The Beacons of Revival are Spreading: The Battle at Osgiliath & the Beacons of Gondor

I'm always trying to understand our position in history. And it seems to me right now, our position in history is a moment that I remember from the Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King.

The orcs are storming Osgiliath, they've crossed the river in the dark of night. And Faramir and the Ithilien Guard are fighting this hopeless battle against hordes of tens of thousands of orcs who are crossing the river. They've been fighting all night.  The battle began in the night, now it's morning, they've been fighting constantly. 

The Ithilien Guard had been the resistance movement against the enemy, as they gathered their forces into position for battle. The Ithlien guard would launch hit and run attacks against orcs wherever they could. They are the heroes in the wilderness. 

It reminds me of the body of Christ in the United States. The enemy seems to freely roam through our country, the enemy's forces, the principalities, the powers, the demons, the unsaved humans who do their bidding seem to have free reign in the United States, but they're never safe as they move from east to west to the Midwest, the coasts, because there's bands of freedom fighters throughout the country, bands of Christians, churches, groups, movements, denominations, parachurch organizations out there, who are fighting the good fight of the faith day and night, for the kingdom of light.

Similarly, the Ithilien Guard in The Lord of the Rings, is fighting this kind of pitched battle. And they no longer have the strength that they need to be able to withstand any longer, but they continue to fight as much as they can. But now they find themselves at the Battle of Osgiliath, fighting along the river, and they don't have the forces they need to win that battle.

That reminds me of where we are as the church in the West, we see all manner of evil rising all around us. I mean, it is rising rapidly in 1000 different areas, whether it's the university system, whether it's the the medical system, whether it's the culture, Hollywood, the news media, it is rising everywhere, in areas and regions politically, socially, economically. 

And we just keep trying to stand our ground. And we really can't seem to stop the march of the enemy anymore. We're able to slow them down. But we're not able to stop them or take ground of our own. That reminds me of the situation of Gondor. And what happens then, I feel like this is the moment we're at in history. What happens next is, Faramir and the Ithilien Guard have been fighting on the river and one of his men comes up and tells him, "We can't go any any longer. The battle is lost." Faramir says all right, we're gonna break cover and make for Minas Tirith, the capital of the kingdom. 

And I feel like that's where we are in the United States. As far as the cultural battles, the spiritual battles, the efforts to evangelize, we're kind of on the retreat back toward the capital, because really the capital is all we still hold spiritually as the body of Christ. We still hold out, like our churches still exist. They're in shambles, but they're still there in all these communities across the country, but we're not able to take new ground we're just barely holding on and we find ourselves really in retreat.

I'm on the frontlines of that battle in the Salvation Army, as a minister. We fight day and night these cultural battles, the spiritual, the economic battles, the battles against poverty, the battles of evangelism, of winning lost souls, teaching holiness, all that. We fight, and we start to lose hope. We struggle to keep the faith. God helps us, but it's difficult sometimes. Keeping our love from growing cold gets harder each day. 

Yet inn the distance, I see something, I see hope, appearing from somewhere that we didn't expect. We didn't expect God to do it quite like this. In fact, some have even fought against it. They became envious, angry that it didn't happen with their ministry first. I've seen ministries becoming envious because revival is breaking out and it's not happening in our church. So we get mad and that's the wrong response to it. I had to choose a different response, when initially I felt a bit envious. I had to say no, I'm going to choose hope and excitement instead. I'm going to humbly believe that God is doing something. 

In any case, as this battle is taking place at Osgiliath, you have the beacons of Minas Tirith being lit. These big fires burn. And they're spreading across the nation.

All the way, in the movies, to Rohan. And then you have this army gathering at Rohan. To me that is very symbolic of the moment we're in where we're seeing now, revival fires bursting forth in different places. It's something we didn't expect that God is doing. I think we really have to get on board with what he's doing. Realize that this is God's answer to the battles we face. This is what we've longed for, as we fought as the Ithilien guard. 

I know the Ithilien guard is out there right now, reading these words and fighting their battles across every small and big city across the West, the United States and other countries as well. And I honor you and I salute you. Thank you. 

