Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 2

Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 3

Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 4

Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 5

Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 6

Brokeness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 7

Call For The Wailing Women by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 2

Call For The Wailing Women by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 3

Call For The Wailing Women by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 4

Call For The Wailing Women by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Part 5

What was once considered a fringe element has become a widespread, popular movement. Everyone, or so it seems, is into “revival” these days.

When it comes to the matter of revival, there is much taking place that is cause for great rejoicing. Never before in our generation have there been so many Christian leaders, pastors, and laypeople carrying a burden for revival. In recent years we have witnessed the proliferation of revival conferences, publications, and resources. Much has been written on the subject, and many have grown in their understanding of the nature of genuine revival.

If we are too quick to ascribe the term “revival” to various religious happenings or movements, the world will soon lose its meaning.

Few would dispute the claim that the united, fervent movement of prayer for revival that exists today is unprecedented in our lifetime. In an effort to get the gospel out to the world, denominations and parachurch ministries are uniting their hearts, pooling their resources, and combining their efforts, to an extent that would have been inconceivable twenty years ago.

In the midst of this groundswell of interest in revival, it should come as no surprise that Satan would seek to abort or sabotage a true movement of God’s Spirit. Sometimes the enemy’s objectives are furthered by those who overtly oppose the work of God in revival. Opposition of this nature is not difficult to identify.

Far more subtle, however, is the threat that comes from those who may actively be promoting revival, but who lack understanding of the nature and ways of God in genuine revival. That is why it behooves us to exercise care and to be discerning in these matters.

Following are a number of cautions that bear consideration in light of the current explosion of interest in revival.

Not everything that is called “revival” is revival. Calling a movement a “revival” does not make it a revival. If it does not bear the marks of biblical revival, we ought to question whether it really is a revival.

Corporate revival, in the biblical and historical sense, is a precious term, that ought to be re-served for those “divine moments” when there is a supernatural outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people that cannot be explained in any human terms. If we are too quick to ascribe the term “revival” to various religious happenings or movements, the word will soon lose its meaning, and we will cease to long and seek God for that which truly is revival.

The fact that a lot of people are talking about and promoting “revival” doesn’t necessarily mean that we are, therefore, in the midst of revival. Numerous, respected Christian leaders are declaring that we are in the midst of or on the threshold of a great spiritual awakening. We must be careful about accepting the assessment of men, even those who may be recognized as “authorities” on revival, and must continually evaluate what is taking place through the grid of the Word of God.

One of the curses of our age, according to A.W. Tozer, is the assumption that because we know about something, therefore we have it, when, in fact, nothing may be further from the truth.

Large crowds, intense enthusiasm, stirred emotions, energetic activity, and “signs and wonders” are not necessarily evidence of revival. Nor can they uniformly be attributed to God at work among His people. All these things can be imitated by the world, or even counterfeited by false religions, even as Pharoah’s magicians were able to counterfeit the miracles that God did through Moses.

Satan is a master deceiver and one of his most effective strategies is to stir up people’s passions with programs that substitute noise, applause, activity, and human fervor for the presence of God.

Evangelicalism’s fascination with the sensational is not new to the 20th century. Back in Jesus’ day, people tended to be enamored of the spectacular, the grandiose. “Show us a sign,” the Pharisees demanded of Jesus. They wanted to be impressed, to have their senses titillated. Jesus responded by reminding them that “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign” (Matt. 12:39).

Today it is relatively easy to pack an auditorium with cheering, chanting “spiritual enthusiasts,” if the event has been especially well promoted and the program consists of hyped-up music and big-name speakers who are known for their ability to make people laugh and cry. People will pay large fees and stand in long lines to be entertained or to have an experience that makes them feel good about God and themselves.

But the real test is what happens to those crowds when the message of the cross and repentance is proclaimed. What happens when they are asked to take out their Bibles and digest the meat of solid, doctrinal teaching? Unfortunately, as was the case in Jesus’ day, it is at this point that the multitudes tend to thin out, and we are left with those who are serious about being disciples of Christ.

Genuine revival will not be a bandwagon. So-called “revival” is a popular movement in the church today. Everybody seems eager to join in. But genuine revival will not be popular with everyone. It may have a polarizing effect. It will divide between those who are walking after the flesh and those who are walking in the Spirit, between those who want to build their own kingdom and those who want to build the Kingdom of God, between those who are attached to their own ideas and those who are committed to the Word of God.

In the current climate, it is possible to promote “revival” without risking anything–our image, our reputation, our position within the denomination or the evangelical world, our sophistication, our schedule, our convenience, or the respect of others.

But when God pours out His Spirit in genuine revival, the participants and leaders of the revival may find themselves losing popularity contests, even in the church. They may be misunderstood, ridiculed, scorned, ignored, or dismissed as fanatics. Yet, though it cost them everything, they must be prepared to speak the truth to the people of God and to our world.

We must guard against “revival” becoming just another popular program or emphasis in the church. In its quest for results and success, the church tends to gravitate to trends and to jump from one new thrust to the next. Much like the world, we have an obsession with novelty. In the 70s, we were into soulwinning; in the 80s, we got into discipleship, small groups, and church growth; the 90s brought us cell churches and seeker-sensitive services. Now, we’re into revival.

The church of Jesus Christ does not need one more novel idea or approach. “The answer” is not a program or an effort. What we need is the presence and power of God. And that cannot be acquired by launching another emphasis; we must seek His face.

Revival is not an end in itself. That mind set ultimately leads to self-absorption, which is a form of idolatry. Revival in the church is merely a means by which God is glorified in His people and His kingdom advanced in our world.

Our mission is not to seek revival, but to seek the Lord. When we set ourselves to seek His face, we likely will experience the by-product of revival.

There is nothing we can do to coerce or manipulate God to send revival. All our prayers, our fasting, our gatherings, our efforts to promote revival are no guarantee that God will indeed be pleased to send revival. While it is unlikely that God will revive a people who have not earnestly sought Him, revival remains a sovereign, independent work of God.

Corporate revival is no substitute for personal revival. Further, corporate confession is no substitute for personal confession. And corporate prayer is no substitute for private prayer.

We rejoice in the many gatherings that are taking place for the purpose of repentance and prayer for revival. But it is possible to participate in many such events without ever experiencing personal revival, confessing our own sins, or having a personal prayer life.

It is possible to focus earnestly on the need for corporate revival in “the church” and in our nation, while overlooking the need for personal revival right where we live–in our own lives and homes. It is easy to talk about “the church” needing revival. But the church is made up of individuals. What about my life? Do I need revival? Does my family need revival? If we get excited about attending conferences and services where God is moving in a significant way, while failing to deal with the issues of pride, selfishness, bitterness, greed or immorality that are affecting our own homes, we have missed the point of revival.

Could we be so preoccupied with confessing the sins of others that we are overlooking our personal sins that need to be confessed?

Of what use is racial reconciliation or unity between denominations, if we have contention, strife, and unresolved conflicts in our own homes or churches?

There are no shortcuts to revival. We may be so eager to experience the fruit of revival that we bypass God’s conditions for revival: humility, repentance, contrition, prayer, and obedience. There is no such thing as a “painless Pentecost.” Weeping comes before joy. The cross comes before the resurrection. Death comes before life. Brokenness comes before wholeness. As Sammy Tippit reminds us, “When God sends revival, there will be a lot less laughter and a lot more weeping.” We cannot arrive at the desired result of revival if we are unwilling to walk through the process that God requires.

In many ways, evangelicalism today has embraced the quick-fix mind set of the world. We are so bent on eliminating our problems that we gravitate to promises of immediate relief and deliverance. The “name it and claim it” theology has thrived in such a climate. Christians with problems that are the fruit of years of fleshly choices want someone to wave his hand over them or bind a demon of lust, rather than walking through the difficult, less dramatic process of repenting and renewing their minds with the Word of God.

Quick fixes may provide temporary relief. But they will not provide the lasting transformation of heart and life that we really need, both person-ally and corporately.

God is unlikely to send revival to those whose real heart motive is to build or enhance their own reputations or ministries or to reap blessing for themselves. We must ask ourselves, why do we want to see God send revival? Revival is not primarily a way to get rid of our problems, to make our lives easier, to increase giving, to get people to respond, or to increase the fruit of our ministries. The ultimate purpose of revival is for the glory of God–that His name might be known and reverenced in our world, that His Kingdom would rule and reign in the hearts of men, and that His will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.

A. J. Gordon reminds us, “Not for ourselves, and that we may enjoy the holy luxury of communion with God, are we to seek for the times of refreshing. If so, doubtless we shall fail of them, for even spiritual blessings we may ask and receive not, if we only ask that we may consume them upon ourselves.”

The fact that we agree about the need for repentance in the church does not mean that we have, in fact, repented. Talking about repentance is far easier than actually repenting. We may, in fact, be calling others to repentance, while failing to repent of our own sinful attitudes, values, habits, or actions. Repentance means choosing to utterly forsake our sin and to walk in absolute obedience and holiness.

In recent years, the Christian world has witnessed occasions of extended times of public confession of sin. There is certainly a scriptural basis for such confession. However, in the midst of such times, there is a danger of people “venting” instead of truly “repenting.”

Confession, whether public or private, is not for the purpose of providing an emotional catharsis for the sinner. And the sinner’s guilt will not be assuaged if, in his confessing, he stops short of full repentance. The evidence of genuine repentance is not merely that an individual has confessed his sin, but that his life has been transformed and he is now walking in the light.

There is no revival where there is not deep brokenness and contrition over the seriousness of our sin against a holy God. God said to Ezekiel, “Is it a light thing [a trivial matter–NIV] to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here?” (Ezek. 8:17). Brokenness implies mourning and grieving over our sin and hating everything that does not please God.

All of us have, at times, been sorry about the consequences of our sin (e.g., the mess we’re in, the problems and conflicts we are experiencing in our relationships). But when is the last time we grieved over the nature of our sin, over our rebellion against a holy, loving God? Do we realize the depth and extent of our personal and corporate sin against God? Do we realize how far we have strayed from the Word and the ways of God?

Not all prayers and prayer meetings bring us closer to experiencing revival. If we are praying for revival, while failing to deal with those things in our hearts, lives, and relationships that are standing between us and the Lord, then we are wasting our breath. Tozer suggested that we will experience revival when we stop using prayer as a substitute for obedience. Charles Finney, who understood the importance and power of prayer, once said that he would not go across the street to attend an all-night prayer meeting if those gathered were not serious about obeying God. All the prayer meetings in the world cannot take the place of obedience.

We have no right to expect to enjoy the fruit of revival if we are not personally willing to pay the price for it. Thank God for those men and women who are earnestly praying and seeking Him for revival in our day. But there is a temptation for us to ride their spiritual “coattails.” Are we counting on the earnestness and prayers of others to bring about revival for us all?

Many believers today say they want to see God send revival–until they realize the price they will have to pay.

Del Fehsenfeld Jr., founder of Life Action Ministries, used to ask this searching question: “If revival in this land depended on your prayers, your faith, your obedience, would we ever experience revival?” Are we willing to pay the price of fervent, intercessory prayer and fasting, of sleepless nights, of crying out to God with all our hearts, “’till He come and rain righteousness upon us”?

What is to be our response to the current wave of interest in revival? Let us rejoice in every evidence that God is manifesting Himself to the hearts of His people, that Christ is being exalted, that the Holy Spirit is stirring God’s people to seek His face, and that believers are responding to Him in humility, repentance, faith, and obedience.

At the same time, let us be discerning and carefully evaluate every purported evidence of revival in the light of the Word and the ways of God. Let us not cheapen the term “revival” by prematurely or carelessly applying it to every contemporary religious movement, but reserve its use for that which is truly heaven-sent and God-initiated. Let us press on to seek the Lord with all our hearts and call others to join us in doing so. And let us eagerly anticipate that day when His glorious presence “shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth” (Psalm 72:6).

For eighteen months they met–three nights a week, praying through the night, right on into the early hours of the morning, beseeching God to come and visit in revival. But there was no evidence of any change.

Then one night, a young deacon rose to his feet, opened his Bible, and read from Psalm 24: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall dwell in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart . . . . He shall receive the blessing from the Lord.”

Facing the men around him, this young man said, “Brethren, it seems to me to be just so much ‘humbug’ to be waiting and praying as we are, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.”

There in the straw, the men knelt and humbly confessed their sins to the Lord. Within a short period of time, God had begun to pour out His Spirit in an extraordinary awakening that shook the entire island.

Before its impact can be felt in a home, a church, or a nation, revival must first be experienced on a personal level in the hearts of men and women who have encountered God in a fresh way.

And the single greatest hindrance to our experiencing personal revival is our unwillingness to humble ourselves and confess our desperate need for His mercy.

Our generation has been programmed to pursue happiness, wholeness, good feelings about ourselves, positive self-image, affirmation, and cures for our hurt feelings and damaged psyches. But God is not as interested in these ends as we are. He is more committed to making us holy than making us happy. And there is only one pathway to holiness–one road to genuine revival–and that is the pathway of humility or brokenness.

The Scripture makes it clear that this is the number one prerequisite to meeting God in revival. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

We often think of revival as a time of great joy, blessing, fullness, and celebration. And so it will be in its fullness. But the problem is that we want a painless Pentecost . . . a “laughing” revival. We forget that God’s ways are not our ways, that the way up is down.

Peterus Octavianus, a man greatly used by God in the 1973 revival in Borneo, reminds us, “Revivals do not begin happily with everyone having a good time. They start with a broken and contrite heart.”

You and I will never meet God in revival, until we first meet Him in brokenness. At first hearing, “brokenness” does not sound like something to be sought after. After all, it seems so negative! We may even be afraid of the concept. Perhaps that is because we have a misconception about the meaning of brokenness. Our idea of brokenness may be quite different from God’s idea.

