The Most Powerful Church in America!

A few ground rules and a warning.

First hold that thought. Whatever you were thinking that Church is.

I am going to step on some toes mine were the first. But I am not attacking anyone. I am making and observation that I can prove. Paul tells preachers in 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:2 (NASB95)

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Reprove: To correct, express disapproval, to reveal wrong doing

Rebuke: To verbally correct someone. To advise someone about wrong doing, as in to admonish someone.

Exhort: In Hebrew to ask earnestly, to beg, to plead with someone. Greek: to encourage someone

When I use the word “you”, I am not necessarily talking about “you”. I am using a general term. “You” may mean the world, “you” may mean us and “you” may mean you. If it means you, you will be the only one that knows that.

When I say church, I am not necessarily speaking of a building. The church is made up people who are Christ followers.

I am not condemning anyone, I am leaving that up to the Holy Spirit to “Convict” you.

When we interpret scripture we have to use the following technique.

Literally

Passages must be interpreted historically, grammatically and contextually.

Historically: we have to understand the culture, the background and the situation that prompted the text

Grammatically: follow the rules of grammar as it pertains to the original Greek and Hebrew. (English was not spoken in the middle east)

Contextually: Look at the verse immediately preceeding and following, look at the chapter, the book and most importantly the entire Bible

Our Western culture is night and day to the Jewish culture, but right in line with the Greek and Roman culture. Hebrew and Greek words are very dynamic and some do not translate well into English.

Who makes up the church?

I think we need to start here first, before I go on to speak about “The Most Powerful Church in America”

I would say “Disciples”. What is your definition of a disciple?

Most would say a student, a follower of Christ.

Got questions defines a disciple as follows: a disciple is a follower, one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another. A Christian disciple is a person who follows Jesus Christ and accepts and assists in the spreading of the good news of salvation through Him.

Until a few days ago I would say you were 100% correct. But, this is not 100% correct.

We have to look at the Jewish Culture, our western definition is a much watered down version of the original meaning.

The Hebrew word for disciple is “Talmid” and a group of disciples were called “Talmidim”. The majority of Rabbi’s did not call disciples to themselves. The majority of the time the person wanting to become a disciple went to the Rabbi and applied to become a disciple. Jesus called his disciples, he chose his “Talmidim”, just like he chose us.

Ephesians 1:4 (NASB95)

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love

John 6:44 (NASB95)

44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

So what is a Talmid, a disciple in the real sense of the word?

Someone who is passionate to the rabbi. Who will follow the rabbi. Who wants to be like the rabbi right to the very end no matter the circumstances.

The whole point of being a disciple is that you live exactly like him– you treat people like him, you make the same choices like him, you love and befriend people like him, you live fearless and bold like him—you bear fruit like him. The talmidim would live with their rabbi so they could literally know how to live in every single situation. Even to the point of following the rabbi into the bathroom in case he says a special prayer before or after using the bathroom! Which there is-actually. They memorized his teachings, so they could then go and teach others. These talmidim were not there to observe—they were there to become so close to the rabbi that they lived exactly like him in every situation.

Now I ask, how close do you resemble a Talmid? I also ask that you keep this in mind as I move on to the rest of this message.

The Most Powerful Church in America!

Which church is it? The Roman Catholic Church? The Baptists, the Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian? Or any number of individual churches you may have thought of. Is one of those the most powerful church in America?

My answer is No. Angeline and myself watched a movie called “Power of the Air”

Before I dive into that let me say. The Church, the True Church the one that acknowledges that Jesus, is the Christ, the Son of the living God, His church will never be defeated.

Matthew 16:15–18 (NASB95)

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

But there is a mighty powerful church in this country. It is the mass media empire that includes: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines,music industry and web sites.

The movie “Power of the Air” was mighty convicting. Listen to this scene:

Emeka Odum : Let's say I go to your church and preach the morning sermon. Halfway through the sermon I curse the name of Jesus, or as some would say, I use the Lord's name in vain. Will that not wake up your congregation? So then I preach a little more and then I curse His name again. How would they react to that? And then I preach a little more and I curse His name again. Would the people not be upset? Then I bring up a young couple on the platform and they start to kiss and take their clothes off, right there, in church, on a Sunday morning. How long do you think your congregation will allow this to go on? Would they not say, "This is most awful thing, to curse the name of Jesus in church? And to have them take off their clothes here in front of everyone? Would they not be appalled? Would they not yell out "Stop it! You cannot do this in this place."? But yet, I say 12 hours earlier, on Saturday night, in a movie theater, when this exact same thing occurs, it is entertainment? My friend, something is wrong. We must make up our mind. It is either entertainment Saturday night in the theater and entertainment Sunday morning in church, or it is most sinful Sunday morning in church *and* most sinful Saturday night in the theater. This is why I say the movie theater is the most powerful church in America. It's the only place where Christians go to hear the name of Jesus Christ used as a swear word, and to watch nakedness, and yet pay their money to be entertained. David Williams : I never thought of it like that before. Emeka Odum : I say this trembling, David: Most people go to church in America know not Jesus. The Bible says in the last days men have become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Is this not the case in America now? Ask yourself, would I go to the movie theater to hear my name cursed? Then why go to the theater to hear His name cursed? David, would you go to the theater to see your daughter naked on the screen? So why go see someone else's daughter naked on the screen? It is great sinfulness in the eyes of God.