I pray and hope that these revivals are the reinforcements we've been hoping and praying for. These revival fires may just be a rising tide, that is going to culminate like a giant wave like the riders of Rohan, pouring down upon the orcs that are sieging our capital. 

But we're back to our last line of defense. That's what it feels like in the body of Christ worldwide. It feels like we've fallen back to the point where we're now at our at our last remaining city. Maybe it's not as bleak as all that. I hope it's not as bleak as all that in your area. But sometimes it feels that way here.

So my message to you today is to stand firm, keep fighting on those battlefields, even though sometimes it feels like we're losing. Keep fighting, keep fighting because revival is coming. And our reinforcements are coming. But we need to stand our ground and continue to fight on the walls of Minas Tirith. 

As the revival grows and spreads, then we'll see those reinforcements rally to our aid. We need to trust God, we need to fight. We need to offer radical love. We need to stand firm, we need to win souls to Christ. We need to spread the gospel in unique ways. We need to spread the gospel in ways that other people have not thought of. We need to spread the gospel in ways that seemed impossible. Break social norms, cut through social norms to speak up for Jesus and really break into areas where we thought Jesus wasn't allowed. And say no, he is allowed here and we're going to speak it. So that's my challenge to you today. Keep the Faith stand firm. God is with you and He loves you in Jesus name. Amen.

A Call to the Christian Rock Community: Christ Focus over Self Focus

I don't know who in the Christian rock community needs to hear this message, but let me tell you this, there are other topics to sing about than the love of God. 

As I listen to Christian radio, Family Life, K-Love and such, I hear so many songs, and the topic is always the love of God, the grace of God, and the mercy of God. Those are all true and wonderful things about who God is. 

But, if we only focus on the aspects of God that make us comfortable, we can start to make an idol out of God, by cherry-picking the character attributes that we like. The more we exclude the aspects of God's character, like his justice, his wrath, his holiness, and his anger against sin, well, we start to get into murky waters.

We need to be careful how we portray God. We want to make sure our portrayal is accurate and complete, that it reflects the true God of the scriptures. We want our depiction to be biblical. We want it to be full. We won't get it perfect. 

But I've noticed something in modern evangelicalism. There's this mushy middle where a lot of us find ourselves, I know I was there for a while in the past, where we take the top 20 most common verses of the Bible, verses like John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 41:10, Philippians 4:13, 1 Peter 5:7, and so on, and we take those verses in isolation and make a religion out of them. And a religion based only on those feel good verses, as true as they are, when you take them out of context and make a religion out of them, you get a broken caricature of Christianity which is false. 

And I worry that the same thing happens with many of these modern Christian rock songs that only talk about the love of God, in fact in many of these songs, they no longer even refer to God himself, they call God "love." Which I understand, God is love, but, biblical love is sacrificial love. It's not worldly niceness. And God is more than love. God is just. God is righteous. God is wrathful. God is a mighty warrior. God is a just judge. God is merciful. God is alpha and omega. 

So my challenge to the Christian rock community is to find a greater balance in the depiction of God's character. Explore his love, yes, but also, His holiness, His purity, the fear of the Lord, the jealous love of God, the God of heaven and hell, the God of wrath, the God of judgment, the God who lives in unapproachable light. 

I think I noticed it first when the Chosen did a collaboration with the Christian rock community. There was such a contrast, between the focus on Jesus in the Chosen, and then to see the Christian rock musicians, many of them so self-focused, the Holy Spirit within me just surged with a sense of concern. 

I appreciate greatly the ministry of Christian rock music. But we need to keep the focus on Christ himself. One of the chief dangers for any Christian rock musician is the focus slowly shifting from Christ to the beauty of their voice, or their own talent, or their musical talents, guitar playing ability, piano playing ability, and I get it, it's tough, the whole Christian rock industry is trying to shift the focus onto the musician, and not necessarily onto Christ. Be very careful, I would say, fear the Lord, and give Him all the glory, all the time, repent of self-focus, repent of vain ambition, and return to total submission to Christ, total focus on Him, and giving Him all the glory again. Fear God, and renounce self. 

That's my challenge. I hope my words have not been too harsh. I get it, the struggle is difficult. The challenge for anyone, pastor, blogger, musician, is to keep the focus off self, and keep it on Christ, pride is a deadly opium. Let it die in us, in Jesus name, amen. 