Brokenness does not mean, as some think, having a sad, gloomy, downcast countenance–never smiling or laughing. It does not mean always being morbidly introspective. Nor can it be equated with deeply emotional experiences. It is possible to shed buckets full of tears, without ever experiencing a moment of brokenness. Further, brokenness is not the same as being deeply hurt by tragic circumstances. A person may have experienced many deep hurts and tragedies, but never have been broken.

Brokenness is not a feeling; rather, it is a choice, an act of the will. It is not primarily a one-time experience or crisis (though there may be crisis points in the process of brokenness); rather, it is an ongoing, continual lifestyle.

Brokenness is a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life, as He sees it. It is a lifestyle of unconditional, absolute surrender of my will to the will of God–a heart attitude that says, “Yes, Lord!” to whatever God says. Brokenness means the shattering of my self-will, so that the life and Spirit of the Lord Jesus may be released through me. Brokenness is my response of humility and obedience to the conviction of the Word and the Spirit of God. And as the conviction is continuous, so must the brokenness be continuous.

True brokenness has both a vertical and a horizontal dimension: it is demonstrated in a willingness to live with the “roof off ” in my relationship with God, and the “walls down” in my relationships with others.

Scripture provides us with numerous examples of broken people. Interestingly, these examples are often set in contrast to people who were not broken. In every case, both individuals had sinned. The difference was not so much in the nature or magnitude of their sin, but in their response when confronted with their sin.

For example, two kings sat on a throne. One king, in a fit of passion, committed adultery with his neighbor’s wife, and then plotted to have his neighbor killed. Yet, when the story of his life was told, this man was called “a man after God’s own heart.” By contrast, his predecessor’s sin was relatively insignificant–he was only guilty of incomplete obedience. But it cost him his kingdom, his life, and his family. What was the difference?

When King Saul was confronted with his sin, he defended, justified, and excused himself, blamed others, and tried to cover up both the sin and its consequences. In short, his response revealed a proud, unbroken heart. On the other hand, when King David was faced with his sin, he was willing to acknowledge his failure, to take personal responsibility for his wrongdoing, and to repent of his sin. His response was that of a humble, broken man. And his was the heart that God honored.

How can we know if our hearts are proud or broken?

Proud people focus on the failures of others; they have a critical, fault-finding spirit. They look at everyone else’s faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescope. By contrast, broken people are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. Therefore, they can esteem all others better than themselves.

Proud people have to prove that they are right; but broken people are willing to yield the right to be right.

Proud people are protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation. But broken peopl e have yielded their rights.

Proud people want to be served and to be a success. But broken people desire to serve others and to make them a success.

Proud people have a drive to be recognized and appreciated. They get wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked. But broken people have a sense of their own unworthiness and are thrilled that God would use them at all; they rejoice when others are lifted up.

Proud people are quick to blame others for their problems. And they are unapproachable or defensive when criticized. But broken people are quick to see where they were wrong in a situation; they receive criticism with a humble, teachable spirit.

Proud people are quick to take offense; but broken people are quick to forgive and overlook offenses.

Proud people wait for others to come and ask forgiveness when there is a misunderstanding or conflict in a relationship. Broken people take the initiative to be reconciled when there is a conflict; they race to the cross and see who can get there first, no matter how wrong the other may have been.

Proud people compare themselves to others and think they are doing all right. They don’t think they have anything to repent of. But broken people compare themselves to the holiness of God; they feel a desperate need for His mercy and realize they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance.

Proud people don’t think they need revival–but they’re sure that everyone else does! Broken people continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God.

Why would anyone want to be broken, any more than someone would want to sign up for surgery or suffering? God’s Word teaches that brokenness brings blessedness. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”–i.e., the “broken ones,” those who recognize that they are spiritually bankrupt and poverty-stricken.

What blessings does brokenness bring?

We’ve seen that God draws near to the broken ones; He lifts up those who are humble, but stiff arms those who are proud.

New life is released through our brokenness. On the eve of His crucifixion, as He broke the bread and distributed it to His disciples, Jesus declared, “This is My Body, which is broken for you.” His death, on the cross, released eternal life for us. And so, when we are willing to be broken, His abundant life can flow through us to others.

Brokenness brings an increased capacity for love and worship. The “sinner woman,” who anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and with the precious ointment, was a broken woman. As a result, she was free to lavish her love and worship on the Lord Jesus, without restraint, and without being bound by the opinions of those who watched. Some of us are not really free to love and worship the Lord Jesus with all our hearts. Perhaps that is because we are not broken. We are still more concerned about what others think and about protecting our reputation than about the object of our devotion.

Brokenness brings increased fruitfulness, for God uses things that are broken:

When Jacob’s natural strength was broken down at Peniel, God was able to clothe him with spiritual power.

When the rock at Horeb was broken by the stroke of Moses’ rod, cool waters came forth to quench the thirst of the people.

When Gideon’s 300 soldiers broke their pitchers, the lanterns within shone forth and God gave a great victory.

When the young boy’s five loaves were broken, they were supernaturally multiplied and became sufficient to feed a multitude.

When Mary’s alabaster box was broken, the fragrance that was released filled the whole house.

And when Jesus’ body was broken on Calvary, eternal life was released for the salvation of the world.

Finally, the fruit of brokenness is to be seen in revival–the release of God’s Spirit through our personal and corporate brokenness. During the Welsh Revival of 1904-05, the song that was heard frequently from the lips of broken, contrite hearts was, “Bend me lower, lower, down at Jesus’ feet.”

Where do we start?

First, we must come to see God as He really is, for the closer we get to God, the more we will see our own need in the light of His holiness.

In the 5th chapter of Isaiah, the great prophet pronounces well-deserved woes on the materialistic, sensual, pleasure-seeking, proud, immoral people of his day. Over and over again, he cries out, “Woe to them . . . .” But then Isaiah comes face to face with the holiness of God. And his next words are not, “Woe to them,” but “Woe to me”! The broken man or woman is more conscious of the corruption in his own breast than in the heart of his neighbor.

Having seen God for who He is, we must then cry out to God for mercy. Our attitude will no longer resemble that of the Pharisee whose prayers revealed that he thought he was in pretty good shape compared to those around him. Rather, we will find ourselves crying out with the publican, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

Then, learning to acknowledge and verbalize our spiritual need, first to God, is essential to a lifestyle of brokenness. The broken person does not blame others–there is no brokenness when the finger of blame is still pointed at another. His heart attitude is, “It’s not my brother nor my sister, but it’s me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer”!

The broken person is able to verbalize his needs to others, as well. There is no brokenness where there is no openness. Almost without exception, the greatest victories over sin and temptation that I have experienced have been won when I was willing to humble myself and confess my need to a mature believer who could pray for me and help hold me accountable to obey God.

Finally, do the very thing you know God wants you to do, but your flesh is telling you not to do! Ultimately, brokenness is a matter of surrendering control of my life to God, much as the horse that has been broken is sensitive and responsive to the wishes and direction of its rider.

The heart that has been emptied of itself and broken of its willfulness and resistance, is the heart that will experience the filling and the reviving of our glorious, holy God, Who humbled Himself, that He might lift us up.

Proud people have a critical, fault-finding spirit; they look at everyone else’s faults with a microscope but their own with a telescope. Broken people are compassionate; they can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven.

Proud people are self-righteous; they look down on others.  Broken people esteem all others better than themselves.

Proud people have an independent, self-sufficient spirit.  Broken people have a dependent spirit; they recognize their need for others.

Proud people have to prove that they are right.  Broken people are willing to yield the right to be right.

Proud people claim rights; they have a demanding spirit.  Broken people yield their rights; they have a meek spirit.

Proud people are self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation.  Broken people are self-denying.

Proud people desire to be served.  Broken people are motivated to serve others.

Proud people desire to be a success.  Broken people are motivated to be faithful and to make others a success.

Proud people desire self-advancement.  Broken people desire to promote others.

Proud people have a drive to be recognized and appreciated.  Broken people have a sense of their own unworthiness; they are thrilled that God would use them at all.

Proud people are wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked.  Broken people are eager for others to get the credit; they rejoice when others are lifted up.

Proud people have a subconscious feeling, “This ministry/church is privileged to have me and my gifts”; they think of what they can do for God.  Broken people’s heart attitude is, “I don’t deserve to have a part in any ministry”; they know that they have nothing to offer God except the life of Jesus flowing through their broken lives.

Proud people feel confident in how much they know.  Broken people are humbled by how very much they have to learn.

Proud people are self-conscious.  Broken people are not concerned with self at all.

Proud people keep others at arms’ length.  Broken people are willing to risk getting close to others and to take risks of loving intimately.

Proud people are quick to blame others.  Broken people accept personal responsibility and can see where they are wrong in a situation.

Proud people are unapproachable or defensive when criticized.  Broken people receive criticism with a humble, open spirit.

Proud people are concerned with being respectable, with what others think; they work to protect their own image and reputation.  Broken people are concerned with being real; what matters to them is not what others think but what God knows; they are willing to die to their own reputation.

Proud people find it difficult to share their spiritual need with others.  Broken people are willing to be open and transparent with others as God directs.

Proud people want to be sure that no one finds out when they have sinned; their instinct is to cover up.  Broken people, once broken, don’t care who knows or who finds out; they are willing to be exposed because they have nothing to lose.

Proud people have a hard time saying, “I was wrong; will you please forgive me?”  Broken people are quick to admit failure and to seek forgiveness when necessary.

Proud people tend to deal in generalities when confessing sin.  Broken people are able to acknowledge specifics when confessing their sin.

Proud people are concerned about the consequences of their sin.  Broken people are grieved over the cause, the root of their sin.

Proud people are remorseful over their sin, sorry that they got found out or caught.  Broken people are truly, genuinely repentant over their sin, evidenced in the fact that they forsake that sin.

Proud people wait for the other to come and ask forgiveness when there is a misunderstanding or conflict in a relationship.  Broken people take the initiative to be reconciled when there is misunderstanding or conflict in relationships; they race to the cross; they see if they can get there first, no matter how wrong the other may have been.

Proud people compare themselves with others and feel worthy of honor.  Broken people compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy.

Proud people are blind to their true heart condition.  Broken people walk in the light.

Proud people don’t think they have anything to repent of.  Broken people realize they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance.

Proud people don’t think they need revival, but they are sure that everyone else does.  Broken people continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God and for a fresh filling of His Holy Spirit.

Fill me with Your love. Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Make me compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others around me.

Fill me with Your Spirit. May I be emptied of myself and filled with Jesus. Anoint my life and ministry with supernatural power.

Clothe me in humility. May I be poor in spirit. May I esteem all others as better than myself. May I not seek to impress others, but only to please You.

Make me a servant. Help me to serve You with gladness; to render each act of service as unto Christ; to joyously accept even “menial” or “unfulfilling” responsibilities.

Guard my tongue. May I speak only words that are true, words that help and heal, words that are wise and kind.

Give me wisdom and discernment. Help me to see all of life from Your point of view. May my life be ruled by the wisdom of Your Word.

Give me a grateful spirit. Help me to give thanks in everything. Help me to acknowledge and express the benefits and blessings that I have received from You and others. Protect me from a discontented heart and a murmuring tongue.

Help me to walk by faith and not by sight. May my life show the world how great You are. May I be willing to step out in faith when I cannot see the outcome, and may my life not be explainable in human terms.

Teach me the fear of the Lord. Help me to practice the conscious, constant awareness of Your presence. Help me to live my life in light of the final judgment and as one who will give account to You.

1. God is good (Ps. 119:68; 136:1).
2. God loves me and wants me to have His best (Rom. 8:32, 38-39).
3. 3. I am complete and accepted in Christ (Eph. 1:6).
4. God is enough (Ps. 23:1).
5. God can be trusted (Isa. 28:16).
6. God doesn’t make any mistakes (Isa. 46:10)! • Everything that comes into my life has been “filtered through His fingers of love.”
7. God’s grace is sufficient for me (2 Cor. 12:9).
8. The blood of Christ is sufficient to cover all my sin (1 John 1:7).
9. The cross of Christ is sufficient to conquer my sinful flesh (Rom. 6:6-7). • I don’t have to sin (Rom. 6:14).
10. My past does not have to plague me (1 Cor. 6:9-11). • My past failures can become stepping stones to greater victory and fruitfulness. • If I will let Him, God will cause everything that has happened to me to work together for my good and for His glory.
11. God’s Word is sufficient to lead me, teach me, and heal me (Ps. 19:7; 107:20; 19:105).
12. Through the power of His Holy Spirit, God will enable me to do anything that He commands me to do (1 Thess. 5:24). • There is no one that I cannot forgive (Mark 11:25). • There is no one that I cannot love (Matt. 5:44). • I can give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:18). • I can be content (Heb. 13:5; Phil. 4:11).
13. I am responsible before God, for my behavior, responses, and choices (Ez. 18:19-22).
14. I will reap whatever I sow (Gal. 6:7-8).
15. The pathway to true joy is to relinquish control (Luke 1:38; 1 Peter 5:7; Matt.16:25): • of my life • of my husband • of my children • of my circumstances
16. The greatest freedom I can experience is found through submission to God-ordained authority (Eph. 5:23). • The husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5:23). • The wife is to reverence and submit to her husband (Eph. 5:22, 33). • “The heart of the king is in the Lord’s hand . . .” (Prov. 21:1).
17. In the will of God, there is no higher, holier calling than to be a wife and mother (Titus 2:4-5).
18. Personal holiness is more important than temporal happiness. (Eph. 5:26-27). • Happiness is not a right.
19. God is more concerned about changing me and glorifying Himself, than about solving my problems (Rom. 8:29).
20. It is impossible to be godly, without suffering. • Suffering is a tool in the hand of God to conform me to the image of Jesus (1 Peter 5:10).
21. My suffering will not last forever (2 Cor. 4:17-18; Ps. 30:5).
22. “It’s not about me; it’s all about Him!” (Col. 1:16-18).

