ve liked to meet. And we’re really experiencing a return back to the house of God. And you know I’m glad that Verity Baptist Church is getting back to the house of God and because of the fact that this is where revival will begin. Revival begins with the house of God.
you’ll notice that there was a return to the house of God. But it was more than just returning to the house of God, there’s also a repairing of the house of God. If you look at the last word there in verse 3, it says “saying”. Notice verse 4. “4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches”. The word breaching means the breaking apart “of the house, 6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.”. I want you to notice that when Josiah led a revival, it was not only a return to the house of God but they also began to repair the house of God.
Now I’d like you to go with me if you would to the New Testament, 1 Timothy 3. And let me say this, here in Josiah we see that they physically returned and that they physically repaired the house itself. The temple of God was in disarray and they began to repair the house of God. But I want you to understand that for us this has a spiritual application. Because see today the house of God is not a building in the Old Testament. The house of God started as a tabernacle, as a tent, that was set apart for meeting with the Lord. And then eventually it turned into the temple that Solomon built. And it was a building, a beautiful building that was set apart for the meeting for God’s people. To meet with God today however, the house of God is not a building, the house of God is not a location. We don’t have to do a pilgrimage to a certain place, to a certain geographical spot in order to be in the House of the Lord. Today the house of God for New Testament believers has changed.
If you’re there in first Timothy, notice chapter three and look at verse 15. Notice what the Bible says. Paul said this, “15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself”. Notice what he says “in the house of God,”. And you might ask, well where is that Paul? Is that a temple in Jerusalem somewhere? Is there a location that we have to go to, physically go to? And notice what he says “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”. See today, the house of God for New Testament believers, the Bible tells us it’s the Church of God. And the church is the gathering together of believers. And we’ll look at that here in a minute from the scriptures. Go to Ephesians.
Today the house of God is the Church of God which again is not a building. The church is the gathering together, the assembling of believers. And just like Josiah had to return to the house of God in order to experience revival and had to repair the house of God, we need to if we want to experience revival at Verity Baptist Church, not only return to the house of God but we must begin to repair the house of God. I’m not talking about the physical building. Although while you were gone, we painted and had the chairs cleaned and had the carpet cleaned and installed new equipment and did all those things, I’m talking about spiritually. This is why I’m even doing this series on revival because as we return, as we make this journey…. And I realize that we’re not going to just flip a switch and be back 100 percent capacity after two months of being locked down. I understand that.
And we’ve got families that still have medical concerns and are not able to be with us. And we love them and we encourage them to continue to livestream and we look forward to the day when they can return and be part of the congregation. I realized that we were not just going to flip a switch and be back 100%. It’s going to take time weeks, maybe months to get us back to where we were. But I’m telling you this, as we continue this process of returning to the house of God, I don’t want us just to return to the house of God, I want to repair the house of God spiritually speaking. I want to begin to repair the breaches, the damage that may have happened over the last couple of months during this lockdown. And I want you to notice that it all begins with revival, begins with the house of God.
Now there’s a reason for that. Why is it you might say that you need the house of God for revival? You know, can I be revived all on my own? Can I just spiritually be on fire for God? Do I really need to be a part of a church or part of a local assembly? And I’m not preaching on the doctrine of Church necessarily today, although the Bible teaches us, and you’ve heard me say this, that Jesus died for the church. That Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus builds the church. God gave us the institution of a local church and God wants every believer to be a part of that. But today we’re answering the question, why revival through the house of God? Why do I need the house of God in order to experience revival? I want to give you three thoughts this morning in regards to that. I encourage you to write these down on the back of your Chorus of the Week. There’s a place for you to write down some notes.
And the first point is this, the house of God is required for revival. Or the house of God can bring revival. Because point number one, the sermons you hear in the house of God. Because of the sermons you hear in church. Because we’ve already established that the house of God is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And see, one of the purposes for having church is that you will come here and through the preaching of the word of God, your life will be cleansed. Now on Wednesday night, I preached through Ephesians chapter 5. And we focused on the idea of husbands and wives, but at the end I shared with you that little dialogue there in regards to marriage. It was actually him teaching about the relationship between Christ and His Church.
