Transcript: Strengthening The Bible Belt: Revelation 3

We probably all know the term, the Bible Belt, right? The Bible Belt is the region of the southern United States, which usually has a conservative Christian values. It plays a strong role in society, in politics, church attendance across all denominations is pretty higher compared in the southern United States than anywhere else. But as I have been studying the way our society is going, and as I was praying about it, I felt like God was speaking. And it felt as though He said, the Bible helps not as strong as it once was. and I kind of believe that because when you look at society the way we've gone all the southern parts of the United States have become less conservative and more liberal they're voting in liberal politicians more of a liberal and less moral culture is beginning to come in church attendance is beginning to diminish. We're seeing a lot of the conservative Christian values falling by the wayside. And is the Bible Belt really the Bible Belt anymore? That's what it comes down to. No. No, I would have to agree. I would have to agree. I don't know that it is. But this is the thing. can the belt be strengthened again? I say with God all things are possible. And that's why I think the southern part of the United States needs to hear the fact of what God is saying to it today. Even though it's talking about a church in Revelation, I believe this is a church message for our world right here and right now. Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 1, it says these words, Unto the angel, the pastor if you will, of the church at Sardis. Now Sardis was a Reformation church. Now what is a Reformation? Well, the Reformation was a religious movement that was marked ultimately by the rejection or modification of some of the Roman Catholic belief systems and kind of spawned into the Protestant church. And the church of Sardis was a Reformation church. This is God speaking to the Reformation church. The church, the Protestant church here in America and in the southern United States. I believe this. He says, he writes, these things say he that hath the seven spirits of God. Yesterday on my program on the radio, I talked about seven, God's number of completion. You know, God's perfect number. The number that completes. And that is what this means, this set of spirits, means the full and complete ability of the Holy Spirit. The problem with most of the Church of the Living God is we don't have the Spirit of God. That's what it comes down to. Oh, we talk a game, we'll play it up like we're doing it, oh, we're okay. hey, but do we really, really have the Spirit of God in our churches? Do our people really flow with the Spirit of God in us? And, you know, that's something we've got to examine ourselves. No one can say to you whether you have the Spirit of God or not. Only you know that, and only God knows that. I'm not foolish enough to come to you and say You don't have the Spirit of God I'm not going to do that Because that's not up to you To me to tell you that It's up to each person To examine their own hearts And examine their own lives And see if the Spirit of God Is flowing in its fullness in their lives See The Holy Spirit is vital To the church and to the church people It really is. He says, and unto the seven stars, the seven stars is the seven pastors of the seven churches, okay? He's writing these things to admonish the pastors to preach the word to the people, okay? He says unto the church of Sardis, he says, I am the light of works. and that is a very very scary thing sometimes when you think about it because we look at the way we do things in the church and we say I'm good but you know what God can see past all this on the outside and look deep down inside of our heart of hearts, deep down where no one else can see those innermost thoughts, those innermost things. He can look deep down inside and he can see those hidden things. And he knows when we're right, and he knows when we're not. And he knows why we're not. and there was an old song by a Wesleyan singer David Robertson love that guy in one of his CDs many many years ago he wrote a song and recorded it and it was called Playing Church Again and when I heard that song It said chills up and down Because it says in the song We're playing church again We're hiding our worst In our Sunday best Nobody's hurting We're all just pretending Because we're playing church again And I sat and I heard that And it just said chills up and down The idea is that that's what we do I fear that that is what's happening to the church world right now, that this is what we're doing. We're playing church. This is not a real thing anymore. We doing this because this is what we do Lord help me I don want to play church This is not a game to me This is not something that I want to do just to play at If I'm coming here to play at, if I'm coming here just to stand up here to try to get recognition, to put a video on the internet, to sit here and try to take the word and try to do it, I don't want to do it. If that's what I'm doing, I'm closing the book, I'm shutting off the camera, and I'm walking out the door and I'm not coming back. That's the truth. I don't want to play anymore. I'm done playing. If this is what we're doing, I'm