A Church on Its Knees // Pastor Rikhard

There is no doubt, darkness is and will continue to intensify. In the book of 2 Timothy, Paul tells his young pastor, "In the last days, perilous times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." In Matthew 24, Jesus said, "Many will fall away.

Lawlessness will be increased. The love of many will grow old." In his second letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul speaks of "...a great falling away before the man of lawlessness is revealed." There is no doubt we live in a dark time. This is a hopeless, faithless, and a godless generation.

But in the midst of more and more darkness, the light must shine brighter. God has called a remnant church to stand up for truth in the midst of godlessness. In the midst of terrible news, we find out news of what the elite of this world are doing, and the sacrifices, and the blood, and the Satanism, and everything that runs the systems of this world, and some Christians say, "I can't believe my eyes."

But if you look in Matthew, chapter 5...Matthew chapter 4 when Satan tempted Jesus, he tempted him with this world, the power system, the wealth, and the influence of this world, belongs to the dark kingdom. That's why, we, as the people of God, have to fight back. There will be darkness and it will increase, but you and I have the light, and revival will continue to pour out.

I want to read something from the book of Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19, I'm reading in the New Living Translation, "I also pray that you'll understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realm.

Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else - not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself." Lord, I pray today as we go into your word, I pray that all human wisdom will be forgotten before we leave this room, Lord. I pray that the wisdom of God, I pray that your word, Lord, will grow roots in our heart.

A message called "A church on its knees." I pray today that this word will stir something in your heart. I pray it will shake you a little bit. You will feel slightly uncomfortable. You will experience some holy conviction, and that it would just draw you closer to Jesus.

We're going to talk about the greatest revival, I believe, in the book of Acts. And I will go to the book of Acts chapter 18. We're talking about the church that eventually was established in Ephesus. I'm going to talk about that revival of the Ephesian church a little bit, and I'm going to share some details now.

Paul started preaching to the Gentiles, as you know, he started in Corinth and then he traveled to Ephesus, it was in Asia Minor, it was the capital of the Roman Asia. It was a a big hub... Artemis was a demon god, an idol, and the temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the world.

It was huge. It was very prolific. It was a lot of you know, animal sacrifices there, ritual sex happened there, a lot of demonic occult practices took place in that temple. It was so influential that the temple also was the bank of the city. The idol worship, it was like one of the most...

If I could use present day terms, I would say it's like the capital of New Age of that region. They worship everything and anything in that region. And this was the city that Paul was sent to. I'm going to read to you from the book of Acts chapter 18.

You can start from verse 19, "And he came to Ephesus and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, 'I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.'

And he sailed from Ephesus." So he came there, he left a couple of people there. If you read the context, he met some people in Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla, you ever read about them, and he brought them with him to Ephesus. Then he left them there. They were like life group leaders.

They did not seek the stage. They were not looking for a pulpit. They were just looking to follow Jesus and disciple people. He left them there as he went on his journey. They stayed there; they started establishing, preaching to people, discipling people, and then Paul leaves, back comes another preacher.

His name is Apollos. You know, where Paul says, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God brought the harvest." So he comes to this region, and he was knowledgeable in scripture. He starts preaching there, and he preaches of John's baptism, Apollos, he didn't know better. So he preached of John's baptism; and then Priscilla and Aquila correct him in private, and disciple him, and said, "Hey there's another baptism now.

This is called the baptism of Jesus where you receive the Holy Spirit as well and you begin to walk in power and so um and so after that he leaves as well. Paul comes back in the beginning of Acts chapter 19. I love to follow these these passages of you know actually understanding in my younger years I used to read scripture in a vacuum meaning every Bible verse speaks to me today at a literal level and I don't know the context of any of it but when you begin to study scripture you find out that there is so many nuggets in scripture when you understand the movement when you understand how the contextual happenings happen around the scriptures.

And so he comes back and then he comes back, he meets 12 people and they are disciples. They've been discipled but they have a wrong baptism. He asks them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you've been baptized?" And they said, "We didn't even know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit less that there is a person named the Holy Spirit.

What is this?" And so he corrects that doctrine and then he lays hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. So, I want to share something for you right now. A nugget that I understood. As you know, I love deliverance. And I just got to give a little deliverance nugget in the midst of it.

I can't I can't resist to drop it in there in the sermon. H a lot of people ask why why do Christians need deliverance? Didn't deliver Christians receive deliverance at the point of salvation? What is this issue where Jesus paid for your freedom, but yet you don't have it?

This is some kind of a weird doctrine. And so just like the disciples in Acts 19 didn't know that at the point of salvation, at the point of baptism, they were supposed to also receive the Holy Spirit, but they didn't know it because they had never been taught it.