And I want you to notice again this morning if you would that one of the reasons that God gave us a church, that Jesus gave us a church, was for cleansing. Ephesians 5:25 “25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”. Remember Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus builds the church. Notice verse 26 talking about Jesus. “26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it”. What’s the church? It’s not the building. It’s you. It’s me. It’s as we come together collectively, assemble together, we make up the local New Testament church. You know that’s called Verity Baptist Church.
And the purpose, one of the reasons is that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, might sanctify and cleanse you. You say well, how is it that Jesus is going to sanctify, to make pure, to separate, and to cleanse the church? How did he do it? Notice, “with the washing of water by the word,”. See it is through the preaching of the word of God that God sanctifies, that Jesus sanctified, and cleanses the church. “27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;”. Notice, “but that it should be holy and without blemish.”. God desires a people that are peculiar, that are separated, that are holy and without blemish. And God wants to do that. You say how is he going to do it? By the washing of the water by the word. How is he going to do that? Through the house of God. Through the preaching of the word of God. This is why in John 17:17 the Bible says, “17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”. The Word of God is what’s going to sanctify us, what’s going to cleanse you.
Now if you kept your place there in first Timothy, go to 2 Timothy 4. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth. God wants to sanctify you. God wants to cleanse you through his word. So, when we come to church, we take the Word of God and we wash you with the word. Here we have Paul giving instructions to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. And he tells Timothy, here’s what you need to do, preach the word. “2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;”. What does that mean? He says I want you to preach the word whether it’s popular or not. Whether it’s in season or not. Whether people like it or not. He says “2 Preach the word; be instant in season,”. And he says, here’s how you should be doing it. “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”. He says look, your job Timothy, and my job as a pastor is to stand up here week after week, and to take the Word of God, to preach the word and to do that by teaching you doctrine, by having to reprove, by having to rebuke, by having to exhort, and encourage you to do it. Whether it’s in season or out of season.
And you say why? That Christ might sanctify and cleanse you through the washing of the water of the word. Sometimes people come to church and they think, especially new believers, and I’ve had this conversation a lot. People will come to church, or maybe not even necessarily new believers, just Christians that maybe haven’t been a part of a church like Verity Baptist Church. Because you may not know this, and if you’re new then you don’t know that, maybe you’ll know it by the end of the service. Today when you come to Verity Baptist Church, we give you the Word of God in heavy doses. I mean this is not the kind of place where we read a verse, then we tell a story, I tell a few jokes, we tell a poem, then we go on, take three offerings, and go on our merry way. We dig into the Word of God. We give you the Word of God. You say why do you do that? Because my job is to preach the word. And I’ll give you illustrations and I’ll give you stories and I’ll give you thoughts, but my prime purpose of us gathering together right now is for me to preach the word. Why? That you might be sanctified and cleansed, that you might be washed by the word.
And sometimes people will come to church like this and say man, whenever I come here, I feel so dirty. I mean I just feel like everything I’m doing is wrong. My wife and I have had this conversation a hundred times. And I’ve thought this myself at times in my life. And I remember I had a pastor one day who told me the reason for that. The reason when people come to church, when we’re preaching the Word of God, the reason you feel like you are doing everything wrong and feel so dirty. He said “It’s like if you were to take a rock, just a dirty rock and place it in a stream of water and allowed water to just rush over that rock. You know initially that water is going to just begin to remove all of the dirt and the filth and the grime. And if you look downstream, you’re going to see a bunch of dirt coming off that rock and think “All that was on me”.
And that’s really how it is when you first come to church like this. You show up for here, we sing some songs, and then Pastor Jimenez, he grabs the pressure washer of the Word of God. And we just wash that dirt off of you. Sanctifying, cleansing that dirt off of you. And you look behind, you’re like, “That was on me”? You take that rock and you put it on a stream of water. It’ll initially begin to cleanse it. Eventually just begin to smooth it out. Sometimes we get all that initial grime off and then we start smoothing you out as a believer, helping you mature in your Christian faith. But look, you say well do I need Church? Because look, you’re not going to get the preaching you need, you’re not going to get the messages about marriage, about child-rearing, about your finances, about your inner heart condition (bitterness, pride, anger). You’re just not going to get it from the world. They’re just not going to give it to you at the public-school system. That’s not going to give it to you. Your jobs not going to give it to you. You need a church; you need to be able to come to a place where sermons are brought forth out of the Word of God. And they’re meant to cleanse you. They’re meant to help you. They’re meant to help you grow.