David lives among the Philistines

David and his 600 men having been running here and there, constantly pursued by King Saul and the troops of Israel. He’s managed to evade Saul for a long time now, because God is with him.

Several times he’s encountered Saul personally now, and spared his life. But David starts to feel like the walls are closing in. He can’t evade Saul forever. So he makes a tough decision.

In verses 1-4 of chapter 27: “But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.”

First point today, sometimes it’s ok to get out of town for a while. Moving to a new place isn’t always going to solve your problems though. In fact a lot of the time it doesn’t. Because no matter where you go, there you are. The problem is still there, you’re the problem in your situation 9 times out of 10. So even if you move, same issue.

But for David the problem really is Saul, so, he moves his men into the land of the philistines for a while. He’s been pursued endlessly by Saul. So he leaves the region for a while.

It’s a reasonable thing to do. Sometimes we just need to step away from a messed up situation for a while, let things cool down, and then step back in at a later time. It’s a wise thing to do, in the right timing.

Now, if you’re always on the move, with no stability, well, that’s not wise. That can be a problem that you need to address and work on, a sense of constant movement. Always the issue is balance in these principles. Avoid the severe extremes. 

Notice the heart of David, he seems to always instinctively know the right thing to do. As you learn to follow God, learn to pray, learn to study the Bible, you’ll begin to develop a new mindset. And you’ll naturally do God’s will, more and more over time.

That’s the challenge: To develop a heart and mind like Jesus Christ, so that when we find ourselves in difficult situations, we instinctively do the right thing, without even hardly thinking about it.

So David takes his men, and their families to King Achish. And he meets with the king.

In verses 5-6 we see what happens next:

5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.”

David doesn’t want to stay in the capital city, he wants a small town where he can do his own thing. This is wise for many reasons if you ask me, you don’t want Achish to gain too much control over you and your men. You don’t want to get yourself too involved in the politics of the Philistines. You want to stay independent and free.

Do you see how every decision David is making is strategic? In your life, the decisions you make are also building a strategy. The decisions you make, how you use your money, how you budget your money, where you choose to live, where you work, the people you spend time with, all these things are either building toward something. Some of us I’m sure feel stuck where we are now. But, make a plan. Apply strategy to your situation. What goals do I need to set to get the desired outcome? How can you budget better? How can you break free from negative patterns? How can you use your gifts for God’s kingdom?

David sets up camp in Ziklag, and he apparently lived there for about a year and 4 months. That’s a fairly long time. But he’s waiting, he’s letting things cool down in Israel. Maybe he’s hoping if he drops off the radar for a while King Saul will stop trying to chase him down.

So he waits. But while he’s in philistine territory, he is busy doing battle against nearby enemies.

It says in verses 8-12:

8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”

David is continuing to fight the enemies of Israel even while he is in Philistine territory. And it says even the town David stayed in became part of Israel later.

Point number 3, even when you’re out of your element, even when you’re on the run, keep being a faithful Christian.

Even when things take a turn for the worst, be a faithful. Even if you’re in the hospital, witness to the nurses. Even if you’re on vacation, keep being faithful to God. Even if you’re at a new job, be a faithful Christian at work. Even if you lose everything, end up homeless, be a Christian on the streets then. Don’t let any circumstance change your mission.

Even if the USA were utterly destroyed by Russia and China in a sneak attack, a nuclear assault that turned the nation into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, still be a faithful Christian in that wasteland. Witness to the irradiated hordes!

David continues being a faithful warrior of Israel. For that year and 4 months, the battles continue. He raids Israel's enemies, and he has total victory. He leaves none alive. Wow. David is ruthless against his enemies, but completely devoted to God. He is a great leader. 

All of this points us to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, David was a great leader, Jesus would be the perfect leader. David is an example for us of godly character. But, Jesus Christ becomes more than an example for us, he becomes our savior, he bleeds and dies to pay our debt of sin. It’s more than an example, he becomes everything to us. So we should believe in Him in response and put our faith in Jesus Christ. He is our King, our perfect leader. David is an example, Jesus is the savior. But he is also our friend, our brother, and our God.