The Bible says in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God." So yeah, probably Christians should receive deliverance at the point of salvation. But if the gospel of deliverance isn't preached and the only message you hear is a gospel of repentance, a gospel of eternal life, a gospel of identity, then that is what you will have faith for and receive at the point of salvation.

Just like these disciples received no Holy Spirit. So Paul had to correct it and say, "Hey, you were supposed to receive it at the point of baptism. Now receive the Holy Spirit. And he says that they all received it. So I think it's very interesting that even here you see that sanctification is connected to understanding.

You don't know everything that God has for you and therefore you do not receive it all at once. It's a progressive journey with Jesus. Now salvation is instant meaning your spirit is regenerated. You will have eternal life. But the rest of the things that God has to offer for us comes by faith and faith comes by hearing and understanding.

And so that is what happened to them there. And then miracles starts happening. I want to read it for you here. We're still in the book of Acts chapter 19. It says in verse 11, God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. So God starts working miracles.

People come with their aprons and handkerchief and they touch Paul and then they bring it to the sick and they receive healing and deliverance breaks out. Miracles are happening. God is supporting the gospel with his power. That's what the book of Mark says. It says that God supports and confirms the word of the man of God by power signs and wonders happening.

It's not a confirmation of the man of God's identity. It's a confirmation of the words that he's speaking. And so power flowed because of what he said. And then seven sons ofKea happens. You know those people tried to copy what was happening and they they didn't accept Jesus in their life.

They didn't have uh the salvation of Christ, but they wanted to have the power of it without the cross. And so the demons start beat them up be beating them up and they get ran out. And then great fear fell upon the church. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.

And then it says in verse 20 of of Acts 19, so the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. And so this was the establishment of the church in Ephesus. Paul later leaves. And then he sends them a letter about two three years later later, the letter to the Ephesians.

It's to that church that he went to where the sons ofKa was beaten up. There was riots happening there. There was a silver smmith that made money on idol worship and they caused riots to try to shut down the revival that was happening. So I want to let you know true revival will disrupt culture always.

If you are in a church that does not disrupt culture, I wonder if there is revival because people who monetize demonic agendas will always hate when the true gospel is preached. This is a church that disrupts culture. This is a church that goes into the schools as us.

We will no longer conform to this world. But we will stand up and we will say no 
[screaming]
 more in our kids. Enough is enough. And we go into the world and we do these things because we believe true revival must disrupt culture. It's not that you're looking to disrupt even though sometimes you can a little bit the wisdom of God, but it happens.

Because the devil hates when the people of God speak. He hates it. Why do you have to speak to people, go to church and be content within the four walls? No. It is when what we have here, right here, during worship, during prayer, right now, the presence of God is knocking on your heart, what you're feeling in your heart, when we take it out of here into the world, the devil will no longer leave the church alone.

And that is a fact. And so he sends the letter to the Ephesians later telling them, "Watch out for ravenous wolves. Watch out for this thing." He sends a letter to a church that is mature now but embattled. A mature but embattled church. A church that understands their identity.

They have been well established and they are they are pushing back against the demonic agenda in that region. And then few years later he also sends a preacher there a pastor. Did you know that the pastoral letters to Timothy, first Timothy and second Timothy, he was in Ephesus?

That's where he was preaching. And so when he tells Timothy, hey, don't be scared of the elders. Don't be scared of these people who intimidate you. He's talking about the church that he planted earlier. And so you see this whole life cycle of the Ephesian church. It starts with revival fire.

Miracles happen. God confirms it with power. And then there is repentance. The signs of true revival is repentance and the power of God. People will repent. They will be convicted. I'm not talking about kind of a church repenting because you and I are the church. True repentance is when you and I personally are convicted of our lifestyle.

And that happens at the point of salvation. But that has to keep happening if there is no one at the altar repenting for their lifestyle because accepting Jesus is good but things still happen and there need to be that stirring in your heart is hey I can't live like this any longer and when people that gather in a church have that personal conviction of sin revival will continue that is it personal conviction I'm going to give you a Quick story here, something that God convicted me of a while back.

It was a couple of years ago. We had worship nights. You remember worship nights in Pasco? And I was there and I was worshiping and I was judging the worship team, man. It's like, man, I love to I I love to keep it real. At Hungry Jam, one of our values is authenticity.

I don't think that we can really change if we don't let our masks come down. And so I I I was there and I was judging them. I was like, "Man, these people are not in the spirit. It is dry. They don't even know what song to sing next."

I just man, God, Holy Spirit, would you come anyway? Would you descend on a worship? I don't feel his presence. Have you ever been in a worship session and you're like, "Hey, this is dry." No hands up. Okay, it's okay. Don't worry. That's okay. All of us here, we never think that.

There people in Renton that do that. 
[snorts]
 And so I was there and I was like, "Holy Spirit, would you come? Would you come?" And I was waiting for him in worship. 20 minutes praying, "Lord, I was worshiping. I was Lord, I welcome you in this place. Come." Around the 40 minute mark, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit come into the room.