Go to Acts 20. The house of God will cleanse you and you will be cleansed through the preaching of the word of God. You say “Ah, I like to go to church where I just feel edified. I like that liberal Church down the street”. It’s like, you’re living in fornication, you’re just making a mess out of your life, you’re into every possible sin you could possibly be into, and you go to a church and you feel encouraged. There’s something wrong with that. You’re supposed to be cleansed by the Word of God. You say why is it? It’s because they’re bringing out the little squirt gun of God’s Word, if they even have God’s Word. They’re squirting you with it and you’re like “Oh that feels nice”. No, you need the pressure washer of the word of God. You need to be rebuked and reproved. And I will exhort you on the way out but you need to be cleansed by the Word of God. That’s the purpose for church.
And by the way, that’s why you will experience revival, that’s why you will experience growth, that’s why you will experience the filling of the Holy Spirit when you come to a church that preaches the Word of God. Why? Because the sermons will sanctify you. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. See, our job, and look, my primary job as a pastor is to help you and to feed you God’s Word. Acts 20:28, notice what the Bible says here to pastors “28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”. Here he uses the illustration of feeding. We have the Church of God, we have the flock of God here, and my job as a pastor is to feed you spiritually.
Go to Acts 11:26. “26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year”. And notice “they assembled themselves with the church,”. That’s what a church is. It’s an assembly. It’s a congregation. “they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”. They taught believers. They taught much people. And by the way, it had an effect on their lives. It had such an effect on their lives that actually after assembling with the church for a year, and being taught the Word of God, being cleansed with the pressure washer of the Word of God, the outside community began to take notice. “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”. What the word Christian means, a Christ imitator. Someone who’s like Christ. Someone who’s a little Christ. The outside community began to look at this called out assembly of believers. And they said “Man, let me tell you something, they remind me of that guy Jesus Christ. They kind of act like Christ and they live like Christ and they talk like Christ. Let’s call them Christians”.
But why? Look, nothing in the Bible is in there by coincidence. What brought about that change that the outside world would look at them and say let’s call them Christians first in Antioch? What brought that change was that they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people. Because God gave you a church to help you grow, to cleanse your life. And primarily that’s done through the sermons that you hear. Through the preaching, at least it should be done through the preaching of the word of God.
Go to Acts 2:42 “42 And they continued stedfastly”. Notice those 3 words, “they continued stedfastly”. That’s our discipleship at Verity Baptist Church. Well you want to get a bunch of people saved, right? Look, we want to get a bunch of people saved. But you know, what we also want is to teach people to continue steadfastly, to continued steadfastly in the Word of God and the things of God and then walk with God. “42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine”. See, it happened through the teaching. That’s what the word doctrine means, to teach. Teaching. Through the teaching of God’s Word. Through the Apostles. Through the pastors. Through the Evangelist. Through the men of God.
And if there’s one thing that we’ve learned through this coronavirus thing is that the preaching is just not the same on livestream. I mean there’s just something about being in the room, there’s something about just being in the room when those sermons are being preached. Because on livestream, and look, if you don’t have a choice and all you can do is livestream then God bless you. Praise the Lord for it. And we don’t think anything is wrong with that. We absolutely don’t have a problem with that. We did it but you know, there’s something about being in the room. Because on the livestream it’s easy to get distracted. On the livestream, some of you are so busy chatting away, you don’t even know what the sermon was about. You know on livestream, you’re getting up to grab your popcorn, and you forgot you need to feed the dog, and then I forgot to take out the trash. By the time you get back, oh it’s done. Great we went to church. No, you didn’t. And look it I’m not against it. I’m just telling you there’s something about being in the house of God and having a man of God take the Word of God and pressure wash and cleanse you and sanctify you through the preaching of the word of God.
So, the house of God can bring a revival because of the sermons you hear at church. And by the way, this is why the Bible teaches the more church you can get, the better. The more church you can get, the better. Sometimes people say to me, “I’ve been coming to church here and I’ve learned more”. And people have said this to me & my wife so many times. And we take it as a compliment. I mean I feel like we’re doing our job. They say, I’ve learned more coming to Verity Baptist Church in three months or six months or one year then I learned the entire time I was going to some other church or whatever. And I appreciate that. But you know sometimes I want to tell people, well if you learned so much on Sunday mornings, imagine what you’d learn if you showed up on Sunday night. Imagine what you’d learn if you showed up on Wednesday night. You learn three times as much. I’m not preaching the same sermon on Sunday Morning, Sunday Night and Wednesday Night. It’s another opportunity to be in the house of God under the preaching of the word.
