What Hell Has Stolen

INTRO: I spent two very significant days last week in Columbus, OH where one of 5 Regional Conventions of the ChoG took place, and where I was challenged is a few significant ways that I hope to share with you today.

· Fair warning: We were at Columbus First Church of God, which is an African American church, and while it’s not the first time I have worshiped in and African American church, it has been a while, and man I’m tellin’ you, it was just plain FUN!

· Not just fun, though, it was deep, and it was though-provoking, and I was reminded of how much shallower life is in MOST, not all, churches because we are missing out on the conversations that can ONLY happen in an integrated setting.

o That subject is too deep and complicated to truly expound on today, but suffice it to say, it is a critical conversation the American Church needs to have because, as Jim Lyon, our General Director said, “the future of the Church in America, and in our movement, is if your church is unwilling to integrate it will die!”

o But, as I said, that is a deep, rich, dangerous, awe inspiring conversation that must happen, but must be approached and prepared for with much prayer, care, grace and mercy.

· Just a snippet of an idea that really hit me this week: in the closing sermon last Wednesday night, Harvey Cary, a 5’5” African American man from the inner city of Chicago, said something like the following, and I paraphrase, “Maybe God has all these white people in that black church this week to show the white folks that it’s okay to move, and be excited, and to respond to the Spirit in a demonstrative way,” and then he said, “Maybe God has all these white folks in the black church this week to show the black folks that maybe there are times God wants you to be quiet and quit moving long enough to contemplate more deeply what is being said.”

· Yes, there are conversations that need to be had.

· There are definite wonders and joys we miss by not being integrated and influenced by one another.

· And now I’ll leave this subject so that you can ponder those thoughts.

So today, what I mean when I say, “Fair warning: I’ve been in the Black church for a few days,” is I may pause in the middle of my sermon as I wait for the Hammond B3 organist to augment my greater points with a flourish on the keys.

o Many people might think that the Hammond B3 organ was created for classic Rock and Roll, but I think God created it to add the exclamation point to good sermon content.

o And maybe just to bolster a not so good sermon because, at least the music behind the preaching was good in that case.

· I may forget that we don’t have a Hammond B3 (which may be something we need to remedy, Elders), nor an organist, per se.

· But bear with me as I re-integrate into the white church, okay.

One of the major themes within our movement in recent years has been a challenge from our General Director to reclaim what Hell has stolen.

The extent to which we have problems in our community is the extent to which the Church is uninvolved in community life.

· It is the indicator, the powerless Church, that Hell has stolen some things from God’s people that we should reclaim.

· It’s not just that people don’t know our church, Landmark.

· It’s more that the people who go to Landmark, and the plethora of other churches in our area, are NOT affecting the community for Christ.

While we, Christians, spend our time lending our voice to every social issue, and political disagreement that exists, what we are apparently NOT DOING is lending our love, our time and our resources to change the world around us!

· If our community has issues with addiction, the Church has the answer, JESUS, but has failed to give the answer!

· If our children are finding it hard to make sense of this world, and let me tell you from experience, they are, the Church has the answer, and it’s JESUS, but we have failed to give that answer to our kids!

· If married couples are finding it hard to stay in love, connected to one another, and completely engaged in family life, the Church has the answer, JESUS, but we have failed to give this answer to hurting families!

John 10:10 NIV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Hell has stolen our minds and our mission, and it’s time we took them back in the names of JESUS!

· Hell has stolen our children, and it’s time we took them back!

· Hell has crippled the Church, and it’s time we let the enemy know that it’s a lost cause; the battles are over, Jesus has won the war, and in the name of Jesus we can reclaim what Hell has stolen.

What has Hell stolen from you? What has the enemy taken from your life that you need to reclaim?

1. The enemy has stolen our JOY.

Within our families, and within our own minds, we need to ask this question: does happiness exist here? Do we even know what qualifies as happiness, or joy?

The enemy has tricked us into thinking joy and happiness mean the absence of trials and hardships.

· The kind of joy that is found in Christ, however, is joy IN SPITE of trials and hardships.

James 1:2–4 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

· Consider it pure joy?

· That’s tough, I know, and perhaps that’s why it is so easy for the enemy to convince us that joy is found in some other way.

o “Whoopee! A tree just fell on my car in the driveway! Thank…you…, Lord!?”

o “Yea, I just lost my job! Praise…God!?”

· So we pursue our Christianity without making any waves, without standing up for right, without being steadfast in all things Jesus.

· And so our Christianity becomes meaningless, and useless.

There is a story about the disciples in the book of Acts chapter 5 where Peter and the other apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin council to determine what punishment they should face because they just would not stop preaching the gospel.

· The people that brought them were so furious that they wanted them put to death immediately.

· But in the end they were spared death, and flogged then released.

· Now, in our modern mind we might think something like, Whew! That was close! They were only flogged!

· Flogging is when they would whip or lash someone, or methodically beat the human body with special implements such as whips, lashes, rods, or any other device that inflicts pain and harm.

· Most of the time it involves a severe beating, so being flogged is one of the most inhumane things that one person or persons can do to another.

· And I need to clarify that because the reaction of the Peter and the apostles might lead us to believe it was like when some of us were young and had to have our attitude corrected in school by the “board of education” that every teacher or principal seemed to have.

· It wasn’t like that!