And I was like, "Holy Spirit is here now. Thank you, Jesus." Have you ever had that experience? You can tell when it shifts. Angel, I thank you, bro. one 
[laughter]
 person and then Holy Spirit convicted me and he told me, "What are you talking about? Welcome, Holy Spirit. I've been here all along.

You're the one that just arrived." And so I realized I'm not waiting for God's presence ever. They did in the book of Acts chapter 2, but the Holy Spirit never left the earth after that. The only reason you don't sense his presence is not about how anointed that guy is.

When these guys that sing here, you know, did they watch Netflix last night? Are they did they fast when everyone else is fasting? Are they reading their Bible? I hope none of them have an argument with their wife, you know, and you allow what you experience God's power in your life through someone up here.

But the Holy Spirit can encounter you at any time. That is our vision. We lead people to encounter God daily. It's not about how anointed the worship is. It's not about how good the sermon is. It's about you and your heart. And if you are personally convicted, say, even though I don't feel your presence, I'm going to worship you even louder.

And when I do this, and I'm gonna come and I'm gonna let the conviction of the Lord strike me. Holy Spirit, forgive me for the lifestyle I'm living. forgive me for doing X, Y, and Z. Wash me with your blood. And when that begins to stir in individuals in a setting like this, then revival will break out and revival will continue.

It is when you and I as individuals come to our knees and repent and seek God, then he will corporately come. It's not my responsibility or the worship team to bring God's presence to. It's here. Worship is helping us get into the flow. The flow is there. It is for you and I to step in.

And so later on what happens 50 years after the church of Ephesus was established there's a Bible verse in the book of Revelation chapter 2. to the same church. The same church that Paul planted. The same church that had powerful miracles, signs and wonders, people burning their rep, their witchcraft books, repenting, confessing their sins, fullblown revival.

And then came structure with elders. I'm not saying structure is bad. It's crucial. It's a part of the church. But when structure 
[clears throat]
 or doctrine remains without the fire of God in your life, you are left with just an empty shell. It's called a form of worship but denying its power.

You've got all this destruction, all this. And this is what happened to the church in Ephesus. Chapter 2 in Revelation verse one to the angel of the church of Ephesus. Writes these things says he who holds the seven stars in his hand who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you can not bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they're apostles and are not and have found them liars. And you have persevered, and you have patience, and you have labor labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary.

Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from when you where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand. This was a message from Jesus to the church of Ephesus.

I believe this is a church. This is a message to many churches in America and the world today. But more importantly, I think this is a message to you and I personally sometimes I as a preacher, I find myself in a position where structure begins to overtake the zeal for God in my life.

And I believe this passage is a warning to all of us in the different seasons that we may find oursself in. Jesus here gives a blueprint for how to restart revival in a church and in your personal life. Three things he says. He says remember, repent, and return to the things you used to do. remember, repent and return.

And these three things is the blueprint for a living relationship with Jesus. He gives it to the church. Do these things and you will be back on fire again. Pastor Vlad has had a sermon just a couple of weeks ago. He says these these stones have a message.

I think one of the ways that he encounters God is through remembrance. I've started to do that more and it is so powerful. to remember the things that used to be. Especially when you're going through a dry season. Listen, the church can be in revival. The church that you go to can be in revival without you being in revival.

And this is a challenge to every single person in this room. God wants more. Remember where you have come from. Remember how it used to be the feeling when you went to church? Oh, I can't wait to feel his presence. The feeling when you pray and you hear God's word, you read the Bible and something pops up.

You're like, that's God speaking to me right here, right now. Lord, me. You speak it to me through your word. Remember where you've come from. Some people say, "Oh, don't look back at the glory days, you know, look forward." Well, if you're in a season, a valley of dryness, then by all means, look back at what God has done.

Jesus himself instructed the church of Ephesus, remember. And then the second thing, repent. Repent means turn away from your way of life. Let me give you a little secret that I believe regarding repentance. I believe that the devil is so incredibly happy when the children of God do not live a lifestyle of repentance.

You know, we repent at the point of salvation. I repent to my wife sometimes when I say mean things, but a lifestyle of repentance requires a soft heart before the Lord. You know why the devil hates when the people of God repent? Listen to this. This is prophetic right now.

He knows what scripture says. He knows the prophecy that has been written that Jesus is coming back for a pure and a spotless bride. And so if he can keep the bride stained, he know biblical prophecy is not yet to come. So he is extending his time on earth by keeping you and I unrepentant because he's coming back.

Jesus is coming back for a pure and spotless bride. So when you repent of the things that you have once done that you know are not pleasing to the Holy Spirit, you are inching biblical prophecy closer to coming to pass. He will not come back for a stained bride.