not playing anymore. We're not playing in church. It's sad. But that sad is what's going on in many of the churches. We're playing the act. We're letting the world creep into our churches because we feel we have to because of culture changes. Culture may change But God doesn't Okay Culture may change But God doesn't God's word stays the same And if God said it one way Then that's the way it stays Now we may take God's word And then we may try to translate it In different translations You know I'm a King James man Now I like the other translations sometimes because they enlighten me a little bit. But I don't like a translation when it changes the meaning. And there are many translations, and I'm not here to stand up and try to bring those out, but you'll be able to tell it if you begin to read them. There are many translations of the Bible that change the meaning. And if it changes the meaning, it ain't good. Okay, so that's why I'm a King James man, because I think King James Bible is the closest to the original text as you are ever going to find. And let's face it, we don't read Hebrew. We don't read Latin. We don't read the original manuscripts. We can't do that. So we've got to do the best we can, and this is the best and the closest you're is the King James Bible. Okay? I'm a King James man. That's what I am. But being with God, I'm a Jesus man. And I want Jesus to be the focal point of my life. And I want when I go to church that I'm not here playing. I don't want to play games. I'm not here to play church. If I'm going to play church, I'm leaving. He says, I know thy works I know your works And that is so, so scary That God can know what you Don't think anybody knows I know that works No matter how much you're trying to hide You can't hide from God Think about Jonah Jonah tried to hide from God He went down under the belly of the whale, but God was still there. Right? You can't hide from God no matter how hard you try. You can't hide from God. He says, I know that word says, thou hast a name and thou hast a list. But what does he say? And are dead. Wow. What does it mean to be living but dead? It means that the church has become spiritually dead. That's what it comes down to. We're Christians, not all of us, but a lot of the church has become Christian in name only. We call ourselves a Christian, but do we follow God's word? We call ourselves Christian, but do we walk the way Jesus walked? Do our words seem to be what Jesus would say? Do we say certain things that maybe we shouldn't say, but hey, nobody knows that, but just the person I'm talking to. What did it just say? I know that works. God hears everything you say. Everything. that's why we've got to be careful what we say, we've got to be careful what we do not just because, oh that person heard it God heard it and I'm going to go a step further even if it didn't come out your mouth if it was here or here God knew it that's why we've got to ourselves. We've got to change ourselves. We've got to rearrange things to make ourselves the best we can possibly be for God. I know thy works, that thou livest but are dead. I love what he says here. This is the wake-up call for the church. In verse 2, he says, be watchful, be vigilant, if you will, and strengthen those things which remain that are ready to die. Now see we've talked about that That the Bible Belt has weakened I'm not saying the Bible Belt is completely gone There are still Bible Believing Christians In the southern United States There are still some really good Bible Believing Christians But I believe in my heart of hearts That the Bible Belt has weakened To an extreme degree and what happens when a bell begins to weaken it will break so what do we have to do God is telling us strengthen those things which were made those of us that are Bible believing Christians we need to start strengthening ourselves and strengthening those other ones that are also Bible believing Christians pray for one another begin to live in God's word begin to strengthen those things which remain because if we don't, we are going to break. He says here, For I have not found thy works perfect before God. Wow. The church works were based basically on dead faith. Now what is dead faith? Dead faith is a faith that was alive in Christ but has lessened and lessened and lessened until it basically died. And now we're just playing church. We're just playing church. We can't play church anymore. We can't play church anymore. It's time to stop playing church. It's time to start getting down the basics. The Bible literally tells us in the end of the age one of the major points of the end of the times is going to be that there is a great falling away. That those ones that were Christians will begin to lose their faith in God and they will begin to start following along with the world. we seeing churches doing just that bringing in the world and saying well you can live the way you want to live and it okay and we accept you Show me that. Show me God's Word where it says we can have the things of this world come into the church and accept it. You're not going to find it. You're not going to find it. but I beg somebody that believes that way to show me in God's Word where the things of this world that are considered sin according to God's Word, where it