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. www.ReviveOurHearts.com Info@ReviveOurHearts.com

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

• Do I regularly take time to recognize my spiritual leaders and to identify the contributions they have made in my life? • Do I respect those who minister spiritually to me? • Do my spiritual leaders know that I admire and love them? • Do I express appreciation and gratitude to my spiritual leaders for their labors on my behalf? • Do I speak well of my spiritual leaders to others?

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7).

• Do I seek to learn from the lives of my spiritual leaders? • Do I seek to emulate godly characteristics in the lives of those who have taught me the Word of God?

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning . . .” (Heb. 13:17).

• Am I responsive to the direction of my spiritual leaders? • When my spiritual leaders stand before God to give account for my life, will they be able to do so with joy? • Am I spiritually accountable to anyone in a position of spiritual authority? Do I allow anyone to “watch for my soul”? • Do I make it easy for my spiritual leaders to lead me spiritually?

“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father . . .” (1 Tim. 5:1).

• When I have a concern about a spiritual leader, do I approach him prayerfully, respectfully, and humbly? • Have I been careful to avoid “attacking” or “confronting” my spiritual leaders?

“Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses” (1 Tim. 5:19).

• Am I careful to avoid making charges against my spiritual leaders, apart from going through the necessary biblical channels?

• Am I careful not to plant seeds of disloyalty by giving evil reports to others about my spiritual leaders?

“For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed . . . I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:4-6).

• Am I careful to give God the glory for the spiritual growth and fruit in my life? • Am I careful to avoid exalting one spiritual leader above others? • Do I realize that ultimately it is God who is at work in my life, and that those men who have most impacted me are merely His servants? • Do I avoid a sectarian spirit, refusing to take sides with one leader against others?

“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages’” (1 Tim. 5:17-18).

• Do I express honor in tangible, practical ways to those who lead me spiritually and minister the Word of God to me and to my family? • Are the financial needs of the pastoral staff in our church being adequately met? • Have I invested financially in the lives of those who have discipled me and helped me grow in my walk with God?

“One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches” (Gal. 6:6).

• Am I investing materially in the lives of those who teach me the Word? • Do I look for opportunities to minister to the practical needs of my spiritual leaders?

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions . . . Brothers, pray for us” (1 Tim. 2:1-2; 1 Thess. 5:25).

• Do I thank God for the leaders He has put in my life? • Do I pray faithfully for the men who are in positions of spiritual leadership over my life? • Do I take initiative to find out how I can pray for my spiritual leaders?

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. www.ReviveOurHearts.com Info@ReviveOurHearts.com

We learn from the book of 2 Timothy that we may experience suffering as a result of our testimony, our godly living, or our stand for truth (2 Tim. 1:8; 2:8-9, 17-18; 3:6-8, 12). We may also experience suffering when we are rejected or left alone (2 Tim. 1:15; 4:9-11; 4:16), or as a natural consequence to our fleshly, worldly desires (2 Tim. 2:22).

Suffering will indeed come, but God can give us grace and power to overcome every trial and to fulfill our purpose and mission in His kingdom. In his second epistle to Timothy, the Apostle Paul shares some important truths about how we can endure suffering.

Ten Principles for Enduring Suffering

1. Don’t forget why you are suffering. Remember your purpose and Whom you serve! The Apostle Paul said he was willing to suffer for the proclamation of the Gospel, for the sake of the elect, and for the glory of God. Our suffering, big or little, can be used to bring about the same purposes. “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead . . . as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.” (2 Tim. 2:8-9) “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Tim. 2:10)“To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Tim. 4:18b)

2. Remember that you are a prisoner of Christ, not of your circumstances or other people. “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner” (2 Tim. 1:8).

3. Keep going back to the things you know to be true from God’s Word. Don’t doubt in the dark what you have seen in the light. Remember what you received as a result of your salvation in Christ (2 Tim. 1:5). Remember your calling and the grace of God (2 Tim. 1:1, 9-12).“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:13)

4.  Keep doing whatever God has called you to do. Persevere, stay the course, and be faithful, regardless of any opposition or hardship. (2 Tim. 4:1-5) “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching . . . As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Tim. 4:3a, 5)

5. Trust God to deal with those who oppose the truth. Don’t take matters into your own hands or become bitter and argumentative. “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Tim. 2:23-26)

6. Remember times in the past when the Lord delivered or rescued you. Be quick to praise Him and testify to others (2 Tim. 3:11; 4:16-17).“The Lord stood by me and strengthened me . . . So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.” (2 Tim. 4:17)

7. Rely on the resources God has given you:

• The grace of God (2 Tim. 1:2, 9; 2:1; 4:22).

• The gift of God—your God-given ability to serve Him (2 Tim. 1:6-7).

• The power of God (rather than your own strength) (2 Tim. 1:8; Phil. 2:13; Eph. 6:10).

• The indwelling Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 1:14).

• The Word of God, which will keep you grounded and give you perspective (2 Tim. 2:7, 9; 3:12-17; 4:1-2).

8. Remember that you are not alone in your suffering.  You already have:

• The presence of Christ (Matt. 28:20)

• The prayers of other believers (2 Tim. 1:3)

• The “fellowship of suffering”—other believers who are facing hardships for the sake of Christ (2 Tim. 1:8; Heb. 13:3; Col. 1:24).

Cultivate these to help you endure:

• Godly helpers – Find and cultivate a group of like-minded believers whose faithfulness and prayers can inspire and strengthen you (2 Tim. 1:2, 4-5; 4:9-13, 19-21).

• Godly heroes – Read the biographies of missionaries and other faithful believers so God can cultivate faith and wisdom in your heart (Heb. 13:7). “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness . . . continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.” (2 Tim. 3:10, 14)

• Godly heritage – As you learn about those who’ve gone before, you will be able to instill faith and courage in the next generation. Pass the baton to others. “And what you have heard from me . . . entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim. 2:2)

9. No matter how difficult things are today, you can face the future with hope. Trust the truth of Scripture. The Truth is: • All wrongs will one day be righted (2 Tim. 3:8-9; 4:14).

• The Lord will deliver you from all evil—in His time and way (2 Tim. 4:17-18). In the meantime, counsel your heart according to the truth and promises of God (Psalm 27).  “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.” (2 Tim. 4:18a)

• All your suffering, efforts, labors, and faithfulness will be rewarded in “that Day” when believers stand before the Lord (2 Tim. 1:12, 18; 2:12; 4:8; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; James 1:12).  “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:8)

• You will give an account, so guard the “deposit” entrusted to you (2 Tim. 1:12, 14; 1 Tim. 6:20).

10. In all your suffering, remember Jesus Christ.

Remember:

• His life and His suffering and sacrifice for you (2 Tim. 2:3)

• His triumph over Satan, sin, and death (2 Tim. 2:8)

• His power, promises, and presence (Matt. 28:18-20)

• What He is doing for you in heaven (John 14:2-3; Rom. 8:34). “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Heb. 12:3-4) Expect suffering—it is inevitable—but don’t forget the powerful resource that you have in Christ. Entrust your life to His ever-present care and control. He loves you, and He will help you endure.

Scripture take from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. www.ReviveOurHearts.com

Is there anything about my speech, actions, dress, or attitudes that could defraud the men around me?

Am I building up my “house”—home, work place, church,—(vs. tearing it down)?

Am I taking in sensual thoughts and desires through books, magazines, TV programs,music, or movies that are not morally pure?

Am I investing in the lives of those around me? Am I nurturing the heart of my siblings or others God has called me to bless?

Am I looking to any man (pastor, counselor, colleague, etc.) to fill an emotional vacuum in my life? Do I go to a man rather than going to the Lord to meet my emotional needs?

Am I cultivating a grateful, joyful spirit? Am I rejoicing in the Lord?

Is there any behavior or relationship I am involved in that I am hiding? Am I engaged in anything now that I will not want my husband to know about if I marry in the future?

Am I giving the best of my physical and emotional energy for the Lord?

Am I discontent? Am I dwelling on thoughts that make me unable to find fulfillment through serving the Lord and those around me He has called me to serve?

Am I cultivating a pleasant, gracious spirit in my words, actions, and attitudes that brings honor and glory to the Lord?

Am I critical or judgmental? Do my parents have the freedom to be honest with me?

Am I keeping my emotions, attention, and affection from every man to whom I am not engaged or married? Am I protecting the thoughts and feelings of my heart?

Is my conversation ever loose, crude, or unbecoming for a woman of God?

Am I discreet and restrained in the way I talk with men at work?

Am I expressing admiration for a man that should more appropriately come from his wife?

16. Do I communicate a meek, quiet, and submissive spirit?

Does my demeanor tend to be “loud and defiant”? Do I dominate or try to control the men around me?

Does my dress help men to keep their thoughts pure and Christ-centered? Is my dress feminine and modest?

Am I a “door” or a “wall” (Song of Songs 8:9)? Am I a “loose” woman? Do I communicate to the men around me that I am “available”? Does my demeanor invite them to “partake” of intimate parts of my body, soul, or spirit? Do I engage in flirtatious speech, looks, or behavior?

Have I purposed in my heart to be morally pure?

Am I currently in a situation that is (or could become) compromising?

Do I reserve intimate communication, looks, words, and touch for my future husband (if I marry)?

Have I become a “refuge” for a man who may be struggling in his marriage?

Have I surrendered my sexual desires in honor of the Lord, my future husband, and the marriages or future marriages of those around me? Am I walking in holiness and honor?

Do I esteem and value any man more than the Lord? Do I love any man more than I love the Lord? Who comes first in my estimation?

Would those who know me best say that I am a woman of moral virtue and purity?

Am I in a situation that could appear to others to be compromising?

Am I making myself accountable to another godly woman for my walk with God and others?

Do I treat men with respect by keeping a proper distance from them, emotionally and physically?

Have I erected (and am I maintaining) adequate “hedges” in my relationships with men? Have I defined what those hedges are?

“Lord, I acknowledge and renounce my sinful involvement in _______________ and pray in the name and through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that you would break this stronghold in my life. I realize, Lord, this sin has been a detrimental influence in my life [and marriage]. Lord, I humbly ask that You would forgive me and wash me in the blood of Christ, cleansing me from this sin. I ask you, Lord Jesus to take back the ground given to the enemy through my involvement and I yield that ground to Your control. I purpose to honor You in my heart, practicing purity and discretion in all of my relationships.”

• is restrained in:
  • her thoughts
  • her tongue
  • her eating
  • her spending
  • her reactions
• is calm under pressure
• is purposeful in the use of her time
• is a good steward
• is morally chaste
• has a well-ordered life
• show good judgment
• doesn't "lose it" under pressure
• responds in faith versus fear
• guards her heart and mind
• evaluates what she reads or hears in light of Scripture
• is mentally disciplined
• resists temptation
• shows delayed gratification
• demonstrates others-centered living
• is diligent and faithful in her responsibilities
• is intentional
• is modest in dress and behavior
• hopes in God
• gives thanks in all things
• makes wise, biblical decisions
• prays
• demonstrates the Spirit controlling her flesh

• is impulsive
• lacks discretion
• follows worldly philosophies
• is driven by her flesh
• lacks follow-through
• is self-centered
• is discontented
• has emotions controlled by circumstances
• seeks escapism from problems
• is easily provoked
• falls apart in a crisis
• easily loses hope
• says whatever she thinks without thinking first
• is highly opinionated
• speaks roughly with profane or crass talk
• is overly concerned about what other people think
• has unpredictable behavior
• is morally careless
• procrastinates
• is given to extremes
• is a pleasure seeker
• is easily distracted
• yields easily to temptation
• struggles to develop consistent life disciplines
• enjoys mindless entertainment
• looks for the easy way out
• thinks about the short-term rather than the long-term
• is demanding
• fritters away time
• makes decisions based on what is easiest

I want us to pick up in Revelation chapter 2, today, verse 18, with the letter to the church in Thyatira. God actually addresses with that church this issue of tolerance. I think it’s going to speak a lot to our generation as well.

Verse 18, “To the angel of the church in Thyatira.” The angel of the church, as we said early in this series, we’re not sure exactly what that means. It could refer to the spiritual leaders of the church. It could mean a messenger who took these letters to the churches. It could actually be an angel who had some sort of oversight over this church. But in some way that angel was a minister or messenger to the church.

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: "The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your works, your love and faith, and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first” (verses 18-19).

He begins with a word of praise and affirmation. There are some things in this church that were going well. There were some things that were pleasing to the Lord. And rather than just passing over those and getting right to the thing that He had against them, He recognizes and verbalizes the things that are pleasing to Him.

That was convicting to me as I meditated on this passage because we have a ministry, and I give leadership in that ministry. There are times when there needs to be correction made. There are things that aren’t done correctly or that need to be fixed or changed. Not just moral issues or spiritual issues, but sometimes just things that weren’t done the way that they should have been done. In relationships within the body of Christ, sometimes we have to confront. Sometimes we have to rebuke.

But Jesus begins with praise. Let me say to those of you who are mothers, particular application here. Am I right that it’s so much easier when you’re day in and day out with these little ones, and you’re having to say no a lot, and you’re having to correct a lot, isn’t it easier to jump on the negative and start with that? Just take a lesson here that Christ saw the strengths of these churches, and He started out by pointing those out.

So Jesus says, “I know your works.” Then He talks about the heart behind their works and the activity going on in that church. He lists four things. First He talks about “your love and faith.” Faith is a word that could also be translated faithfulness. You have been faithful. Faithfulness is the fruit of genuine faith. When you have genuine faith in Christ, you will persevere in obedience to Him. You will have fidelity and constancy in your relationship with Christ.

That love and faith produced service and patient endurance. Love produces service and faith produces patient endurance. So Jesus talks about their service, which flows out of their love, their love for Christ, their love for others.

Service. That’s the word from which we get our English word deacon, “one who serves,” “one who ministers.” That word speaks of . . . one dictionary says it this way: “compassionate love toward the needy within the Christian community.” They were reaching out to each other. They were doing acts of mercy toward each other.

They were taking care of each other in a day when especially for many of them, their livelihood was being threatened if they couldn’t belong to these trade guilds that were so famous in Thyatira. They were ministering to each other, serving each other.They were tenderhearted and kind toward each other and toward others outside the church.