We are his bride. And so I want to challenge you. If you're struggling, you've lost the first love, repent. Turn away. Whatever you're doing that keeps you from experiencing his presence in your life, the things of this world, there are too many to mention here. But whatever it is that is making you insensitive to his presence, I don't feel his presence because the way I talk, because of the things I look at, because of the things I listen to, I become insensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Repent. turn away. And then finally, it says, "Do the things you used to do." Pastor Vlad has this brilliant example of when you don't feel like reading the Bible, how you get appetite for God's word is by force-feeding yourself. How many here loves fasting? When you fast, you know, you lose appetite for food after a while.

When I fast, I'm not hungry for food, I'm dead to it. But when I start thinking about food or on the last day of my fast and I'm starting to go to the grocery store, that's the worst. Don't go and buy the groceries for the meal you're planning to break your fast with days in advance because those last few days will be warfare.

Your flesh is awakened when it looks at the potatoes and the celery and the Oh, man. Imagine craving celery. I'm like, "Oh, celery. Oh, wow." But the closer I get, the more hungry I become. The same works for God's word. When you're fasting God's word, which is used in a negative sense, you won't have appetite for it.

The more you eat it, the more you'll desire it. Go back to how it first was. Would you rise with me right now? I pray Lord that this message will hit someone in the heart and they will feel a holy conviction. The love you will never come back to your first love without you putting in the works.

The Holy Spirit wants it. Jesus is here. He warned the church of Ephesus. Remember where you came from, how far you've fallen. Repent of your current lifestyle, and return to what you first used to do. If that means Bible study with your friends, I know life changes. You've got kids now.

Can't be the way it used to be. Used to spend time at Applebees until 2 am and just talk about God. Can't do that anymore. You got kids to put to bed. I understand. But try something as close as possible to how it used to be. The passion will reignite.

And the moment you reconnect with the voice of the Holy Spirit, he can now give you fresh revelation of how he wants to encounter you today. I believe Washington State belongs to a church on its knees. A church not a church on his knees. You and me on our knees. a church that have the fear of the Lord, fear of God to be restored into the church.

Because when the church fears the Lord, revival will break out and continue to flow. I'm going to lead you through two prayers here, but first I want to just share this. Revival is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Jonathan Edwards in the book, The Revival of Religion says, "The true mark of revival is an increased love for Christ."

Revival begins in repentance. It is sustained by prayer. It exalts Christ, not personalities. Let me tell you, if you're here and you're a young guy and you want to be a preacher or you want to be in ministry, this right here is called a stage. The stage destroys more preachers than anything else because it is ambition and ego and it is a platform culture.

Don't run to this. Honestly, run from it stage. I I I know it's ironic. I'm on a stage right now. But this stage, it will trick you into believing all this. I'm all that and I'm all this. You're nothing without Jesus, my friend. You're nothing. If I spend more time here than on my knees, I have missed the mark.

Don't pursue that platform. Pursue God's presence. Don't look to be to to be bigger and let Christ be bigger and you reduce. If you are here today and this message has hit you and not only are you you're a Christian, but maybe you're not a Christian at all.

You have walked away from Jesus or you have never known him. The Bible says that Jesus came to restore our relationship with God and give us eternal life. And you and I can never experience God's presence on the inside without faith and confession. When we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, we will be saved.

The relationship is restored and we are granted eternal life as part of God's family. Every head bowed, every eye closed right now. There's anyone in this room who needs to come back to Jesus. You're not walking with Jesus. You are not his friend. Or maybe someone brought you here.

You don't know Jesus in the first place. He's calling you home right now. I want you to raise your hand wherever you are right now as a sign of surrender right now. I can't see anything. If there's anyone who raised your hand, you need to come to Jesus.

The Bible says what we say in front of people, when we declare Christ in front of people, he will declare us in front of God. If that is you and you need to come back to Jesus or give your life to Jesus, come to the front right now.

I want to lead you through prayer. If you are online, you can drop it in the chat. I want to be saved. If there's anyone right now, 
((applause))
 which one of you? Both of you. God bless you. Sisters. Anyone else? Oh, you guys are sharers. Oh, you want to come?

Come, brother. Anyone else? Anyone else want to give their life to Jesus right now? Would you hold your hands as a sign of surrender like this? Let's say this prayer together, church, let's say it together right now. Say, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, here I am. I'm a sinner.

I believe in my heart. I confess with my mouth that you are the son of God. You are the son of God. That you died for me. And you rose again for me. Forgive me on my sin. Forgive me. Wash me with your blood. Wash me. Make me whole again.

Make me whole. Holy Spirit, move into my heart. Holy Spirit, take residence within me. Guide me. Lead me. And be my friend. Thank you, Jesus. For the salvation of my soul. for the salvation of my soul. Can we put our hands together for Jesus?