says it's okay to allow it in the church. You're not going to find it. Please show it to me. Even those that are watching the video, maybe somebody who's watching the video believes this. Okay, I'll give you my Twitter address. T-H-E-E, real Pastor Jack Tweet me Show me I beg to show you I want to know Show it to me It's not there It's not there You're not going to find it It's not there But we're playing church That's what it comes down to We're playing church We need to begin to strengthen the things which remain that are about to die. Because God has found our works not perfect. Verse 3 says, Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard. I love what it says in Psalm 77 and 11 when it says these words, I will remember the works of the Lord shortly. I will remember thy wonders of old. But what we've done is we, as the church world, have forgot. That's what's happening. We forgot. We forgot. So many churches will not speak of the sacrifice of God. Because it's about His blood. Jesus died for our sins and his blood sacrifice was the remission of our sins but we don't want to speak about the cross because it's bloody and thus we will offend what are we doing when we eliminate the cross from our message we are eliminating Jesus the whole reason we are saved we are forgiven the psalmist says that I will remember thy works of the Lord surely I will remember the things of the wonders of old the greatest wonder was the fact that Jesus was sent willing to die for our sins we cannot forget that because it is vital to our salvation we can easily lose our first love as the years pass we know that We don't seem to have the same desire that we once had, right? When we first come to Jesus, we have a zeal. I've been redeemed! It's an excitement! But as the years go along, what happens? That excitement that we once had begins to dissipate. And we don't have the same excitement we had when our eyes were opened and we were redeemed. if we were free from sin, that zeal doesn't have the same impact that it once had. Go back to the cross. Why do we have to go back to the cross? Why do we have to go back to the cross? Because the way of the cross, what leads home? That's why we've got to go back to the cross. the way of the cross leads one. He says, If therefore thou shalt not watch, if you will be vigilant, if you will guard your heart, if you will be prepared at all times, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Now this is sad, because I believe with everything that is in my soul, That we will see Christ come, but we will not see the entire church go. My dad said it many, many, many, many, many years ago, and I will never forget it. He said, when we hear the trumpet sound and we go to heaven and we get there, And we're going to be surprised who we see. And we'll be even more shocked at who we don't see. Because we're going to see many of these preachers, many of these Bible-believing people that we thought were Holy Ghost people. But they were what? Plain church. we can't play church we can't play church that's why I pray every day and I say Lord I don't know if I've done something today that I don't know that I did that maybe just perchance might keep me out of heaven Father forgive me don't let me go out of this world without knowing that I'm ready if it takes that to get you to heaven and home then do it every day whatever it takes that's the point The song says that whatever it takes, that's what we need to have, that whatever it takes mentality. There's coming a day when Jesus is coming back and we're not ready, we're not going. And that's the point. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us this, that for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. for when they shall cry peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them right now we've seen a lot of turmoil on our land and right now there's a lot with the new administrations and all this type of stuff that people are beginning to cry peace and safety they're beginning to say oh with new administrations and new stuff we're going to finally have safety in this world Is this what the world is talking about? Is this what the world is talking about? People are beginning to cry peace and safety. You know, with new administrations, with this, everything's going to be fine. And we're going to be back to normal. And everything's going to be hunky-dory. And everybody's going to be happy. And no troubles, no trials, no nothing. Is that the peace and safety that it's talking about? I'm not a Bible, you know, prophecy preacher. And I'm not going to pretend I am. But I'm saying, could that be? It could be. It could be. And that's why we as the church of the living God must prepare ourselves. Because we don't know. I'm not here to make a date. I won't make a date because I know better than that. Right here in God's word, it tells us no man knows the day or the hour of the Son of Man coming. Not even Jesus. So if Jesus don know it I know I don And I not about to make a date I not about to set down a day But I know it close And I know it something we need to prepare for And that's the point. Verse 4 says, Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments. The number is few, but there are some. And they shall walk with me in light, for they are