Then their patient endurance. They were persevering in their witness. They were bearing up under pressure. Remember, we said the context here was the Roman Empire in an era of intense persecution. There’s no record of Roman persecution taking place in Thyatira. It’s not referenced in this letter, but we know it was taking place throughout the Roman Empire and that there were difficult circumstances in Thyatira that could have made people just give up. It could have made them grow weary in well-doing. But they didn’t do that. They persevered in the midst of difficult circumstances.

He says your latter words exceed the first. In other words, “You’re growing.” So Jesus says to this church words similar to those that Paul spoke to the church in Thessalonica, 2 Thessalonians 1, where he said, “Your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing” (verse 3). “You’re not just standing still. You’re not backsliding. You are moving forward. You’re progressing. You’re growing.”

By the way, could that be said of you? That your faith is growing? Your love is increasing? Are you maturing in your faith? Are you increasing in your love? Or are you just kind of coasting spiritually? Or worse, are you backsliding? Could it be said that your faith and your love were greater ten years ago than they are today?

Well, this is an impressive picture that is painted of the church in Thyatira, so far. You could say that there’s a garden of Christian graces growing in this church. I mean: love, faith, service, patient endurance and you’re maturing, you’re progressing, you’re increasing in these things. What a beautiful garden.

But as we move on in the letter, we see that there was a poisonous weed being allowed to grow in this garden. There was, if I could change the metaphor, there was a cancer growing in an otherwise healthy body. Because you see as you read this letter there were two things that were missing in this church: sound doctrine and holy living.

There was a lack of discernment doctrinally, biblically that led to a tolerance of sin. We see that in the next verse, verse 20.

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

You tolerate, He says, that woman Jezebel. The word tolerate there means “to let alone,” “to let be,” “to permit,” “to allow, not to hinder.” It’s basically saying live and let live. There are certain people, teachings, and behaviors, Jesus says, that are not to be tolerated. Now that sounds unloving. It’s definitely not politically correct, but it is crucial for us to understand as followers of Jesus Christ in the 21st century.

By the way, this is a contrast to the church in Ephesus. The church in Ephesus did not tolerate false teachers. They dealt with them. They dealt with those who called themselves apostles and were not. They didn’t allow false teaching. But what were they weak on? They were weak on love. They were strong on truth, weak on love.

Thyatira had love, but they tolerated false teaching. They were weak on truth. We need both. We need both. We must have truth, and we must have love. And that’s why Jesus speaks to these two different kinds of churches. As you look around today, you can see that churches tend to be stronger on love or stronger on truth. You don’t find a lot of churches today that are really strong on both. And Jesus is saying, “You’ve got to have both.”

Now He says, “You tolerate that woman Jezebel.” Jezebel was probably not her real name. Who would name their kid Jezebel? It was probably a symbolic name. Her behavior, her influence in the church was like that of Jezebel, who was the most wicked woman in the Old Testament. First Kings tells us that Jezebel was the daughter of the King of Sidon, and she was the wife of King Ahab, the most wicked king in Israel (see chapter 16). She was arguably the most wicked woman of the Old Testament.

• She was a strong woman, domineering, controlling.
• She was a woman who got what she wanted.
• She was self-willed.
• She had a forceful personality.
• She was ruthless.
• She destroyed those who challenged her or got in her way, including trying to take down the prophet Elijah. She ended up tangled with him on an issue.

The New Testament Jezebel held a respected position in the church. She was enormously influential. She had a platform. She had a strong personality. The woman in this church whose real name we don’t know, most likely, but she was like this Old Testament Jezebel. She was determined to stand her ground. Even when confronted by Christ, she refused to repent.

The Scripture says that this New Testament Jezebel calls herself a prophetess. Now we won’t go into this, but there’s evidence in Scripture of women prophetesses who were godly women prophetesses. There are a number of them listed: Miriam, Deborah, Philip’s daughters, Ana, others. So there’s definitely a place for women to exercise this prophetic gift—whatever that is, and that’s a topic for another session.

But Jezebel was not a true prophet. She was a false prophet. You see the pride of her heart that caused her to set herself up as a prophetess. I just think it’s interesting. It doesn’t say Jezebel is a prophetess. It says she calls herself a prophetess. She’s a self-proclaimed prophetess. She took that role upon herself. She certainly was not recognized by God as a prophetess.

As such, she claimed divine inspiration and authority. She claimed to be speaking the truth. She claimed to be speaking the word of God. Now understand, this is not a like cult leader out there in the world. This is a woman in a church that is praised by Jesus for having love and faith and service and patient endurance. She’s a woman in the church. She’s respected. She’s influential. She’s a leader. People follow her and admire her and respect her. But it says she is “teaching and seducing my servants.” The New American Standard says there, “She leads my bondservants astray.”

• She’s causing people to stray.
• She’s leading them away from the truth.
• She’s leading them into error.
• She’s deceiving them, and they don’t even realize it. They don’t realize that her teaching is not true.

Matthew 18 talks to us about the seriousness of leading God’s little ones into sin (see verse 6). It’s one thing to believe and practice false doctrine. That’s serious enough. But when you believe and practice things that then lead others into sin, God says that is a very, very serious thing, and it warrants the wrath and the judgment of God.

That’s why James says, “Don’t let many of you be teachers, because there’s a stricter judgment” (see 3:1). We will be held accountable, not only for our own lives, but for the influence we have on others’ lives. As I pondered this passage, it was a sobering thing to me as a woman teacher, a teacher of God’s Word, to realize how absolutely vital it is that I’m teaching the truth.

Now this woman, this Jezebel, this so-called prophetess, had a teaching role within the church. It was possibly an official teaching role. If that role included teaching men, which appears to be the case, one thing we know is that it was a violation of 1 Timothy chapter 2, where Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (verse 12).

We’ve taught on that passage other times on Revive Our Hearts. If I just made the hair on the back of your neck stand up, then you can go look at some of those other series where I try to explain what I believe Scripture teaches there.

But even if she had only been teaching women, if she had been within the bounds of Scripture on that point, there’s a caution here still that I think women’s ministries in local churches need to be aware of. That is it’s important for us as women in the body of Christ to be accountable, along with men who teach as well, to the spiritual leadership of our local churches, to the elders, to those who are responsible to safeguard the doctrine and the practice of the church. It’s their responsibility to oversee the teaching, to deal with error, and to make necessary corrections.

Now though this woman had a lot of influence in the church, not everyone in the church was on the bandwagon—the Jezebel train of thought. Not everyone agreed with her. If you skip down to verse 24 you see that Jesus addresses the rest in Thyatira who do not hold this teaching.

So the problem wasn’t that everybody in the church was following after her. The widespread problem in the church was that they tolerated her. They let her go on teaching and influencing. They didn’t stop her. That’s the issue Jesus addresses in this church. “You tolerate that woman Jezebel.” You’re tolerant.

So the question that’s sometimes asked is does doctrine really matter? In a lot of Christian circles today, doctrine has long ago gone out of vogue. It’s considered irrelevant. And heresy, you hardly hear that word anymore today. It’s a thing of the past so people think. So you hear this concept, “love unites; doctrine divides.”

Here’s another comment I found on a blog. The context was a blog exchange about the teachings of one man who is a well-known leader in the emerging church movement today and the dialogue was about his teaching. And one of the people commenting said, “The devil is in the details. Why are folks so obsessed with one individual’s doctrine [that is this teacher out there]? Could it be that none of that matters and we should instead be focusing on loving and serving God’s people who are in need?”

You see the thinking there? The doctrine doesn’t really matter. The devil’s in the details. Why are we so obsessed with one individual’s doctrine? Well, I’ll tell you, read Revelation 2, and you realize Jesus cared about one person’s doctrine. And that particular teacher that was being referenced—I’m not saying he doesn’t love God. I’m not saying he’s not pious, but I’m saying he is out there teaching some things that are flagrantly contrary to the Word of God, and we have to care about that.

“Beloved,” 1 John 4 says, “don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets [teachers] have gone out into the world” (verse 1). This letter to the church in Thyatira highlights the danger of anything or anyone who challenges, who undermines foundational biblical belief or practice, doctrines: who God is, the Word of God, the gospel of Christ. And not only those who undermine sound doctrine, but also those who undermine the holiness of God’s people.

I hope in the letter to Pergamum that we talked about recently and this letter to Thyatira that you’re catching these two things that Jesus really cares about in the church: purity of doctrine and purity of behavior—right thinking, biblical thinking, and holiness of life.

Now as we look at these letters, it becomes apparent that there are no new heresies. By the way, heresy is any doctrine or teaching that departs from or denies the basic doctrines of Scripture. There are no new heresies. These old ones come back again and again and again. They get recycled.

There were two particularly dangerous doctrines that surfaced in the early church and they have kept surfacing in various forms and permutations throughout the history of the church. The first is what theologians call antinomianism. Don’t try and write that down. Go to ReviveOurHearts.com, look at the transcript, and it will show you how it’s spelled. But it essentially means “against the law.” The teaching here is that grace provides a license to sin. That we’re not under the law. We’re not obligated to keep God’s law.

Antinomianism is the opposite of legalism. Legalism is the notion that we can be saved or sanctified by keeping the law of God.

Now there was another teaching that surfaced. It was a heresy, and it was just starting to surface when these letters were written at the end of the 1st century. It’s called Gnosticism, from the Greek word gnosis, which means “knowledge.” It’s a type of mysticism that claimed to offer this secret, deep knowledge or insight, a pathway to a higher experience. It was an admixture of some Christian elements and some pagan religious beliefs.

This thinking of Gnosticism that was so prevalent in the early church is also at the heart of much teaching and practice that is becoming more widely accepted and widespread in the church today. You don’t usually hear it called Gnosticism, but many of the teachings that are becoming in vogue in evangelicalism today have their roots in Gnosticism, which is heresy. It relies on subjective experience rather than the objective truth of God’s Word. Whenever you see that, watch out. There’s danger.

Now we’re going to look at this heresy and how it affected the church when we come to the next session. But Jesus says that this woman, symbolically called Jezebel, the woman in the church in Thyatira, was seducing His servants. So can true Christians be led astray? Can true Christians commit immorality or practice idolatry as people were in this church? The answer is, absolutely.

So how do you know if they’re true Christians or not? The answer is, do they repent? If they persist and do not repent, then they give no credible basis for claiming to be true Christians.

Here’s the concern I have as we think about the church in the 21st century. Within the Christian world today, there are many respected, influential teachers. I’m talking about authors published by Christian publishers. You can find their books in Christian bookstores. Many people in the public eye who are respected as Christian leaders.

People send their money to some of these teachers. They buy their books. They buy their CDs. They go to their websites. They imbibe their teaching and many who are promoting variations of the teaching of this 1st century Jezebel, so-called prophetess who is teaching and seducing my servants, God says, to sin.

So we need to learn how to identify this kind of teaching. We need to learn how to guard our own minds and hearts so that we don’t fall prey to it. We need to pray that the church will be safeguarded from the intrusion of this kind of teaching, this kind of doctrine. And the letter to the church in Thyatira is Jesus’ word of warning, not only to that church in the 1st century, but to us and to our churches today. The message is repent. Repent so that I don’t have to come and send judgment on your church.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

“Being in ministry has many joys and blessings, but it also makes us vulnerable to unique pressures and difficulties. Nancy identifies pitfalls that can cause the Lord’s servants to falter or even be sidelined. She also provides practical, biblical insight on how to stay faithful all the way to the finish line."

www.TrueWoman.com

(2 Peter 1:5-7)

Faith

Do you have genuine faith in Christ? Who or what are you trusting for your eternal salvation? What evidences are there that you have true faith: that you have believed and placed your faith in Christ? (Faith without works is dead.)

Virtue

Is your life characterized by moral excellence? Do you choose to think, read, be entertained by, and look on things that are virtuous and excellent? Is your character (speech, actions, and choices) morally excellent? Do you have a heart and appetite for things that are excellent, good, and pure? Do you have an energetic, vigorous faith? Is it active, alive, and growing? Are you fulfilling your intended, created purpose? What does your life reflect to others about the nature and character of God?

Knowledge

Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s Word and His ways? Are you growing in your knowledge of God, in an intimate relationship with Him? What are you doing to nurture your relationship with Him and to get to know Him better? Are you spending consistent time seeking to know Him through the study of His Word and prayer? What things are you most motivated and interested to learn about? Are you able to take the Word and apply it to your life circumstances and to use it to minister to the needs of others?

Self-control

Do you have any recurring or besetting sinful habits or areas of bondage in your life? Are you enslaved or addicted to anything? Do you exercise self-control —with your tongue and words —in your moods and emotions —with your body: food and drink —with your time: entertainment, hobbies, and habits —in your spending —sexually —with the computer and the Internet

Is there any area where you frequently and habitually give in to sinful or fleshly desires, drives, or passions?

Steadfastness (Perseverance)

Does your faith hold up? Do you endure under pressure and testing? Do you keep trusting, loving, and obeying God even when His providence and choices are not what you would choose? When hard times come, do you throw in the towel and give in to discouragement, fear, or resentment? What trials or afflictions are you facing at this time? Are you enduring them steadfastly, or have you grown weary and fainthearted? Are you responding to these trials with joy?

Godliness

Is your heart orientation and inclination toward godly things? Is your heart devoted to God? Is your life God-centered? Is what you think about, dwell on, and seek after God-centered? Is the essential orientation of your life God-ward and heavenward? Or is it self-centered and earthly (earthbound)? Is it temporal or eternal? Are you training to be godly? What are you doing?

Brotherly affection

Do you genuinely care for the people of God? Are you fond of them? Do you enjoy their company? Are you cultivating rich friendships with other believers? Do you think of them as your brothers and sisters? Are you kind to and considerate of your fellow believers? Do you assume the best about other believers? Are you warmhearted toward them? Do you look for ways to encourage and bless them? Do you treat them with honor, respect, and goodwill? Do you speak charitably and well of other believers? Are you quick to serve and minister to their needs whenever possible? Are you hospitable? Do you welcome God’s people into your home? Do you receive others as Christ has received you?