Here’s all I’m telling you, you need church as much as possible, as much as you can get, as much time as you can spend under the pressure washer of the Word of God. It’s good for you. It’s good for me to be cleansed and sanctified by the Word of God. So, the house of God can bring revival. Why? Number one because of the sermons you hear in the house of God.
But there’s a second reason the house of God can bring revival. Not only because of the sermons that you hear in the house of God, but because of the socializing you partake in in the house of God. You’re there in verse 42, remember these 3 words. “they continued steadfastly”. I like that. That’s our goal. I want you to continue steadfastly. I like that. That’s our goal. I want you to continue steadfastly. But notice, it’s in the Apostles doctrine. But that’s not it. It’s not just the Apostles doctrine. “and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”.
Do you realize that God created you and I to need community? We were created to live in community with other people, with other believers. And if you’re going to experience revival, if you’re going to experience revival in the house of God, it’s going to come through the Word of God, through the house of God. It’ll happen because of the sermons of the Word of God. But it’ll also happen because of the socializing, the social aspect of the Word of God, of the house of God. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine but also in fellowship. It says and fellowship. See it is fellowship that will help you get on fire for God. Good friends are good for you spiritually. Good friends are good for you spiritually.
Go to the Book of Psalms. I want you to compare a couple of passages. And then go with me also to the book of Hebrews Chapter 2. Now in Psalm 22:22, the Bible says this “22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren:”. Now I want you to notice these words, “in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.”. Here in Psalm 22, the psalmist is saying that in the midst, meaning in the middle, of the congregation. He says will I praise thee. Now that’s what we were doing just a minute ago when we’re singing “How Great Thou art”. If you were singing in the midst of the congregation, you were praising God. If the psalmist said “in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”.
Now keep your place in Psalm 22, I want you to notice Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2:12. This Psalm is being quoted. The writer of Hebrews is quoting Psalm 22. Notice how he quotes it, Psalm 22:12 “12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”. So, in Psalms he said in the midst of the congregation. In Hebrews 2:12 he says in the midst of the church. You say oh, is that a contradiction? No, the word church and the word congregation are being used interchangeably because they mean the same thing. A church is an assembly, it is a congregation, it is a congregating of believers. That’s what a church is. See, there is a social aspect to the house of God.
Look, if there’s another thing we learned during the coronavirus, if we learned one thing the preaching is not the same on livestream as it is in person. But you know what we learned was there’s more to church than just preaching. I mean there’s way more to church than just preaching. I mean I can catch a live stream online. Yeah you can. But there’s way more to church than just listening to preaching. There is a social aspect to church. Because of the fact that church is a congregation.
Go to Proverbs 27. See, you need good friends. Good friends will help you stay connected. Good friends will help you experience revival. Proverbs 27:17 is a very well-known verse. The Bible says this “17 Iron sharpeneth iron;”. Iron sharpens iron the same way as if you want to take a sword or some sort of a blade and you want to sharpen it. The way you do it is just take another piece of iron and you rub them together and those sharpen each other. He says “17 Iron sharpeneth iron;”. And he’s using that as an illustration. He says “so”. Meaning “in the same way”. “so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”. See, you need good friends to keep you, to help you to be spiritual. God created you to need community. And then God instituted a place called the local church where you can gather together with other believers. Why? Because iron sharpeneth iron; so, a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Go to Ecclesiastes 4. See, the Bible teaches in scripture in regards to community that we are better together. We do better together. We accomplish more together. Ecclesiastes 4:9. The Bible says this, “9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.”. You know that we can accomplish more together than all of us could accomplish separately. We will do more together. “9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall,”. How can 2 be better than 1? He says, well let me explain to you. Verse 10 “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”.
And you know, people learn this unfortunately the hard way. People live the self-life which really should be called the selfish life. And they choose to make life all about themselves. Just me and my family. And we don’t need church, we don’t need anybody, we don’t need anything, we’re good to go. And that might be true till tragedy happens. That might be good till you fall and there’s no one there to help you up. “ 2 are better than one “10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”.