worthy. Not because of who they are, but because of whose they are. Hallelujah. Verse 5 says, He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. Note that. If we do not walk the way of the master, we can lose out. That's why we've got to keep our heart with all diligence. as Proverbs 4.23 says. Got to keep our heart with all diligence. But I will confess his name before the Father and before his angels. And then he concludes with, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And that is what God is saying right now to the Bible Belt today. He's saying, He that hath an ear in the Bible Belt of America, hear what God is saying to you. We have a mindset in the church that it's up to someone else to do it. It's up to someone else to stand up for what's right. It's up to someone else to make the church the best it can be. It's up to someone else to do it. It's not up to me. Let someone else do it. Where are our priorities? It's kind of funny. It's kind of, not funny funny, but it's kind of an interesting story, and I'll just tell you real quick. A group of friends were deer hunting, and they paired off into twos for the day. The night came upon, and one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of a huge eight-pound buck. All the other hunters looked at him, and they said, where's Harry? the man sat there and he said well Harry had a stroke somewhere back there and he's a couple miles back up the trail and he said you left Harry up there and you carried the deer back the man responded with well I figured nobody was going to steal Harry wow where are our priorities right That's the point, and that's the point today. Where are our priorities in the Bible? Well, do we have the priorities that says, I want God first and foremost in my life. I want to do what I have to do to make God's kingdom the best it can be. Do I have that mindset, or do my mindset go towards, ah, you know what, I want to do what I've got to do in my own life, in my own house, in my own things. and, you know, the church will happen. The politics will be what it's going to be. I'm not going to stand up. I'm not going to make waves. Or do we have a mindset that says, God, I want to be part of the solution to make the Bible Belt stronger. And that's the point today. As we bow our heads today, I want you to just focus on God for a moment. and I want you to look deep down inside of your heart. I want you to think about your life today. I want you to look deep down, and I want you to examine it. Deep down, examine your heart. And as you look deep down inside, would you say, I have a complete and total desire for God. My mindset is God above everything. Everything. my life, my family, the things that go on, you know, whatever, anything that is in my life, all that matters first and foremost is God. Then family and friends and all the other things, the cares of this world and myself, everything else comes after God first. Do we have that mindset? Or do we sit and have the cares of this world going on? Well, I've got to do this for my family. I've got to do this for myself. I've got to do this and this and this and this and this. And then we have the thing of, well, then, if there's time left, I'll worry about God and His church. Where does your priorities lie? Are we strengthening the Bible? Are we a strong part of it? or are we, if you will, a weak link? Father God, right now I pray that you will strengthen them. Father God, open up the windows of heaven right now. Pour down upon them the strength of God that Father God, they will be strengthened from on high. That the joy of their glory of the Lord will be their strength. That Father God, they will feel right now from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. They will feel the power of God searching through them. that they will begin to be strengthened right now in their souls. That their bodies will begin to be strengthened in the power of God. That it's just like your word says, Father God, that our youth will be restored like the eagles. That, Father God, that we will be strengthened by you. Father God, we can't do this in our own strength. We know we can't do it. But, Father God, I pray right now in Jesus' name that you will strengthen us. That, Father God, we will be strengthened by you. That the strength of the Lord will be our portion. That, Father God, we will begin to strengthen the Bible Belt from little things that we will do. And that, Father God, we will begin to hold hands around this southern United States by virtually it have to be, Father God, and pray for other strong believers that we will be strengthened. And that through our influence, Father God, we will begin to see a change begin to take place in America. That, Father God, that something will happen through us and thus will change the trajectory of America. That, Father God, we will see the blessing of the Lord begin to infiltrate our land once again. and that we will become a true Bible-believing nation once again. Father God, we need it today. We need it today. And I pray it right now in Jesus' name. I pray it right now in Jesus' name. I pray for the strength of your people right now. Father God, touch their bodies, touch their souls, and strengthen them in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you.