Love (1 Corinthians 13)

Is your life characterized by selfless, sacrificial, serving love? Do you seek the Kingdom of God and the interests of others above your own? Do you love God (evidenced by obeying His commands)? Do you love your family? Do you love the lost?

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. www.ReviveOurHearts.com Info@ReviveOurHearts.com

Well, I don’t need to tell you that that is an unhealthy, unbiblical perversion of meekness. And yet, I think it’s one that people commonly have when we talk about meekness. They think of weakness as being timid, being spineless. They think of meekness as being equal to weakness.

Now, in the last session we talked about how to respond when people are angry toward us. We said sometimes you need to say nothing. We said when you do speak, you need to speak with a soft answer. And that’s the emphasis we’ve placed.

But I want us to realize in this session that:

• Meekness does not mean that you don’t stand up for truth.
• Meekness does not mean that you don’t speak out against or confront error.
• Meekness does not mean that you passively stand by and let evil triumph.

There’s no way I can get the whole counsel of God into any twenty-five-minute program that we have. So we try to balance out this teaching from day to day. There are situations biblically—and we’re going to look at some of them today—where courage and boldness are needed, where confrontation is needed. But when we do that, we have to always do it with a spirit of meekness, a spirit of humility, a spirit of gentleness.

I want to talk about several of those situations today where boldness is needed and talk about how we do that with a spirit of meekness. The first is in the matter of admonishing a brother or sister in Christ who has sinned.

The Scripture says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Pr. 27:6). You’re not a friend if you don’t speak the truth. If somebody is playing with fire, if they’re making choices in their lives that are foolish choices, that are sinful choices, you’re not being a friend. You’re not being faithful to the Lord if you don’t address that situation.

You can actually become an enabler of sin in other people’s lives. But as we admonish, rebuke, reprove those who are sinning, we need to do it in a spirit of meekness and humility.

The verse that puts all that together in one verse is, of course, Galatians chapter 6, verse 1.

If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep a watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

A spirit of meekness, a spirit of humility.

I’ve been quoting extensively throughout this series from a book by one of the Puritans, Puritan commentator Matthew Henry, written over 300 years ago called, The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit. In this series I’m actually teaching through this book but trying to put it in a way that’s a little easier for us to understand, because some of the language is a little bit challenging. But in this book Matthew Henry says,

The three qualifications of a good surgeon are required in a reprover: [s]he should have an eagle’s eye, a lion’s heart, and a lady’s hand; in short, he should be endued with wisdom, and courage, and meekness. Though sometimes it is needful to reprove with earnestness.

“Yet we must never reprove with wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20)

Now, this is a razor-thin balance in life. It’s a tough balance. It’s the truth with love. Matthew Henry says,

We must treat those who are overtaken in a fault with the same tenderness and compassion that we would wish to find if it were our own case.

Well, we need to reprove others with the same spirit with which we would want to be reproved. That means:

• We don’t attack.
• We assume the best.
• We come with a gentle spirit, a humble spirit.

So you ask a question. “I may be a million miles off,” a friend used to say. He’s now with the Lord. But he used to say, “I may be a million miles off, but is it possible that . . .?” And then he would ask a question about something he’d observed in my life.

And you know, he was almost always right. But if he would say it, as he said it with the spirit of meekness and humility, that made it easier to receive.

Now, that’s particularly important when we’re called upon to speak the truth about an issue or a sin in the life of an authority, a husband, a parent, a boss, maybe a pastor or an elder, an older person. We’re told to speak to them with respect and meekness.

I think of 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 1: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father.” That doesn’t say you never point out a sin. It just talks about the manner and the spirit in which you do it.

I found myself in the last week or so feeling impressed of the Lord to write a letter to someone that I greatly respect, an older person, a man, an elder, who I had in my heart a question about a course of action that had been taken. I prayed about it. I waited.

I didn’t just come and blurt this out quickly because a lot of times we think we know exactly what’s right and we don’t stop and think, Is this really something God wants me to say in this situation? But the Lord wouldn’t let me go about it.

I spent a long time constructing a letter, editing, re-editing, re-re-editing, wanting to make sure that the tone, the spirit was humble, that it was gentle, that it was gracious, that I was not tackling or attacking this person. And I just went through and looked at each word carefully. Could this come across as an attack? Could this put this person on the defensive?

Now, I wasn’t scared of the person. It wasn’t being cowardly. It was just trying to be compassionate and tender and gentle and humble and meek in my approach. It was neat to see that person come back and say, “Thank you for sharing this, but thank you for the spirit in which you shared it.”

And that person said, “I’m going to take this to the Lord and ask Him if there’s something here that I need to confess, that I need to deal with.”

So the response was a humble response. A lot of times we don’t get a humble response because we do things in an attack mode rather than in a spirit of gentleness and meekness. So when we’re admonishing a brother or sister in Christ we have to do it but in a spirit of meekness.

Now let me just give you a little rabbit trail here, a parenthesis, a side note not about giving reproof to others, but about receiving reproof and correction from others. It’s also very important that we do that in a spirit of meekness.

If we are meek, we will receive correction, criticism, reproof, and admonition. We will receive it quietly as my friend did in response to that letter. We will receive it humbly and gratefully.

I tell our staff when we receive critical letters in the mail, which we do from time to time. Some of them are in a sweet spirit and some of them are not in a sweet spirit. But I say, “Always, always, always thank them for writing us.”

The rebuke, the confrontation, the correction may not be given in the wisest way. It may be exaggerated. We may be even totally innocent of the thing for which we’re being criticized or reproved.

I’m thinking of an incident that took place many years ago where a person who was a leader in my life came to me and said some very strong things, pointed out some issues in my life, and had a whole list. I mean it was a litany. This was a person that I respected, I looked up to; it was an authority in our ministry. But this person said some very strong things and with a harsh spirit.

And I did not react with a spirit of meekness. I was hurt. I was devastated. I just played this in my mind over and over and over again.

My inner reaction—I don’t know that this ever came out toward that person—but my heart reaction was anger. It was defensiveness. It was pride. I felt rejected. I resented the person for a long, long time. Many, many months, a year and a half to one extent or another, I mulled this over in my mind and held this against this person.

As God began to work in my heart in that area, I came to see that there was some more than a kernel of truth in what had been said. Now, there were circumstances that looking back I can see why this person in that situation came across more harshly. I’ve long since forgiven this situation and the person.

But I had just said, “None of it’s true.” I had maintained that position for months. But once my heart was humble, I could see that there was some truth in this.

What had happened? I had reacted to the overstatement and to the exaggeration, and I had missed the truth in it that God wanted me to see, that I needed to see, just because of reacting to the manner in which it was given.

So respond in humility. It may be overstated. It may be exaggerated. It may not even be true. But God may use something that’s said that’s critical and ugly and untrue to help you see something in your heart that is true, to help you develop a spirit of meekness. You can never go wrong on the pathway of humility.

So back to situations where we do need to confront, we need to have courage and boldness, but we do it in a spirit of meekness. First is admonishing a brother or sister who is sinning.

A second area is correcting those who oppose the truth. There is a time to rebuke, to expose, to oppose sin and false doctrine. We know that Jesus was meek and humble, but He confronted the Pharisees. He did it in a very straight forward, direct way.

But He didn’t do it out of self-defense or self-promotion. He didn’t do it out of sinful anger. It was the righteousness of God in Him that was wanting to defend the glory and the truth of God.

We’ve talked about how the Scripture says Moses was the most meek or humble man on the face of the earth. And yet you see him standing up to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and saying, “You have got to get out of God’s way. You’re wrong.”

We see Moses becoming angry at the sin of God’s people at the incident of the golden calf and rebuking them for their idolatry. He calls for disciplinary action. And yet, this is the action of a meek man.

Now there was another situation in Moses’ life, you remember, where he allowed righteous anger to burn into ungodly anger. Those who oppose the truth, often we do that with unrighteous anger.

Remember how Moses late in his life just before the Children of Israel came to the Promised Land, Numbers chapter 20, there was no water. The people murmured as they had many times before. And God said to Moses, “Speak to the rock and it will bring out water” (see v. 8).

And in a fit of anger and impatience, Moses struck the rock twice rather than speaking to it. This was not meekness. Moses was not humble at that point. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

Second Timothy 2 talks to those who need to confront, those who oppose the truth. It tells us the spirit in which we should do it. It says,

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach . . .  (vv. 23–25).

So “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with [meekness, with] gentleness.”

And what’s the goal? God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. The point isn’t to just attack them. The point is to see them come to repentance.

We’re not only to confront those who are the opponents of the truth. We are to warn believers about false teachers, about false doctrine.

If you read the book of 2 Peter, if you read the book of Jude, it’s clear that these false teachers in their teaching, that Christians need to be warned against them. And Peter and Jude used some very strong language in describing these false teachers, but they’re doing it in a spirit of humility and meekness. They’re saying, nonetheless, this cannot be tolerated in the church.

In Revelation chapter 2 Jesus Himself says to the church,

I have this against you that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols (vv. 20–21).

And then Jesus says—and here’s where you see His spirit of meekness—“I gave her time to repent.” I gave her time to repent.

Now He goes on to say, “She refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.” Therefore I will judge her. In the end God will judge those who refuse to repent. But the heart of Christ is you expose it, you deal with it, you confront it, and yet you give time for repentance.

That’s always the heart desire when we’re confronting error, when we’re confronting those who oppose the truth. We want for them to repent, and we care about the glory of God and the church, and we care about believers being complete and protected in Christ. That’s the heart motive of humility.

Now here’s another situation where we need to have a spirit of meekness and that’s when we are defending our faith with those who are unbelievers, defending our faith with unbelievers.

First Peter chapter 3 beginning in verse 15:

In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (vv. 15–16).

• Make the defense, defend your faith.
• Explain why God’s Word is truth and error is error.
• Give a reason. Give an explanation.
• Give an apologetic; that’s the defending of the faith. But do it with gentleness and respect.

And that does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Christians should not be known as being argumentative and contentious in their spirit.

Now that doesn’t mean we don’t speak up. It doesn’t mean we just let people who are promoting false religions do their thing and say their thing. That’s cowardly. We need to be bold and confident in defending our faith but always doing it with gentleness and respect.

The same thing holds true for dealing with cultural or social justice issues that need to be addressed in our society. There are those who say we should not get engaged in those things; we’re supposed to stay in our “holy fortresses” and be good, holy Christians. We are supposed to be salt and light. Light should expose the darkness. There are things in our culture and our society that anger God. There are things going on that attack God’s name and His glory and His ways, and that should bother us. We need to be willing to address those things.

I think about the abortion issue. In Proverbs 24 it says, “Rescue those who are being taken away to death. Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter” (v. 11). We need to roll up our sleeves and get engaged in these issues as God directs us, but we need to do it with grace, with grace.

I’ll be the first to say it’s often hard to know where that line is. But that needs to be the goal: without attacking, without venting, without coming across as arrogant or proud or a know-it-all.

The call here is for balance—a balance of grace and truth. Now some of us tend more toward heavy on the truth, so we need God to balance us with grace. Some tend to be more heavy on the grace, and you may need God to balance you with truth.

Of course, that’s only perfectly fulfilled in Christ. Psalm 85 says that in Christ mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Christ is the one who perfectly embodies both grace and truth (see v. 10).

I love that passage in Psalm 45. You see this balance in this Old Testament picture of Christ. It says,

You are fairer than the sons of men. [This is a Messianic psalm speaking of Christ.] Grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.

Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, in Your splendor and Your majesty! [Grace is on Your lips. Gird Your sword on Your thigh.] And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness” (vv. 2–4 NASB).

In Christ we see better than anywhere else in the Scripture the power of meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is the power of God under control being released in and through our lives. You see that in the book of Revelation chapter 5 where you see this two-fold picture of Christ.

You remember how there was this book with seven seals and no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the seals? And John says, “I wept loudly because no one was worthy to do this. No one had the power to open these seals” (see v. 4). And then one of the elders said to him,

Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals (v. 5).

So you see Aslan, the picture of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the conquering King.

Between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw [what did he see?] a Lamb standing as though it had been slain (v. 6).

And He went [the Lamb] and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb . . . and they sang a new song saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.” (vv. 7–9)

The meek, humble, sinless Son of God goes to the cross and takes on Himself all the wrath of a holy God against all the sin of all people who’ve ever lived.

You were slain, and by your blood [by your meekness, by your humility, by the sacrifice of your life, by your blood] you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. (vv. 9–10)

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

When I was a little girl, I was first exposed to one of the most essential ingredients in nurturing an intimate relationship with God, as I became aware that my father began each day with a practice that he called "devotions."

I don’t recall ever actually being with him during those times–though I did frequently see him reading his Bible–but somehow we all knew that this time in the Word and prayer was more important to him than any other activity of his day. As I got older, I learned something of how this had come to be such an indispensable part of his day.

During his teenage and young adult years, in search of thrills, my father became addicted to gambling, adopting a freewheeling life-style that kept him moving from one gambling “hot spot” to another, destroyed any sense of values he may have had, and caused no little heartache to his parents. One night, while in his mid-twenties, having made a mess of his life, he came under the preaching of the gospel. He was converted and never looked back.

Early in his Christian life, he was challenged to give the first part of every day to the Lord in the Word and in prayer. From that day, until the day he went to heaven twenty-eight years later, he never missed one single day of this devotional practice. Nothing was more important to him than cultivating his relationship with the Lord, and he believed strongly that nothing was more essential to maintaining that relationship than a daily time alone with the Lord in the Word and prayer.

“Daily devotions” was not something my parents forced on us, but the influence of my dad’s example and training in this area was profound. Although he has been with the Lord since 1979, the image of a dad on his knees before the Lord (I don’t know how many kneeling pads he wore out over the years), is indelibly etched on my mind and in my heart.