Notice verse 11, “11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?”. You know this is true. Brother Jose gave me an illustration that whenever I read this verse, I always think of his illustration. He gave me an illustration years ago about how Christians are like hot coals. When you’re grilling, you take those coals and you put them all in an assembly. You assemble them all together and you put them on top of the fire. So, I’m trying to do with this with this revival series. I’m trying to set you on fire. And Christians are like that. Those hot coals, as long as they’re in the midst of other coals, they’ll stay hot for a long time. But it says you pick one of those coals out and just set it off by itself, the group will remain hot but this one will cool down. You say why is that? Well, it’s because if 2 lie together then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone.
And spiritually speaking, when you are around other people who are singing praises to God, who are reading the Bible, who are praying, who are soul-winning, who are serving, we’re going in the same direction that you’re going in life. Hey, that’ll get you warmed up. That’ll get you heated up. That’ll get you on fire for God. You go and isolate yourself; you’re going to cool down. You say “You know, I’m a spiritual level Christian”. No, you’re not. You are not spiritual enough to ignore the institution that Jesus died for, that Jesus gave his life for, that Jesus built up. You are not bigger than Jesus. Jesus said you need the church.
You say, well I can get the preaching online? It’s not the same. But you know what you can’t get online? The fellowship. You know what you can’t get online? The relationships. You know what you can’t get online? The iron sharpeneth iron. And they’re being warmed up with other believers. Verse 12 “12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”. I love how he ends that. He begins by saying two is better than one. He says two is better than one but then he says, but you know what’s better than two, three. Why do you guys have service Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Well because two is better than one. But you know what’s even better than two, three.
“Pastor, why do you want to grow the church and experience a revival of Verity Baptist Church and we’re slowly getting back”. And look, I believe that the Lord is doing a great work and we’re getting there. Last week, I remember in front of me, I think we had about 150. We’ve got about 150 of our church family back in church that week. That’s probably about 80% of what we had before the Coronavirus. Then the week after that we had more. Today I think we got 160 something. Hey, we’re slowly getting back. We’re building. We’re returning to the house of God. But we’re also going to repair the house of God because we need each other, because better than two is three. You know what’s better than one hundred and fifty? Two hundred. You know what’s better than 200? 250. You say ah, is it about numbers? No, it’s about helping people be revived in their lives, helping marriages grow, helping parenting grow, helping you draw close to God. See, if we’re going to experience revival, we’re going to have to learn to know God. And then we’re going to have to make God known. We need a community. We need each other.
Go to John 17. You were created to need friends spiritually. Good friends are good for you. But we were created to need a community. It’s intuitive. This is why things like social media blow up. Social media is so popular, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. All those things. Why? Because intuitively we’re created for community. I don’t have time to go into this but I’ve been listening to things and looking at things and you know studies are showing that social media is actually doing the opposite. People think that they’re getting connected by being on social media. And the more time they spend on social media, they actually feel more isolated, more separated. Because of the fact that God wants you to have human interaction, not cyber interaction. Now you know social media can be used in a healthy way nd I understand that. But look, it should not take place of being physically, eyeball to eyeball with other human beings because we need community.
And look, listen to me. We need to be against an isolation mentality. Now I’m all for if there’s a pandemic. If the Black Plague spreads or whatever then yeah, we want to have social distancing and we need to be careful. Those things we understand. But just in general, we ought not live our lives in isolation. John 17:15 is a very interesting passage because it’s actually the Lord Jesus Christ praying. Often, we call the Lord’s Prayer, you know…” Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”. We call that the Lord’s Prayer. But that’s really Jesus teaching us how to pray. The disciples say teach us to pray. And he said well let me show you. Here’s a pattern, an outline for maybe how you might be able to pray.
In John 17 we actually are just listening in to Jesus praying. Notice what Jesus prays. John 17:15, he says
“15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,”. You say, I thought we weren’t of the world. He just said earlier that we’re not out of the world. We’re different from the world. We are pilgrims in this world. But notice, Jesus says, “15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”. See, Jesus said in his own prayers, “Keep them separate. Keep them clean. Just keep them holy. But don’t take them out of the world.”.
Listen to me, Jesus does not want you and I to go buy land in Idaho somewhere or in Nevada somewhere and build some compound and just we isolate ourselves from the world. In fact, Jesus said I’m not praying for that at all. You say why? Well, because Jesus wants us to help him build his church. You got to be able to reach people. If you’re going to reach people, you need to be able to physically go and reach people, to go spiritually reach people with the gospel of Christ. Because “15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”.