This scene is has many truths to it, there is no exaggeration to this scene. I am/I was one of those people that he talks about going to the movies.

Listen to what Jesus has to say:

Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB95)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB95)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’

23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

That word Lawlessness is translated from the Greek word "ἀνομία" (anomia), which means a state of being without law or in violation of the law. In the biblical sense, it refers to living in a way that is contrary to God's commandments. This phrase highlights the disconnect between outward religious actions and the inward moral and spiritual state. It serves as a reminder that true discipleship involves not just hearing the words of Jesus but living them out in obedience to God's law.

You may be thinking or saying to yourself, well I have freedom in Christ.

You are correct, you were bought for a price:

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NASB95)

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

You have freedom from sin, you were purchased out of sin so as to not live as bound to sin. Sin has no authority over you. This freedom does not give you the right to continue living for the world and in the world.

Have you ever heard this term? Garbage In-Garbage Out. It’s a tech term for writing computer programs. This refers to the idea that in any system, the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input. I would say this holds true of humans as well.

Keep this in mind:

Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NASB95)

14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NASB95)

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Matthew 12:36 (NASB95)

36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.

Romans 14:12 (NASB95)

12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Being a disciple, a Talmid is more than just learning scriptures, listening to a preacher, attending church, feeding the poor, clothing the naked. Being a Talmid is a life style change, but more than that it is a heart change, it is a desire to be just like the Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, it is a repentance, which is more than a changing of the mind, it is a turning to God. This is not easy, we have to be determined, we have to be focused, we have to be intent, we have to be insistent. We have to lean on the strength of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NASB95)

8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Now I am not saying all mass media is bad. But what I am asking you to consider. Where is your heart, who or what do you glorify?

So let me ask you a few questions?

How many of you can name the 11 players of the starting offensive line of your favorite football team?

How many of you can name the 9 players of the starting lineup of your favorite baseball team, the 5 players of the starting lineup of your favorite basket ball team?

How many of you can site at least 80% of your companies S.O.P., Can recite the lyrics to at least one song? The lines from a portion of a movie?

Do you get where I am going with this?

How many of you can recite the 10 commandments (paraphrase) in order?

Can you name all 12 apostles including the one that was chosen later..The one that took the place of Judas.

What about scripture verses? How many have you memorized, or better yet how many have you actually applied consistently?

How we are to live as Christians is actually summed up in two verses:

Matthew 22:37–40 (NASB95)

37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Remember to be a Talmid/a disciple of Christ is to try and be just like him.

How many of you remember W.W.J.D.? This is a valid question from a Talmid/Disciple.

The movies you watch, the TV shows you watch, the songs you listen to, the private posts to social media, the magazines you read, the websites you visit. Would you do any of these things if Jesus was sitting right beside you? Would any of those things glorify God?

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB95)

31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (NASB95)

20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

2 Peter 3:18 (NASB95)

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

How do we grow our knowledge of our Lord?

We read, we study his word, we fellowship with other Christ followers, we apply what we learn, we discuss God’s word with others, we share our life stories with others. We can learn from others and hopefully others can learn from us. We pray.

Early synagogues were not traditionally a sole place of worship. They were actually like a community center where the town would come together and fellowship, learn from one another and discuss the Torah. This is what the church should be doing today.

I have a handout and if I could have the ushers come forward and pass those out.

I think as Christ followers we need to do a self check every so often. As a matter of fact Paul tells us to test or examine ourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB95)

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

If you want a self examination read all of 1 John.

With a self evaluation you can determine where your priorities are.

John dictated a letter from Jesus to the 7 churches. Now these were actual established churches, the letters were written to the Pastors and to the congregations of those churches and it is my belief those letters address the same issues that are in the church today. Not the building but the body of the church.

Revelation 1:20 (NASB95)

20 “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

The word angels here can refer to angelic beings, or the pastor of the church, maybe even to the spiritual state of the church. I do not believe in this instance that the stars represent angelic beings, I believe it refers to the pastors of the church. These letters are from the King (Jesus), to His subordinate leaders and they people they lead.

Letter one is to Ephesus:

Revelation 2:2–5 (NASB95)

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Letter two is to Smyrna:

Revelation 2:8–11 (NASB95)

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

9 ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

Letter 3 is to Pergamum:

Revelation 2:13–16 (NASB95)

13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

15 ‘So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

16 ‘Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Letter 4 is to Thyatira:

Revelation 2:19–25 (NASB95)

19 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

21 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

22 ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.

23 ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

24 ‘But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you.

25 ‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.

Letter 5 is to Sardis:

Revelation 3:2–4 (NASB95)

2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

3 ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Letter 6 is to Philadelphia:

Revelation 3:8–10 (NASB95)

8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

9 ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.

10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Letter 7 is to Laodicea:

Revelation 3:15–20 (NASB95)

15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.