I want to be quick to say that my own “record” in this matter is far from my dad’s. Although I have made a practice since earliest childhood of beginning my day with the Lord, I have to acknowledge that this is a discipline that has never come easily for me. As much as I cherish and value and need this time with the Lord, to this day, I find myself having to fight to make it a consistent reality.

I battle my flesh, which loves to sleep, is easily distracted, and does not like to sit still and be quiet. I battle my schedule with its never-ending “to do” list. I battle interruptions–many of my own making.

There are many mornings when I have allowed the pillow, the phone, or piles of office work to win out, and have ended up spending only a few hurried moments with Him. On occasion, I have even missed out altogether on spending any time alone with Him.

But over the years I have come to believe with all my heart that this is something worth fighting for. I have come to understand that one of the reasons it is such a battle is that the enemy of my soul knows if he can defeat me here, he will ultimately be able to defeat me in every other area of my spiritual life.

Over the years, I have come to see that “devotions” is not so much an obligation of the Christian life, as it is an incredible opportunity to know the God of the universe. He has issued to you and me an invitation to draw near to Him, to walk right in to the “Holy of Holies,” to enter into an intimate love relationship with Him.

“Devotions” has become for me, not so much a duty (although there are still days when it is just that), as a delight–an awesome privilege to share sweet union and communion with the Bridegroom of my soul. But it hasn’t always been that way. One “Happy Meal” to go, please!

From the time I was twenty, for nearly twelve years, I traveled full-time, year-round in ministry. During that period, I became a fast food junkie. More times than I care to remember, I picked up my tacos or burger and fries at the drive-through window, and then would sit in the parking lot for the 21/2 minutes it took me to inhale my meal. Frequently, I didn’t even bother to stop, but would just keep right on going, eating my meal while driving to the next appointment.

I actually didn’t mind living that way–until I reached the age of thirty. About that time, my body started to feel the effects of years of junk food. I found that my body was craving a more nutritious, balanced diet, and that I couldn’t keep eating the way I had for over a decade. I had to make some fairly drastic changes in my lifestyle, to accommodate my body’s needs. A number of years ago, after going through an 18-month period in which my schedule had been unusually grueling, I woke up one day and realized that I had become a spiritual “fast-food junkie.” I had allowed deadlines, projects, and demands to take priority over my relationship with the Lord. Oh, I still had a “quiet time”–of sorts. I usually managed to get in some sort of spiritual meal. But all too frequently, that “meal” had come to consist of hurriedly reading a short passage of Scripture, just before running out the door to accomplish one more thing for God.

Spiritually, I was living in “fast-food drive-throughs.” I was “having my devotions.” But I wasn’t having “devotion.” I wasn’t meeting with God. I wasn’t nurturing our relationship.

Like the Shulammite bride in the Song of Songs, I had tended the vineyards of others–I had been busy tending to everyone else’s spiritual well-being; but I had failed to tend the garden of my own heart (Song of Songs 1:6).

As God used circumstances to reveal my malnourished spiritual condition, I realized the price I had paid for those months of neglect.

But how I thank my merciful, longsuffering Father that He never stops pursuing a love relationship with those who belong to Him. Graciously, kindly, He wooed my heart that had become so distracted and desensitized to Him. His goodness brought me to repent of having wandered so far from His side, to renew my vows to Him, and to re-establish my relationship with Him as the number one priority of my day. As I responded to His initiative, the Good Shepherd began the process of restoring my soul, leading me to the still waters and green pastures that I so desperately needed.

In the Song of Songs, we are told of an instance when the bride, through failure to respond to the initiative of her Bridegroom, experienced a loss of intimacy. Troubled by the breach in the relationship, she set out on an intense search for her Beloved. In recounting that thrilling moment when He was restored to her, she says, “I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go” (Song of Songs 3:4).

With that grateful bride, I would say, “I have found Him whom my soul loves.” Now the earnest desire of my heart is to hold fast to Him, and never again to let Him go. I know of no way to experience unbroken union and communion with our Beloved apart from a conscious, deliberate choice to spend time alone with Him each morning.

Late one evening last spring, along with millions of other stargazers around the globe, I watched as, in a matter of minutes, a brilliant full moon "disappeared" behind a dark shadow.

The event caused me to reflect in a fresh way on revival and its hindrances.

“Revival” may be pictured as that state in which our lives, our homes, and our churches are aligned with the Lord Jesus in such a way that nothing stands between us and Him. Only then are we able to reflect His light to our world. As the hymnwriter put it: Nothing between my soul and the Saviour, So that His blessed face may be seen; Nothing preventing the least of His favor, Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness, the Light of the world. We have no light of our own-any light that shines from our lives is merely that which we reflect from Him.

However, when the things of this earth come between us and the Lord Jesus, our view of Him is obscured and our light is diminished. And whereas a lunar eclipse happens only infrequently, it seems that our lives are prone to “spiritual eclipses.” Therefore, we must continually be alert to anything which might come between our soul and the Saviour.

What are some of those things that come between us and the Saviour? What keeps us from having a pure, unhindered relationship with Him and reflecting His light to our world? In my own life, there are several things that most commonly obstruct my view of the Lord Jesus and threaten to keep the light of His presence from shining in and through me.

An exalted view of “self” will cause us to have a diminished view of Jesus. It is true that when we “turn our eyes upon Jesus, the things of earth will grow strangely dim.” It is equally true that when we fix our eyes upon ourselves, our vision of Jesus will become “strangely dim” by comparison.

When He fills all our vision, the result is a humble heart that knows its own nothingness apart from Him. That is the heart God revives. But He is forced to resist the proud heart that causes us to live as if we were the center of our own world.

Pride manifests itself in so many subtle, but lethal ways. In my own life, pride can sometimes be seen in a hidden desire for the praise and admiration of men, an insistence on being “right,” the desire to be noticed and appreciated, fear of rejection, or just pre-occupation with myselfmy feelings, my needs, my circumstances, my burdens, my desires, my successes, my failures. These are all fruits of that deadly root of pride.

A heart filled with itself will be unable to behold the loveliness of Jesus and will cease to reflect His light.

Indulging our flesh, even in what others might consider insignificant ways, will quench the free flow of God’s Spirit through us and erect barriers in our relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Less than 24 hours ago, in the privacy of my own home, weary from days of intense labor, I found myself justifying a “small compromise.” From the initial moment of temptation, in spite of my internal rationalizing, I knew that what I wanted to do would defile my spirit and grieve the Holy Spirit who lives within me and whose possession I am. But at that moment, I wanted “my way,” more than I wanted to be right with God. No one was there to see or to know. No one but God.

In saying “yes” to my flesh and “no” to God, I allowed an obstruction to come between my soul and the Saviour. I rejected the light of His countenance and embraced the darknessall for a few moments of earthly enjoyment. How grateful I am for the persevering grace of God that quickly engineered circumstances to turn my face back toward His light, granting the gift of repentance and restoring in my heart a fresh love and longing for holiness.

Breaches in our relationships with others inevitably create an “eclipse” in our relationship with God. It is not possible for us to be right with God and not be right with others. How can we walk in the light of His forgiveness and mercy, if we are unwilling to extend forgiveness and mercy toward those who have wronged us? And how can we walk in harmony with a holy God, if we have sinned against others and refuse to humble ourselves and make it right?

This morning as I was in the Lord’s presence, the Holy Spirit brought to mind an issue that had been minuscule to me, but, from His perspective, had come between my soul and the Saviour. Recently, in the process of handling a business matter over the phone, I had been impatient with a clerk whose answer didn’t satisfy me. Before I could continue seeking His face, I had to pick up the phone, call the company, and make the matter right with the woman with whom I had been annoyed. My conscience cleared with both God and man, the light of His presence could once more shine in and through my heart.

“Cares, riches, and pleasures of this life,” like thorns in a garden, tend to choke out the life of God within us. In the course of everyday living on this planet, we are bombarded incessantly with “duties, delights, and diversions” that seek to consume our time and control our hearts. These things, while not inherently sinful, have an enormous capacity to steal our affection for the Lord Jesus.

In a culture that insists that we “need it now,” it is all too easy to lose our vision of eternity, of the soon return of Christ, and of our ultimate accountability before His judgment seat.

Sheer busyness, even in Christian work, can so fill our vision that we have no time or place for Christ, and we find our light “eclipsed.” The Shulammite bride in the Song of Songs laments having tended the “vineyards” of others, while neglecting her own vineyard and allowing it to fall into a state of disrepair. Only through concentrated, extended time alone in the presence and embrace of her Beloved is her soul restored, enabling her to go back out into the vineyards, this time in union and communion with Him.

Contentment with the status quo is one of the most subtle hindrances to revival. Comparing ourselves or our ministries with others tends to breed a sense of complacency in our hearts. It is much easier to rest on our laurels and enjoy the victories He has already given us, than to keep pressing on to know Him in deeper ways.

A Chinese evangelist who had suffered much for his faith and was visiting America for the first time, was asked what stood out most to him about the church in the West. Without hesitation, he replied, “What amazes me most is how much you are able to accomplish . . . without God.”

We have settled for activity and results that make for impressive press releases, when God wants to shatter the darkness and overcome the strongholds of our world and establish His glorious kingdom in the hearts of men and nations. And on a more personal level, we have settled for living busy, productive, moral lives, when God longs to reveal His greatness and glory through us in ways that cannot be explained apart from Him.

Leonard Ravenhill, that passionate servant of God, used to say, “As long as we are content to live without revival, we will.” Until the day he went to heaven at the age of 86, Mr. Ravenhill never lost a sense of desperate need and intense longing for both personal and corporate revival.

As long as we are satisfied with what our own hands and efforts can produce, apart from the effusion of the Spirit of God, we will not be likely to pursue Him with all our hearts, and still less likely to experience genuine revival.

How is it between your soul and the Saviour today? Has any obstacle “eclipsed” your view of Him? Is there any hindrance that is keeping His light from being reflected from your life? If so, do not delay to deal with the issue, no matter how trifling or overwhelming it may appear to be. Pray with the psalmist that God will be merciful unto you and cause His face to shine upon You, “that [His] way may be known upon earth, [His] saving health among all nations” (Ps. 67:1, 2).

Then, with a revived heart and a countenance that radiates His light, you will be able to sing: Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, It is not night if Thou be near; O may no earthborn cloud arise To hide Thee from Thy servant’s eyes!

Some time ago, I asked the women who were attending a weekend conference where I was speaking, to write on a 3x5 card why they had come, and what it was they were hoping God would do in their lives through the weekend. "Where does God find you as we start this weekend?" I asked.

“I feel I’m out of control sometimes with so many pressures.”

“I face too much stress and responsibility.”

“I feel like I’m torn in all directions. I want God to show me how to manage my different ’hats’ of teacher, mother, wife, and daughter successfully, and still have time for church work and ’me.’”

“I need to stop worrying about everything. I try not to and I know I shouldn’t, but my worries that I conjure up even disturb my sleep and dreams.”

“I’ve given myself up to service for about twenty-four months, and I feel a need to slow myself down and renew myself, but life gets real hectic.” “With a new baby, I need to find the Lord’s peace and rest–physically and emotionally.”

“I often get busy and find my day gone without having done the things I most wanted to do.”

“I am a single person by divorce, and I really am tired.”

“I’ve left a whirlwind at home, and need a renewed spirit to face all that these coming weeks will hold.”

“I want to slow down. I feel as if I’m on a speeding treadmill, and if I try to jump off I will stumble and fall.” “I need help with my frazzled, frenzied state.”

“My busyness has robbed me of my joy.”

Do you find yourself relating to any of these feelings? I find these kinds of responses are increasingly common among the people I meet. Why do we live such hectic, harried lives? Is this what God intended for us? Does He understand? And can we actually get off that “speeding treadmill” without hurting ourselves (and others) in the process?

Busy Days The first chapter of the Gospel of Mark gives us a glimpse into a day in the life of the Lord Jesus. In some respects, this particular day was not unlike many of the days that you and I experience. We pick up the account in verse 21:

They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.–Mark 1:21-22 niv If you’ve ever taught a Sunday school class, led a small group, or taught a Bible study, you know that you don’t just get up before a group and teach the Word of God with power and effectiveness, apart from a lot of time spent in preparation–not just preparation of the notes and the material, but preparation of your heart and life.

My friends can tell you that whenever I am preparing to speak, I go through intense “labor pains.” I agonize to determine what it is that the Lord wants me to teach; I wrestle with the passages involved, seeking to understand what the Scripture really means; I labor to put the material together in a form that is understandable and meaningful to the listener.

Throughout the process, I ask the Holy Spirit to search my own heart, and to show me where I don’t measure up to the truth I am about to proclaim. Before opening my mouth to speak, I spend time in prayer, pleading with God for a fresh anointing of His Spirit on my life and my lips, and interceding for those who will hear the message.

Then, while I’m actually teaching, there is more energy expended–physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I am intensely focused, never letting up from my goal–for the truth to penetrate every heart and for every individual to say “yes” to God about any issue He is addressing in their life.

When I have finished speaking, the battle is still not over–that is when the enemy often seeks to discourage me with feelings of inadequacy or to tempt me with seeking the praise of men for my ministry.

So when I read that Jesus began this particular day by teaching in the synagogue, I know this was not just a casual effort on His part. The people listened attentively to Him because they could tell this was not your normal, run-of-the-mill Sabbath message. Unlike the preachers they were accustomed to hearing, Jesus spoke with authority and power. We know that in order for this to be possible, He had spent concentrated time with His heavenly Father in preparation. As He ministered, He was being expended on behalf of others.

Confronting Evil This was just the beginning of Jesus’ day–His work was not nearly over. Before He even had a chance to finish His message, there was an interruption in the service. Let’s continue reading in Mark 1:

Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching–and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey Him.”–Mark 1:23-27 Here we see Jesus engaged in a battle between heaven and hell. Obviously, this was not some casual, relaxed encounter with the enemy. This was all-out warfare.