And look, over the last 10 years of ministry, my wife and I have done a lot of counseling. And we’ve done a lot of study on counseling and how to counsel people. One of the first telltale signs is look for people who are isolating themselves. It’s unhealthy spiritually. We’ve learned the first step, the first red sign that someone’s getting backslidden is when they want to isolate themselves. They don’t want to spend time with people. They leave right after the service. Leaving right after the service turns into not showing up to church, isolating themselves. You need Church. You need people.
There’s a reason why during this pandemic there’s so much mental health issues and suicide and depression. Why? Because isolation is unhealthy for everyone, physically, mentally, emotionally. But it’s also unhealthy spiritually. This is one of the things we’ve been trying to keep an eye on. We’ve been trying to stay in connection with people. And look I realize if you’re not coming to church for health reasons, you’ve got health reasons in your family with you or people around you and you need to be isolated, I’m not talking about that. But when you can come to church and you choose not to come to church because you just want to be isolated, that’s the first sign that your heart is getting backslidden.
And today we have movements that want to praise isolation. This is why I’m not for this homestead movement. Now look, homesteading, nothing wrong with it. Just last night my wife and my sister were talking about planting seeds and planting things. During this lockdown one of the projects we did with our kids was that we built a planter box and we planted a bunch of stuff. There’s not anything wrong with that. I think that’s great. Having animals and having flocks or things like that is great. Having a land and property, all that is great as long as you can stay connected into a good local church. But this idea that I’m going to go buy land somewhere in the middle of nowhere and live off the land and I’m never going to see anybody ever, that’s not of God. God doesn’t want that. In fact, Jesus preached and prayed the opposite of that. Don’t take them out of the world.
Today there’s a home school movement. And I’m all for homeschooling. We have a homeschool group here. There’s a homeschool movement that’s just all about isolating yourself, just our family, no one else. They stopped going to church. They do home church. And they never allow their family to be around anyone or with anyone. News flash, that’s how you raise a bunch of freaks. People say homeschool kids are weird. Number one, public school kids are weird too. Number two, the homeschool kids that are weird are the ones that are being isolated by their parents. You know my kids are like overly socialized in a place like this. It’s like you’re spending too much time with your friends. Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights. Saturday soul-winning, this event, that event, this field trip, that field trip.
Hey, I’m here to tell you something, isolation is not of God. God doesn’t want you to isolate yourself. You need community. “15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”. So, look, and please understand, make sure you can go to church, make sure you can be around people, make sure you can walk up to someone and ask them “Do you know for sure that you’re on your way to heaven”. And if you’re just too far from society to do that then you’re too far. God doesn’t want you isolating yourself. God wants you to be part of the body of Christ.
Go to first Corinthians chapter 12. You say, I’m going to go out and live in the middle of nowhere and live off the land. Well, where are you going to go to church? Oh, we’re not. Look, Jesus wants you in church. You say we’ll live stream. That’s not good enough. For a month or 2 months or whatever during an emergency, maybe. I mean even that will take its toll. Even that will allow good Christians to get backslidden. But God wants you to be part of a spiritual community. He created you to need community. 1st Corinthians chapter 12, look at verse 24. He’s talking about the church, using the illustration of the church as a body. Body parts that come together to make up a body.
Notice “24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together,”. The word tempered means to mix. The idea is like if you take clay and you mix it together into a proper consistency to bring to a proper suitable desirable state by blending or mixing. God says that he wants to take you as an individual. He wants to mix you. He wants to temper you into the body of Christ, into a local church. “God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.”. Notice verse 25, “25 That there should be no schism in the body;”. The word schism means division. “but that the members should have the same care one for another.”.
Look, we need a body, we need acceptance in the body. And we need to not be divided with the body because we need to have a body that we care for. We need to have a body that we care for and that cares for us. Look at verse 26, “26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”. You need to care for others and others need to be able to care for you. Go to the book of Romans.
I said number one this morning, the house of God can bring a revival because of the sermons. You put the pressure washer of the Word of God and it can cause revival. I said secondly, that you need the house of God because of the socializing. You get in the house of God, you need people. 2 are better than 1. You know what’s better than 2? 3. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken. And I’d like to notice thirdly this morning, we’ll finish up here quickly, the house of God can bring revival because of the service you do in the house of God. Because of the service, that you’re supposed to serve in the house of God. Romans chapter 16:1. “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:”.
