Acts 17:16-34 - Christmas - A Time for Revival

It seems like an uphill battle for the modern Church (Canadian or American) to make a positive impact. However, I feel like the Church is about to make a tremendous revival. To do so, we must ensure that we don’t serve two masters. Divided loyalty (James 1) has always been a significant challenge. If we serve two masters, the Church will be impotent, useless, and ineffective for the Cause of Christ. At the end of the day, we may find ourselves quite adequate for the kingdom of darkness - pray that is not the case. We simply can’t serve both God and money. Sorry, we can’t. I just read about John Wesley’s claim against Oxford University in his famous 1741 sermon penned but not preached, “Hypocrycy in Oxford.” Strong stuff. As in Wesley’s time today, many of our modern doctrines and practice fail to follow Scriptural Christianity. Too direct? I don’t mean to overstate it. But I think Wesley was right then, and he’d be equally correct in the same comments today directed at our institutions and churches. We are “Almost Christian.” But far from “Altogether Christian.” And yet God gives us this day to turn to Him to be altogether Christian. May that be our conviction. With God, this is possible. We see Paul, Silas, and Timothy act entirely Christian in this passage. They walk the walk.

The Church remains the salt and light of the world. Of course, it does. It is God’s organization. Yet we, the Churchmen and women of our time, must commit, like Paul does in this passage, to being altogether Christian. We desperately need revival. We need a generational call to faith and obedience to Jesus. Holiness. This will be different from the work of one great leader. Thank God! We’ve seen way more than enough celebrity pastors and one-man bands. But it will undoubtedly start with individuals. And, with God’s grace, this will be a move by an entire nation, a yearning for the right relationship with God. May we be done with legalism. And may we be done with virtue-signaling nonsense. I believe the Church’s best and brightest days are ahead. Just as I believe America’s best and brightest days are. The same is true for every nation.

        I see business community leaders taking a significant role in this revival. We need more hard workers and industrious people. We need more entrepreneurs. These people will lead the Christian revival.

        Over the last few generations, we’ve seen a vast divide in the spectrum of churches. Tiny local churches, old denominations with a few congregants. And on the other side, big megachurches. The little churches often have liberal tendencies in their theology and are weak and empty. And on the other hand, we’ve seen massive scandals in megachurches. Many of those leaders are masters of materialism, millionaires who crave money, and more. They crave power, prestige, and control. Rather than serve the Church as God’s organization, we see little transparency, few meetings, and sparse accountability. It’s shameful. Our leaders bemoan an entitlement culture. Yet many of these same men fly on private jets and own mini earthly empires. They ensure their wives are on the payroll of the so-called “non-profits.” And with other people’s money, they hand their children and friends special privileges - all to ensure the cycle continues and that they make more disciples. Of money. Obviously, none of that is good. We need healthy, reproducing, gospel preaching Churches. We need men like Paul and Silas willing to go into the storm to be altogether Christian.

        My goal is not to offend. It is to state the obvious. This message is not for the so-called leaders; it will cause more offense than conviction to them. They will stand before God someday, as will I. The message is for God’s people: stop being fooled by wolves. God gives us time to expand His Kingdom. Let’s focus on doing that as best we can.

In the Acts Church, as in all times of revival, we see no such divided loyalty. In the Acts Church, Christians take significant risks helping brothers and sisters in Christ. We see Jason in this Scripture passage provide a home to Paul, Silas, and Timothy - only to be rewarded by the mobs with a severe beating. Thank God for those, like Jason, who are willing to risk everything to faithfully deliver the message God Almighty commands them to deliver. Such faith in action has a powerful, fruitful result. That’s what happens when men and women have unwavering faith in God alone. I believe that a life-transforming Church revival will happen again.

Oh, Lord God. I repent of my faith in the world, man’s structures, positions, and the lure of wealth. May we all repent of wicked motives, favoritism, and nepotism. May your people reject the idols of this world: wealth, status, political power, and fame. King Jesus, you died, and you rose again to everlasting power. You don’t want pets, robots, or frauds of any kind. You don’t desire followers who are puffed-up and arrogant - champions of the world, experts in greed, anarchy, and dysfunction. We know that you want sincere relationships; we desire the same with You. Let us call a spade a spade in the Church today, lovingly and respectfully. On both sides of the spectrum. From the old denominations that have veered so far away from orthodoxy. And from the megachurches that do little, that resembles the Acts Church. And may we genuinely love our enemies. We know it is a spiritual battle and that You want every person to be saved. We know everyone has the potential to hear you and turn to you. Please use us to share the gospel faithfully. We know that you will reject those who prefer the perks of this world over the promise of forgiveness for our sins. We are thankful for your mercy, and we desire holiness.  

Dear God, we know you have no needs. We are your servants, but you don’t need us. To our great privilege, you want a relationship with us because you love us. We recognize who you are this Christmas day. We celebrate your miraculous and triumphant birth. We know that You alone give satisfaction. You alone are the Giver of all Good Gifts. You created all, and only through you, Jesus of Nazareth, does any of us live or breathe. You desire each nation to seek you. And, Oh, how far from that standard have we fallen.

We come from you, Lord God, but we arrogantly refuse to repent of our sins, and we refuse to turn to you. Let that stop today. Almighty God, please turn the tide and draw people to you today. And please help your Church to represent you well.

Lord God, you command everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to you (17:30). We do just that today. We thank you for your patience with us. We thank you for the day you entered the world as the Son of God. And we thank you that you are the One appointed to judge the world (v. 31). May we celebrate this Christmas day with thanksgiving. Amen.