Now, I have never exorcized a demon. And in the course of an average day, you and I are not likely to have audible or visible encounters with demons. But God’s Word teaches that we are in the midst of a battle against “principalities and powers”–that at this very moment there is a cosmic warfare being waged between heaven and hell. And sometimes, God sends us right into the frontlines of that battle. Many of the people we encounter and deal with on a daily basis are in the midst of an intense spiritual battle for their soul, and sometimes we get caught in the crossfire.

In the course of being a mate, a parent, a friend, an employee, you will find yourself in the midst of difficult, strenuous, demanding situations, where you have to be alert to the schemes of Satan and skilled in using the sword of the Spirit to fight off his attacks. There is a natural drain that is a part of being God’s servant in these situations. Jesus experienced those moments of intense confrontation with the powers of darkness.

As a result of this encounter with the demonized man, the Scripture tells us that “news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee” (v. 28). Try to imagine how that must have “complicated” Jesus’ life. All of a sudden, everyone wanted Him to come speak at their synagogue or banquet, everyone wanted to interview Him for their publication, everyone wanted Him to heal their sick and cast out their demons. Later in this passage we learn that the time finally came when Jesus couldn’t even stay in the cities, but had to find quiet, remote places where the crowds couldn’t find Him, in order to get time alone with His Father.

Perhaps you have had the experience of ministering to someone in need- lending a listening ear to a discouraged friend, helping out in your child’s Sunday school department, preparing a meal for a family in a crisis, ministering to a friend’s troubled teenager, offering biblical counsel to a couple with a shaky marriage. Then, the word spreads that you are available to help people in need–and all of a sudden, your phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting you to help.

Everybody Needs Me! Well, the service at the synagogue is finally over, and we feel a sense of relief when we read the next verse: “As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew” (v. 29).

Whew! Jesus has spent hours giving out and expending Himself for others. Finally He has a chance to get away with His friends, away from all the needy people. He gets to go home, kick up His feet, open up a good book, and relax- maybe even take a nap. Right? Wrong!

Read on: “Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her” (v. 30). Jesus is finally out of the public eye, back in the safe haven of a friend’s home, and even there, someone needs Him.

Do you ever feel that there is no time, no place where you can totally escape the demands of other people? If it’s not the people at work, it’s your mate; if it’s not your mate, it’s your children; if it’s not your children, it’s the neighbor’s children; if it’s not someone else’s children, it’s your in-laws; if it’s not your in-laws, it’s . . . .

But as we would expect, the serving heart of Jesus comes out and He makes Himself available to meet the need: “So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them” (v. 31).

Finally, Jesus can close the door and settle in for a nice quiet evening alone with his friends. . . . “Martha, go see who’s knocking at the door!

“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door. –Mark 1:32-33 Remember, this is still the same day–He started early that morning, teaching, casting out demons, and healing the sick, and now, the whole city is lined up at His door wanting help.

Do you ever feel like the whole town is gathered at your door? Maybe, as a mother, it’s your bathroom door, and you’re just trying to get three minutes alone without having to answer any questions–but somebody’s knocking on the door, the doorbell is ringing, the phone is ringing, the oven timer is buzzing, your three children seem like thirty-three, you feel like half the world is sick, and everybody needs you–all at the same time. You panic: “There’s just not enough of me to go around!”

And Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons. –Mark 1:34 How Did He Do It? You wonder, “How did He do it? How did Jesus keep meeting the needs of so many people, without falling apart Himself?”

We know Jesus was God. But He was also a man–He got tired, He got hungry, He knew what it was to have crowds pressing around Him all the time. But He kept right on letting the crowds into His life. He kept on teaching, healing, confronting the powers of hell–and never a cross or impatient word.

He never seemed hurried or harried or overwhelmed with all there was to do in a day. Why not? How did He handle all the stress, strain, and responsibility without “losing it”?

I believe verse 35 gives us the key–not only to Jesus’ life, but also to your life and mine, whatever our specific responsibilities and circumstances may be. That verse begins, “Very early in the morning . . . .”

I don’t know about you–but when I’ve had a long, draining day like the one we just read about, I know exactly what I want to do very early the next morning. Nothing–except sleep! Now, there’s nothing wrong with sleeping when our bodies need it. But Jesus knew there was something He needed that next morning, even more desperately than His body needed sleep. He had poured Himself out for countless needy individuals, and His spirit needed to be replenished. He knew it would never happen once the crowd woke up, so what did He do?

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up. . . .” He got up! The Scripture says that Jesus was tempted in every point as we are; so I have no doubt that Jesus was tempted to sleep in. But He made a choice to say “no” to His body and “yes” to His Father. He got up. Then He “left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (v. 35).

Why was this morning tryst with His Father so crucial to Jesus’ earthly ministry among us?

Jesus knew that any power or ability He had to minister to others was due to the fact that He was “one with the Father.” He knew it was essential for Him to stay connected to His Father, for that was His Source of life, of joy, of power, of peace, of fruitfulness. He had no other purpose for being on this earth than to do the will of His Father. So He had no higher priority than to abide in intimate, unbroken fellowship with His Father, so that He might fulfill His Father’s will.

For Jesus, time alone with God was not an option. It was not something He tacked on to an overcrowded schedule. It was His lifeline to the Father. It was not something He could do without. It was the highest priority of His life -more important than being with His disciples, more important than preaching the gospel, more important than responding to the demands and needs of the crowds, more important than anything else.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). This was the pattern of His life. This is where He got His “marching orders” for the day. This is where He discovered the will of God for His life. This is where He got renewed and restored when virtue had gone out of Him as He ministered to the crowds. This is where He gained the resources to do battle against Satan–and win! This is where He stepped back from the corruption, clutter, and clamor of life on this earth, and was given the ability to see the world from God’s point of view. This is where He received grace to love the un-lovable and power to do the impossible.

And this is precisely where you and I so often miss out on all that God has for us. Unlike Jesus, we attempt to live life in our own energy. We think we can keep giving out without getting replenished. Then, wearied and weakened by the demands of life and ministry, we become impatient and annoyed with the very ones God has sent us to serve. Rather than exhibiting a gracious, calm, joyous spirit, we become uptight, “frazzled, frenzied” men and women, resenting, rather than welcoming, the people and opportunities that God brings into our lives.

Is it really possible for us to manifest the same spirit as Jesus did when facing pressure? That all depends on whether we are willing make the same choice He made, to adopt His number one priority as the number one priority of our lives:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed . –Mark 1:35

I've gone through many battles trying to be good enough, trying to earn God's grace and walking on eggshells, thinking God was going to throw me overboard if I did something wrong.

Most world religions attempt to deal with issues of sin, guilt, alienation from God by telling us what we must do for God in order to earn His favor. Christianity, on the other hand—and uniquely Christianity—deals with those issues by telling us what God has done for us to provide forgiveness for our sins and to make it possible for sinful humans to be reconciled to Himself.

God’s answer, and the only answer for our failure and sin and guilt is not in trying harder, but it’s found in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. This session on the atoning work of Christ is where everything else we’ve seen thus far about the Lord Jesus over the past several weeks comes together. This is where it all culminates. This is the crux of His life.

Do you know what that word crux means? It means “cross.” This is the crux of it all. This is why He came to earth. This is the only way that sinful humans can ever have any hope of drawing near to a holy God.

This—the atoning work of Christ—is what makes Him truly incomparable, for as Oswald Sanders points out in the book, The Incomparable Christ, unlike every other human being, “The death of our Lord was not an incident in His life, but the very purpose of it.” This is what makes Christianity not just another “religion,” but “the truth”—the truth.

Now, the word atonement is an important one. It’s the central message of the Bible, and it’s one of the most important words in the whole Bible. The word could be understood just by breaking it apart and pronouncing it a little differently. Atonement. Take it apart and say, “at-one-ment”. . .being in harmony with God. Atonement . . . “at-one-ment” is how sinful humans can be reconciled to a holy God. It requires first that reparation be made for our sin against Him.

In the Hebrew language, the word that is translated atonement, kaphar, the primary meaning of that root word is “to cover.” You may be more familiar with the verb form of that word, kippur—Yom Kippur, to cover, the day of atonement. This word group is used approximately 150 times in the Old Testament, and it’s linked with two things: first, forgiveness of sin; and second, reconciliation to God.

Atonement is the story of how God has provided a way for estranged mankind to be forgiven of their sins and to be reconciled to Himself. Some of you have heard this a gazillion times before, and you may have lost the wonder, as I confess is often true of myself. I want to suggest that you ask God to help you hear it today with fresh ears, as if you’d never heard this story before.

For others, as we talk about atonement, this is a theological concept that you’ve never grasped, and you’ve certainly never been grasped by it. I want to say that today could be the day that you are reconciled to God as you realize that Christ atoned for your sins by His death on the cross.

Let me just summarize that old, old story of Jesus and His love that I love to tell. Here’s a summary of it:

• God created us to enjoy intimate relationship and fellowship with Him.
• We disobeyed Him. We chose to go our own independent way and to rebel against His Word, His will, and His way.
• “The wages of sin is death” is eternal separation from God with whom we were created to have intimate, eternal fellowship. Now we’re separated, access to Him was cut off. He is too holy to look on sin. You see this pictured in the Old Testament temple where anyone who entered the Holiest Place, the Holy of Holies, where the Shekinah glory, the presence of God dwelled. What would happen to that person? He would be struck dead! “The wages of sin is death”—no communion with God, no fellowship with God (Romans 6:23). There’s a barrier; there’s a wall. If you feel like you can’t get close to God, it’s because you can’t! And you can’t because you’re a sinner; you’re a rebel—same for me. But that’s not the end of the story, thank God.
• God loves us. He wants us to be reconciled, to fellowship with Himself. But His holiness and His justice require that sin be paid for. He cannot violate His holy character. So, in eternity past, before man ever sinned (Get that!), God devised a plan to restore us to Himself, while at the same time satisfying His righteous wrath against sin. That plan required the shedding of blood.

Going back to the Old Testament, the old covenant, God instituted the offering of sacrifices for sin. When the people sinned, they brought an animal—a lamb, a bull, a goat—they brought the animal to the priest. That innocent animal was killed—not for its own sin. The animal didn’t sin; the people sinned. When they sinned, they brought this innocent animal, and the innocent animal was killed and sacrificed as a substitute in place of the sinner who was offering the lamb, the sinner who deserved to die. The sinner didn’t die; the lamb died. So God’s righteous justice and wrath were satisfied . . . sin, sacrifice, substitute and satisfaction. The sinner was forgiven and reconciled to God and to the covenant community— at-one-ment—atonement.

There are many passages in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Leviticus, that show this progression. Let me read one passage from Leviticus, chapter 4, beginning in verse 27:

If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and realizes his guilt, or the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering [He’s identifying himself with the animal] and kill the sin offering. [The animal is killed symbolically in place of the sinner who deserves to die.]

And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. And the priest shall make atonement for him [at-one-ment] and he shall be forgiven [reconciled] (vv. 27-31).

On this day [Yom Kippur—the Day of Covering] shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.

Let me read to you from Hebrews chapter 10. By the way, Hebrews (which I’ve just been through in my quiet time again) makes so much more sense when you read it against the backdrop of the kinds of things we just read in the book of Leviticus.

Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 1, says:

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. [There’s a limitation to those sacrifices.] Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices [these animal sacrifices—all this blood being spilt again and again and again, year after year in these sacrifices] there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (vv. 1-4).

They were identifying themselves and their sin with that animal—that lamb, that bull, that goat that was dying in their place; and they were expressing faith in the complete provision that God would one day make through the sacrifice of the Messiah, God’s own Son.

So against that backdrop of those sacrificial offerings that could not permanently forgive a person or clear their conscience from the weight and guilt of sin, then you come to that amazing day when John the Baptist sees Jesus coming to him at the Jordan and says, “Behold [Look!] the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

What did we just read? It was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. They were just marking time, pointing to this ultimate sacrifice. But now comes this ultimate sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was the Lamb of God without blemish. He lived a holy, sinless life. And then one day He was arrested; He was tried as a law-breaker, a criminal, a sinner. He was condemned to die, and it was necessary that it should be so, as He was taking the sinner’s place.

Hebrews 9 says it this way:

He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. . . . He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (vv. 12, 26).

The sinless Lamb of God died as our substitute, in our place, and made atonement for our sins. There’s so many Scriptures, Old and New Testament that make the point that Christ’s death . . . He was not a martyr; He was not just dying to show us how to die . . . as I heard that gobble-de-gook in a church one day. I thought I was going to pass out hearing this lesson about how Jesus died to show us all how, when it’s our time to die. I went home; I sat down at my piano, and I played and sang all stanzas of “Lift High the Cross.” It’s all about Him dying as our substitute, in our place.

Listen to these verses:

Isaiah 53:4-6:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; [that’s sin] and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Peter 2:22, 24:

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

John Stott says it this way:

The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices Himself for man and puts Himself where only man deserves to be.

The Lord Jesus—the Lamb of God—was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover, at the very same hour that those sacrificial Passover lambs were being slaughtered, and their bleating heard all throughout Jerusalem. The blood of those sacrificed animals was carried away by water through a deep gully or deep channel in the ground.

Someone just sent me a picture of this. It’s called the blood channel, and that blood and water drained down from the temple into the Kidron Valley. I’m reminded that:

There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains.¹

I received a letter recently from a woman who said:

When I first came to prison as a 27-year-old, I was certain that God would never forgive a murderer like me. Only through the grace of God did I hear the truth that sets me free to trust Jesus’ blood as a payment for my lifetime as a sinner.

I’ve introduced you over these days to my friend from the 1800s, F. W. Krummacher, who’s written this wonderful book called, The Suffering Savior. If you want to get a copy of it, you can contact our ministry. Let me just read to you what he has to say about the atonement. He says:

Our hell is extinguished in Jesus’ wounds; our curse is consumed in Jesus’ soul; our guilt is purged away in Jesus’ blood. The sword of the wrath of a holy God was necessarily unsheathed against us . . . not a single individual would have escaped the sword, if the Son of God had not endured the stroke and taken upon Himself the payment of our debts.