Go to the book of Ephesians. We learn about people who addicted themselves to the ministry. You were not only created for socialization but you were created for service. You know that it’s not healthy for you to live the self-absorbed, selfish life of isolation. It’s not healthy for you. You need to serve for your own good. I mean even counselors and therapists today will recommend that. Because they don’t want to acknowledge the house of God, so they’ll say do community service or go volunteer at this club or that club. But they realize that intuitively we know that we need service. We need to serve.
Arthur C Brooks is a teacher at Harvard. He teaches a class on how to attain true happiness. And he teaches that what we normally think will bring true happiness will only bring misery. He talks about the fact that people think that money, people think that power, people think that pleasure will bring happiness and these things only bring misery. And he does a study on what brings happiness. He’s a spiritual guy or whatever. He’s not a Christian. He’s not saved. But he acknowledges God and all these things and he teaches this class. He also writes an article for The Atlantic called “The Art Of Happiness”. I think he has a podcast and he said the key (in reference) to happiness is to find structure through which you can transcend a focus on your narrow self-interest to serve others.
See, the truth is this, you will never be happy while you are focused on self. You will never be happy while you are focused on yourself. The key to happiness is to serve others, is to give yourself for others. Ephesians 4:12, this is one of the purposes of the church here. In Ephesians 4:12 we’re learning about why God gave you a church, why God gave you a pastor, why did he do that? Number one, for the perfecting of the saints. The completing, the maturing of the Saints. That’s what that means. Number two, the work of the ministry. The perfecting of the Saints is done through the preaching of the word of God. The work of the ministry is done through serving in the work of God. The work of the ministry. And when you do these things, it will bring forth the edifying of the body of Christ. You are supposed to serve others. You are supposed to figure out a way to transcend, to get past the focus of narrow self-interest and serve other people.
You know what’s interesting, intuitively we know this, that we need help, we need the truth to help us. The world doesn’t want us to go to Church so they’ll say, find a therapist, find a counselor, find a shrink, find a psychiatrist, let’s put you on drugs, let’s put you on medications. They acknowledge that they need someone to help them, someone to reprove and rebuke and exhort. But they try to do it outside of church. They realize that they need socialization. There’s a social aspect of humanity. So, for years, people have ignored Church by having things like the Elks Lodge, the Moose Lodge, a bowling league, a golf league and whatever. Recently we’ve done away with even those things just through social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and whatever those things are. Then we realized we need service. We just need to serve others. So, these people said, man you can’t just live a life that’s selfish. So, they say go to the park, paint the bathrooms, plant the trees, and do these things. Look, the world realizes that these things are needed.
What’s interesting is God already knew that. He created you with those things. And he created a system, the local New Testament church, where you can come to one place and get the truth to help you in life. You can get the socialization you need to help sharpen you in life. You can get the service you need so you’re not a self-centered brat. God did it all. He gave it to us already. In fact, Jesus said I died for the church. I’m the head of the church. I built the church. And Jesus would look at you and say, you need Church, revival through the Church of God. Now I want to end this morning by just talking about a command for the Church of God. Because Hebrews 10:25 is a verse that a lot of people have misapplied. Hebrews 10:25 says this, “25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”. And I believe this, that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. The word forsake means to abandon or to quit. We should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Here’s how people have misapplied this verse, They say, all those churches that went livestream only, they’re all forsaking the assembly. Please understand this, the command here is being given to someone that has the ability to go to church and chooses not to. Do you understand that? Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, notice these words, as the manner of some is. What does the word manner mean? It means a custom or a habit. He says some people have a custom or a habit of forsaking the assembling. And then you got preachers out there, instead of being worried about their own congregations, trying to build and do something great for God, they want to pick apart everybody else and say “Oh you guys are forsaking the assembling of yourselves together”. I’m like really? We have a custom; we have a habit of just shutting down Church for three months at a time during a pandemic? That doesn’t apply to this. This verse is talking about people who can go to church and choose not to. Understand this, if you are a godly Christian who just got saved in your 20s, you got saved in your 30s, you got connected in a good church, you got discipled, you started growing for the Lord, you started serving the Lord, you started serving in church, started going soul-winning, you were going to church Sunday morning & Sunday night & Wednesday night for decades, you raise your kids in church and you’re now 80 years old, 90 years old but you are too sick to get out. You’re bedridden so you can’t go to church. You think God’s is looking down on and is mad that you are forsaking the assembly? That’s not what those verses are talking about.