17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,

18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.

20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Before I ask my next question let me give you some background on Laodicea. If you remember me telling what we need to use when interpreting the bible, we have to be use the culture at the time of the writing and know who is being addressed.

This was a wealthy city, This city was widely known for its black wool. And the wool was unusually soft and was used to make a garment that was known all around the Roman world - the black wool of Laodicea. It was also known - or its industry made it famous - the industry of eye salve. There was a certain rock in the area that would be ground into a powder and then rolled up or put up into little, tiny rolls and then used on people's eyes or in some cases, for people's ears. And the salve of Laodicea was famous to improve people's eyesight or hearing. It made a lot of money sending that salve around the world.

This city was also a banking center. There was gold exchange here. Famous ancient people came here to invest money. In fact, this place had become so rich, The city was destroyed by an earthquake. The emperor came and said, "We'll rebuild you."

When they came to Laodicea, the folks of Laodicea said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Emperor. But we're rich. We've acquired great wealth. We don't need anything. Keep your money."

Here is another interesting thing about this passage Jesus states “I now your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, I wish that you were cold or hot” before I break this down I need to give you a geography lesson. In the area of Laodicea there are two other cities. They are Hierapolis which lies about 21 miles north of Laodicea up in some white cliffs those cliffs were formed by hot springs. Now because of that water, this town was known for its hot baths. And the hot bath, especially the one just outside the city gate at Hierapolis is spectacular. One can only imagine what that must have looked like as it was filled with the hot water that came bubbling up and filling the baths. There were baths in people's homes, and gigantic public baths. And everybody, certainly in this part of the world, knew if you were tired, if your feet ached from walking on hard gravel, if you were sick in some way, you could probably find some kind of help over at Hierapolis.

People came from miles in this world - hundreds of miles - just to find the cures and the healing of arthritis and skin diseases and even abdominal problems. They would take small amounts of it to sit in the hot springs of Hierapolis. The famous white cliffs and the baths. It was quite a city.

The other city is Colossae about 21 miles east at the foot of a huge mountain. Because those mountains - Mount Cadmus - immediately behind Colossae is almost always snow covered. And most of the year, thundering down that mountainside are dozens or even hundreds of fresh, clear, cold water streams that came running down into this fertile valley and helped to make the Lycus River Valley everything that you see it is today.

In the springtime or in the summertime, hundreds of streams trickling and running everywhere, thundering over waterfalls, cold fresh, invigorating water. In fact, people talked about the cold water of Colossae and how wonderful it was if you were thirsty or tired or needed new life, how wonderful it was to go to Colossae and taste that fresh water.

So why is this important? Well, as rich as Laodicea was, they lacked something that everyone needs and that is good drinking water. Their water was no good. In excavating the city they have found water pipes encrusted inside with several inches of thick calcification because the water was warm, tepid, and filled with minerals. It made people sort of nauseous to drink it. So they didn't have a very good water supply. But they were a rich and powerful city.

Quote from Ray Vander Laan:

Now listen again to John. To the Christian church that had at one time apparently been so vibrant and alive here, John said, "You say, 'I'm rich. I've acquired great wealth. I don't need a thing.' Little do you know how wretched, poor, pitiful, blind you are."

He says to the folks of this town - at that time of vibrant, alive city, "I know your deeds. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other. But because you are lukewarm, you make sick."

Now I always understood that to mean, hot is for God and cold is against God and that God was saying, "I'd rather have you be against me (cold) than lukewarm," which means apathetic. I don't think so anymore. Here's what I think. Hot and cold in this context are both good.

Think of what a Christian here would have thought if John said, "I wish you were hot." I'm sure he or she would have looked across this valley and said, "There's the hot water. It brings healing. It brings restoration. It brings comfort to ache and pain and disease. I understand hot."

"And cold - cold is wonderful. It's refreshing. It's uplifting. It gives a new burst of energy and enthusiasm and life. Cold is good."

"But that lousy lukewarm water over here at the Nymphaeum (the city fountain) of Laodicea is disgusting. Because as the cold water runs down and the hot water runs down, when they both get to the river that runs through the valley, what good are they? You can't drink it. It's full of all those minerals. You might as well not sit in it. It's not warm or hot anymore. It doesn't do you any good. It's worthless."

What Jesus is saying when he states I wish you were hot or cold he is relating to what people would have known about the Hot springs of Hierapolis and the cold water of Colossae during that period.

He means go out to a hurting world that's in big trouble. Go with passion. Go believing that it will happen. But I want you to be hot water to people. Be a healer. Be a comforter. Be a restorer."

Or, "I want you to be cold water to people. Be an up-lifter, somebody who brings new life, somebody who encourages. Because people need a touch of Jesus through you. But if you don't do anybody any good, you make me sick."

So I end with three questions:

1. Are you willing to become a Talmid, a true disciple of Christ and make the necessary sacrifices to do so.

2. Are your words going to match your actions: meaning how are you going to apply the knowledge of God to others and to yourself?

James 1:23–24 (NASB95)

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

3. Which letter do you think Jesus was addressing to you?