Nothing more nor less befell Him than what was destined to be endured by us on account of our sins. What an unspeakable gift do we therefore possess in the bleeding Lamb! Would too much honour be done Him if our whole lives were one continued adoration of His Name?

When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me.²

And then this:

My sin—oh the bliss of this glorious thought!— My sin, my sin, not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!³

I believe there’s some listening to my voice today who have, perhaps for the first time, had their eyes opened to the atoning work of Christ and what that means for you. You realized He suffered there in your place. He took your sin on Himself.

Today, as you repent of your sin, and place your faith in Christ and His substitutionary atonement on your behalf, you can be clean. You can be fully forgiven of every sin you’ve committed against a holy God. More than that, you can be reconciled for all eternity to that holy God. Say, “Lord, I believe. I receive.”

And for my Christian friends, oh my prayer is that today there’s been some sense of the wonder restored—fresh wonder.

Amazing love, how can it be, That Thou my God hast died for me.⁴

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! What a Savior! Amen.

Leslie: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Tuesday, April 5. Throughout the Lenten season, we’ve been studying the life of Jesus, following an outline in a book by Oswald Sanders. Here’s Nancy in the series, The Incomparable Christ.

Nancy: Today, we want to look at one more thing that makes Christ incomparable, no one like Him. That is the matter of His prayer life. The prayer life of Christ. Jesus was a man of prayer, and He prayed because He was a man. That is part of His taking on our humanity. It’s an expression of His sense of dependence as a man, the fact that He prayed to His heavenly Father.

As humans, we are needy and dependent; we are not self-sufficient and independent. We need provision, protection, direction, wisdom, help, comfort, and encouragement. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He is the source of everything that we need.

Prayer is humbling ourselves, acknowledging that we are needy, and asking God—who is the one who has it all—to help meet that need.  That means prayer is the greatest expression of dependence that we can offer to an all-sufficient God. It’s a recognition that we know we need Him.

As I was thinking this week, it struck me that if we truly believed that we are needy and He is all-sufficient, willing, able to meet our needs, we would pray! The fact is, we don’t pray more. Let me make it more personal. The fact is, I don’t pray more because because I don’t realize how needy I really am. I have a proud and self-sufficient spirit. Or, I don’t believe that He is able to meet my needs. Or, I don’t believe He is willing to meet my needs.

If I knew I was needy and that He was willing and able, then I would pray. So, if I don’t pray, then something is wrong in what I’m believing.

You can’t really know Christ without really considering His prayer life. It’s definitely one of the most important things about Him. It’s one of the things that comes up in Gospel accounts—particularly in Luke—over and over again. Sometime read Luke and circle every reference to prayer. He was a man of prayer.

I want, in this session, to make 10 observations about the prayer life of Christ. Nothing really profound here, nothing you probably haven’t heard before. But as I’ve been meditating on Christ as a man of prayer, and my desire to become a woman of prayer, here are 10 things I’ve observed about the prayer life of Christ that should encourage and motivate us.

1. He prayed to His Father. His prayer life was based on a family relationship. The fact that He prayed to His Father reveals the intimacy of His relationship with His Father. His prayers were not just grocery-listing God, as mine so often are—please do this, and please do that, and don’t forget this and I need this. His prayers were so much more than that. He was spending time with someone that He knew intimately, that He loved, and longed to spend time with.

It occurs to me that Psalm 27:4, which is one of my favorite verses, is something Jesus could have said:

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple (NKJV).

2. Prayed often. He prayed a lot. Not just a little, but a lot. Sometimes He got away from the crowd for the express purpose of praying; but other times, you find Him praying in the course of His daily activity and routine. As you read through the Gospels, you see that key moments of His life were marked by prayer—His baptism, the choosing the Twelve, the Mount of Transfiguration, the feeding of the 5000, the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross—these are key moments that were marked by prayer.

But He also prayed in the not-so-key-moments as a way of life.  He prayed after full day of ministry, when he was tired. He was a man. You know, drop-dead bone-weary tired. He prayed before starting new day of ministry, with people pressing in on Him and things to do and places to go. He prayed as part of every day life. Every occasion was an occasion for prayer—for communication with His Father, keeping that line open. No event, no happening, no detail was too great or too small to be a matter of prayer. He lived praying and died praying. He prayed often. It was a way of life for Him.

3. He prayed alone, and He prayed in company with others.

In Luke 5:15 we see an instance where we’re told Jesus prayed alone with His Father.

Now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray (vv. 15-16).

So at times He left the crowd—He left the press and the the responsibilities, deadlines, and demands. I was an intentional act on His part. He went to desolate places where He wouldn’t be interrupted or distracted, and He prayed. We also know there were moments when He went to those desolate places and He was trying to get alone and the crowds followed Him.

Jesus knew how to do that also, to be serene in the midst of a crowd. He prayed when He was alone with His Father, but He also prayed in public settings. Luke 3 tells us that He prayed at His baptism. John 6 tells us that at the feeding of the 5000, He raised His eyes towards heaven and gave thanks—a very public setting. John 11, at the tomb of Lazarus, He prayed. So, he prayed in public settings.

Then, He prayed with His disciples. I have to believe that apart from the times He prayed alone with His Father, those times praying with His disciples must have been very special for Him and for them.

Luke 11 says,

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

So Jesus was with His disciples. They were seeing Him pray. They were hearing Him pray. They were somehow around when He was praying, so they were motivated to say, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

And he said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come"” (vv. 1-2).

He took with him His disciples into the place of prayer. You see see this again on the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke 9, “He took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray” (v. 28). He took them with Him. He prayed with them.

I think Jesus praying with others sets a pattern for us praying within the family of God.  We pray together, “Our Father who is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). I know some people are not really comfortable praying with others. But I want to tell you, it’s a sweet thing as we experience this on our staff. Some evenings, I call my mom and pray a blessing on her at the end of a day, occasionally. Pray with those that you know and you love. Seek the Lord together.

On our staff, we love praying together. Not only do we love it, we need it. We’re desperate. Our team will have stand-up prayer meetings. We’ll hear about a need from one of our listeners or something that is going on in the ministry, and they’ll spontaneously get together. Lots of praying going on. Not because we’re super-spiritual, but because we need the Lord, and we need Him together. Let me encourage you to make the most of that opportunity.

Well, I got a little waylaid there, I didn’t mean to spend so much time on one point. Let me move on to some of these others.

4. Jesus always found time to  pray. He was certainly busier than any of us could be—when you think about His to-do list being the whole plan of redemption that He had to accomplish in three years. But He never got so busy that He didn’t have time to pray. It was always a priority with Him.

I was discussing this chapter with some friends that I meet with to have them give me insights into these sessions. One of the gals on the call said that one of the first things when she got to this chapter on the prayer life of Christ in Oswald Sanders’ book was to pray against guilt. I know that feeling. “I’m not a pray-er; I’m going to feel so guilty.” She said, “But as I read this chapter, I realized that Jesus really viewed prayer as His most important work. He would put down all His other demands to do that. I was inspired by reading this chapter to pray when my work is overwhelming.” That’s a good word of encouragement. Jesus always found time to pray.

Who of us can compare our workload with His? Who among us deals with more distractions and interruptions than what He faced each day? His were life and death situations. Things like, “Come now! My daughter is dying.” “It’s too late; she died.” It’s really things pressing in on Him. Emergencies everywhere. But He found time to pray. If anyone could justify skipping or rushing through times of prayer, it would seem Jesus could have. But in the busiest, most pressured seasons of His life, He prayed more, not less.

I was reading another book on the life of Christ, doing some meditation for this series, and I came across another old writer who said, “We make busy schedules and pressing demands a reason for not praying; Jesus made it a reason for praying.”¹ Good word there, isn’t it? Jesus always found time for prayer.

5. Jesus prayed for the things that He knew would please and honor His Father and advance God’s Kingdom. He cared about that than He cared about His own well-being. He was always submitting His will to the will of His Father.

I love that passage in John 12:27 where Jesus says,

Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? "Father, save me from this hour"? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. [I came to die, that is why He sent me here. So what does He pray? Not Father save me from this hour. But instead He prays] Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (vv. 27-28).

“Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you’” (John 17:1). That was always the goal. Do whatever it takes to for You to be glorified.

6. Jesus believed God heard Him when He prayed. He prayed in confidence and faith that God would hear and would answer His prayers. At the tomb of Lazarus in John 11 it says, “Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I know that you have heard me’” (vv. 41-42).  Did you know that you can have that same confidence when you pray? You say, “I’m not Jesus!” Well, listen to this verse.

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him (1 John 5:14-15).

He believed that God heard Him when He prayed and that God would answer.

7. Jesus prayed much during the days of His passion. That’s the week we’re coming up to in this series, of the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion of Christ. Holy week. He prayed much in particular during those days. In Luke 22, you see Jesus in Gethsemane. We’ll do a whole session on that instance. We hear Jesus praying on the cross. Shortly in this series we’re going to take a look at the things He prayed on the cross.

I want to take a look for a moment here at John 17, the high priestly prayer of Jesus—the real Lord’s prayer—that Jesus prayed in the upper room in Gethsemane. This is an intimate look into the prayer life of Christ. Let me just give you an outline for that chapter.

• He prayed for Himself. (Jn 17:1-5)
• He prayed for His disciples. (Jn 17:6-19)

• Then, I love this, He prayed for us!

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word [that's us!], that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory (vv. 20-26).

Think of Jesus praying those things for us. It shows His heart that He prayed for others when He might understandably have been consumed with His own needs. He prayed for Himself, He prayed for His disciples, He prayed for us, but above all—in His prayer life during that passion week and throughout His life—He prayed for the glory of God, for the will of God to be done.

We can’t answer that because He would only do His Father’s will. But just think about it. What if He had slept instead of praying? Would He too have been overcome by temptation? Jesus did not sin and He could not sin, so it’s a preposterous question. But aren’t you glad He prayed? I wonder what difference it would make in our lives if we prayed instead of sleeping. Of course sleep is a good gift, too. There’s a time to sleep, but there’s a time to wake up and pray.

8. Jesus prayed earnest, passionate prayers. Not ho-hum prayers. I think sometimes our prayers put God to sleep, if that we’re possible. He must be up there wondering do they really care whether I do what they’re asking. Does this really matter to them? I think God could think that way about a lot of my prayers. Not Jesus!

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence (Hebrews 5:7).

We'll come to the Garden of Gethsemane in just a little bit in this series. How few of us have little sense of what it means to agonize in prayer as Jesus did.

When Jesus became sin for us, God turned His back on His Son. But Jesus kept praying. In the darkest and bleakest hour of His life, He demonstrated, through His prayers from the cross, faith that God was still there. Even when He couldn’t feel or couldn’t sense it.

Praise God. For those who are in Christ, God will never forsake and abandon us. But at times it feels as if He has. Am I right? We cannot sense His presence, cannot see what He is doing. The question is, will we, like Jesus, keep on praying anyway?

10. Jesus is still praying. He continues praying for us today in heaven. He prayed throughout His earthly life. He prayed throughout His passion. He prayed on the cross. He’s still praying! He hasn’t stopped praying. “He always lives to make intercession for those who draw near to God” (Hebrew 7:25). Romans 8:34 tells us that He is “at the right hand of God, interceding for us.” Are you glad?

Thank You, Jesus, for Your prayers for us! Thank You Lord, that You prayed when it was easy and when it was hard, and You prayed in the busy times, when You prayed in the quiet times, when You prayed with others, and when You prayed alone, when You prayed to Your heavenly Father because you knew Him and You loved Him and You longed to be with Him. Lord, we’re encouraged by your prayer life. We’re grateful. We thank You. We ask with the disciples that You would teach us to pray. O Lord Jesus, you are truly incomparable, and we worship and love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Leslie: That’s Nancy Leigh DeMoss helping you learn more about prayer through the life of Jesus. That message is part of a series called, The Incomparable Christ. To hear the messages in the series so far, just visit ReviveOurHearts.com. When you’re at our site, you can listen to past programs or read the transcripts.

It’s what a listener from the United Kingdom discovered not long ago. She was sick in bed for several weeks and wanted to use her time wisely. She couldn’t get out of the house for church and says that she didn’t have the energy to read. As she discovered ReviveOurHearts.com, she says,

I soaked up so much of the ministry off of the website—listening daily to the broadcasts, but also listening to series after series from the archives. There was such richness there. and I was so built up in many areas.

I feel attacked from all sides in terms of the world's values, and feel I have come to understand God's pattern for womanhood so much more clearly through the teaching on Revive Our Hearts.

When you donate any amount, we’ll show our appreciation by sending a book from our friend, Elyse Fitzpatrick. It’s called Comforts from the Cross. It’s a series of short daily readings that will help you understand what Jesus did for you on the cross. You’ll understand how His sacrifice applies to your life each day. Elyse writes in a very personal, practical style while pointing you to deep truths we celebrate during the Easter season.

We’ll send you Comforts from the Cross when you donate any amount atReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus agonized in prayer. Why did He approach His upcoming trial with such anguish? It wasn’t only the pain of the cross. Something far deeper was at work. Consider the sole anguish of Christ tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts.

Scriptures for Meditation

• Luke 3:21-22; 6:12-13; 9:28-29; 22:39-46; 23:34—Examples of when Jesus prayed in key moments of His life

• John 12:27-28; 17:1—Jesus’ prayers were born in submission to the Father’s will.

• John 11:41-42; 1 John 5:14-15—Jesus had confidence that His prayers were heard, and so can we!

Making It Personal

• Jesus felt it necessary, in His humanity, to rely on the Father. Do you sense this in your life? Consider John 15:5: “Without me you can do nothing.” How would embracing this truth change your prayer life?

• Do you have the confidence that God hears you when you pray? If not, what might be standing in the way, robbing you of intimacy in prayer?