· It was cruel, it was barbaric, and it hurt very badly, and yet…

Acts 5:41–42 NIV

41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

· We used to sing a little song when we were children: “The joy of the Lord is my strength…”

· It’s a sentiment from Nehemiah that is echoed throughout scripture.

Psalm 28:7 NLT

7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

· There’s no comma after “I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”

· No comma after which it might say, “I burst out in songs of thanksgiving, as long as life goes good!”

· No! We burst out in songs of joy regardless of how it’s going in earthly terms, because in the terms of Heaven, under the blood of Jesus Christ, IT’S ALWAYS GOOD!

· Even when it looks bad to others, it’s good for the children of God!

· So if we can find joy when times are bad, I mean really bad – the crowd is calling for your head bad - how much more should we be able to live in the joy of the Lord when we are blessed to live in this country, without fear of death, or flogging, or most anything else.

· Because in other parts of the world, and at other times in history, it was not easy to belong to The Way.

Has Hell stolen your joy by convincing you it hinges on the things of this world? Reclaim your joy in Jesus Christ!

2. The enemy has stolen our PURPOSE.

The purpose of our lives IS NOT for our own self-fulfillment, but somehow we have arrived in, arguably, the most narcissistic time in history.

· This world’s message, to everyone who will listen, is that YOU ARE WHAT THIS LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!

· Everything operates to make your life better!

· You are the center of your being, your personal universe.

· And this is one of the most damaging lies that the enemy perpetrates on God’s people.

o This is MY church; I want MY kind of music; I want MY preferred bible translation used; I want MY needs met.

o MY, MY, MY, ME, ME, ME!

o It’s all about me!

· Please listen, saved saint of God, this – what we do here within these walls – is not about you!

· It is about people we haven’t met yet!

· It is about the lost, the marginalized, the weak, the wounded, the lonely!

· Remember, we have the answer, and it is Jesus Christ.

· But if we are self-focused, we miss those opportunities to deal in the only currency we have that is truly worth anything – the LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY OF CHRIST!

1 Peter 2:9 NIV

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

· God did not chose you to be internally focused!

· God did not appoint you to the royal priesthood because you think you look good in priestly garments!

· God did not name you a holy nation so you could appoint yourself the president or prime minister of ME-sikstan, or ME-sistonia.

· You are not God’s special possession because of your beauty, or your goodness, or your ability to add anything to God’s character!

· But you are a chosen people (to be externally focused), a royal priesthood (clothed in the robes of Jesus’ righteousness), a holy nation (existing to invite others home), God’s special possession (despite of our ugliness of heart, and our weakness of nature),…

· Why did god call you?! That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light!

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

· Notice what it does not say, that we are created to focus on our own comfort and care.

· God takes care of us as we take care to care for others!

Has Hell stolen your purpose, convincing you that it’s all about YOU? Reclaim your purpose in the mission of God!

And finally, and perhaps most disturbingly…

3. The enemy has stolen our right concept of SALVATION.

What do I, as a pastor, worry about the most when I think of problems facing the modern Church?

· It is simply this: that many people who call themselves Christians have no idea what it means to be saved.

· Additionally, it is that this warped concept of salvation means that at the very end of days (whether it’s our days, or the end of days for this world), there will be MANY who find themselves being separated into a group that will be disposed of in the most final way; cast out of the presence of God, eternally separated to spend that eternity in the very place that deceived them into a false concept of what it means to belong to God.

Revelation 3:1–3 NIV

1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Another old song I’m not sure anyone sings anymore, “Be ready (when He comes), be ready (when He comes), be ready when He comes.”

· Are you ready?

· Make sure!

Proverbs 20:6 NKJV

6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?

· It’s the most natural thing there is to deceive our own selves.

· It’s so easy to see the faults in others while ignoring our own shortcomings.

But, in this, ladies and gentlemen, please examine your hearts!

· Are you saved?

· Are you washed in Christ’s blood of redemption?

· There is no more important question to ask yourself than this, “Am I truly born again in Christ Jesus?”

· And today, if you are not positive of the answer, please come and take that step; make that commitment!

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

When we get caught up in church culture, activities and programs, it’s so easy to think that because of our relationship to a particular church, it means that we are saved.

· But many on that day will say, “But Lord, I was a regular tithing member of one of my church! How can I not get in?”

· And He will say, “Because you were not a part of MY church, where salvation makes you a member.”

· There is no piece of paper that will make you a member of God’s Holy Church.

· No entry in a register that means you are truly God’s.

· No vote of humankind can assure your place in God’s Kingdom, but ONLY a saving knowledge of, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

· And the evidence of that is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I have learned that no one is immune to the deceit of false conversion.

· I recall my pastor telling the story of a revival that came to town, to a particular church.

· One night during this revival the Spirit was really moving on hearts to be saved.

· It was an undeniable movement of the Holy Spirit that was changing lives in that church building.

· And before it was over, even the pastor of the church, and one of his deacons, came to the alter to be saved, truly saved!

· Do you know the easiest person to fool in all of our lives?

· Ourselves!

Has Hell stolen your right concept of Salvation? You can reclaim it today!

CLOSE:

John 10:10 NIV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Abundant life!

· A life where our joy is complete in Jesus.

· A life where our purpose is clear from scripture.

· A life where our salvation is assure, but ONLY through Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

What has Hell stolen from you? Are you ready to reclaim it?

Right now? Please do!

Let us pray…

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