You know what this verse is talking about? It’s talking about that people after we started church, who still don’t want to go to church (not for medical reasons) just because they don’t want to. Not forsaking the assembling of yourself. God has blessed churches like Verity Baptist Church. God has blessed Verity Baptist Church and churches like Verity Baptist Church with our livestream, with our online reaching people all over the world. We’re getting emails all the time of people telling us they got saved watching this video or that video or this documentary or that documentary. You think that if you live in Africa where there’s no good church in your area that God will be mad at you for watching livestream? Where there literally is no church that is preaching the gospel in your entire country. You got saved watching a documentary online and there’s no place for you to even go. And people are mad at those people because they’re live streaming? They don’t have a choice.
Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together. “Oh pastor, were we backslidden during the 3 months?”. You didn’t have a choice. Now if you want to put it on me and say that I sinned or whatever, if that makes you feel better, do that. I’ll stand before God. But if you didn’t have a choice, that’s not talking about you. You don’t have a manner of skipping Church to go hiking, to go camping, go fishing. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, it is referring to people who can go to church and choose not to. God is telling them you are sinning. You are breaking a command. God commands you to go to church. You say why? Because God realizes you need church. Notice he says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. He says, but exhorting one another. Because we need each other. Because we need a community. But exhorting one another.
And then he says, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. I want you to notice that there’s a command to be part of a local church. But this is not referring to now. If you go move from a good church and you go move in the middle of somewhere where you can’t go to church, yeah, you’re sinning. You understand that you’re choosing to separate yourself. You’re choosing to forsake the assembly. But if you find yourself in a state where you can’t go to church, through your livestreaming, God’s not mad at you for that. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. So, talk about people who can go to church and choose not to go.
In September we’ll be celebrating 10 years here at Verity Baptist Church. 10 years ago, my wife and I started a church in our living room. Some of you have been with us for a long time. Some of you been with us since we were in the house. My family of course has been with us since day one. Brother Ray and Ms. Denise have been with us literally since day one. And it’s been 10 years. It’s been a great ride. I’m looking forward to the next 10 years. I was thinking this week, something my wife and I used to do in the early days when we first started, because when you first start you know you don’t have a lot of mature Christians. And of course, we had some mature Christians that started with us. But you start reaching people. You have a lot of new Christians, baby Christians. People who don’t have habits, good spiritual habits. Something we used to do in the early days, we would do a church attendance challenge. And once every six months or once a year in the early years, I preached a sermon about the importance of church, kind of like I’m doing right now. The importance of Church and why you need church. Why God wants you in church. And then we put out the church attendance challenge. And we told this brand-new small church, if you commit to come to all the services, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night for the entire month of June, we’re going to take you out to pizza on this night or whatever. And I’m not going to do that now. I think our church is a little more mature than that. We’ve matured a little bit. But you know what, I’m not going to bribe you with pizza but I am going to give you a challenge. You’ve been on lockdown for a couple of months. June is coming starting tomorrow. I want to challenge you to be in church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night in the month of June. For all the complaining and harping you did on social media about your right, you think you would show up to church once you can.
Acts 20:18 “18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,”. You know I want to challenge you to make church a priority. Be here Sunday morning. You say, but I’m new. That much be too much. Ok. Why don’t you just commit to be here every Sunday morning in the month of June. Don’t miss any service. I understand medical reasons and things like that. I get that. You say, well I was already coming on Sunday Morning but I haven’t been on nights anymore. Then don’t backslide. Get back to Sunday morning and Sunday night. Why don’t you decide right now, I mean be here every Sunday morning, every Sunday night? You say, I was already coming to all 3 services. Then don’t do less. You know two is better than one. You know what’s better than two? Three. Why don’t you get a calendar and make a little checklist?
The point is this, why don’t you commit to developing a manner of being faithful. You can say like Paul, what manner I have been with you at all seasons. Even hunting season. Even football season. You know they’re bringing basketball back. Even basketball season. At all seasons. Commit to be faithful to the house of God because it’s the only way, it’s the only way that you can be right with God and that you can experience revival. Because revival requires the house of God.
Let’s pray.