1. Get out for a while into things cool down

2. Be strategic – make a plan

3. Be consistent – even when life changes happen

4. David is an example, Jesus is the Savior

David spares Saul's Life a Second Time

Do you ever feel in your life like you’ve been tested in this area already? I know I’ve felt that way. Lord I went through this test already. I’ve given you my problems. I’ve given you my sins. But God says, I will test you again, and your faith will be proven.

David went from being a shepherd boy, alone with his sheep, trusted with only a little bit, and he showed himself faithful. His life shot into a new time after his courageous victory over Goliath. We saw him become a leader in Saul’s army. He won great victories. But then we saw Saul become jealous of David, and he even tried to kill him. David went on the run then, all by himself. But as he hid in the caves over the months many gathered around him, until he had 600 men around him. God was with him. And David spared Saul’s life in the cave, when he could’ve killed him.

Yet David will be tested again. It's the same with us today. We're tested once, then again. And we think to ourselves, "again Lord? Not again, can it be? I gave you my sin. I gave my struggles. I gave you my nightmares." But God says you’ve given me your struggles, your difficulties, you’ve sent away Hagar, but I want your heart, the things you love, you things you enjoy.

We gave him our sins. Now he wants our heart. He wants to take away the bad, yes, but he wants us to give up our hopes and our dreams to Him. Abraham gave up Hagar, and he must’ve thought this is enough, I’ve sent her and Ishmael away. But God says what about the apple of your eye, what about what you love? What about Isaac? Would you be willing to even give him up, for me?

David has already spared Saul’s life once, in a situation where he is running. Now there is a new situation, but the same life is in his hands, what will he do?

It says in verses 1-4, “Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”

2 So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, 4 he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival.”

So many times now, Saul changes his mind. He realizes David isn’t his enemy. Alright David is my lovely friend again. Then he gets jealous again and throws a spear at him. Then David spares his life in the cave and he leaves him in peace and says we’re ok now. Then he changes his mind again and comes after him again.

First point today, stick to your decision. If you’ve chosen God’s way, stick to that decision. Don’t be double minded, constantly floating between two opinions. I had a friend like that, close friend, he could never up his mind, he would always float between two decisions. If you’ve come to God, you make a faith commitment. You keep that faith. You stick to your guns, you stick to your decision, even when it’s hard. That’s a fact of character.

And if you don’t, you’ll find in everything in life you’ll start to wobble. We don’t want to be wobbly people. We want to stand firm in Christ.

David had sent spies to view Saul’s camp. But now David himself goes with two of his closest friends.

It says in verses 5-8: David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. 6 “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother.

“I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. 7 So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.

“God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”

Once again, the life of Saul is in the hands of David. They are in a deep sleep, and David can do as he pleases. What will he do?

Second point today, God will put you in a situation where you have a difficult choice to make. I’ve found that time and again in my life. Many things are not easy for a Christian. God tests and refines our hearts. That’s what I want you to see today: God is looking at the heart again and again. We can adjust the course of our heart toward good or evil by our choices. Our choices determine the course of our heart. But, only God can transform a heart. Only God can turn a heart of stone to flesh. Once our heart is flesh, we must then guard our heart (Proverb 4:23). 

Last time David stumbled upon Saul by accident in the cave. This time David goes to Saul and finds him. He could kill him right there. But the Holy Spirit is moving in David’s heart.

In verses 9-12: “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? 10 Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. 11 The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”

12 So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the Lord had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.”

God has saved me from many temptations over the years. They simply don’t come. I’m sure that’s true for you as well. He’s protected you from temptations that would’ve destroyed you. From a man, a woman, a drug, a job, a toxic friendship, a food, a car, but, he will also bring a particular temptation in front of us, to test us, as well. God keeps Saul’s men asleep. Yes, to help David. But also to allow for this moment to play out.

David’s heart is again proven to be a godly heart, a man after God’s own heart.

Should I try to harm the one who is against me? No, certainly not. Should I speak up boldly about the truth? Yes, I certainly should. But who am I to harm the Lord’s anointed one? God has placed Saul in that position at that time. And eventually, Saul would fall, but David would again let God do that. It’s not his choice to make.

That’s our third point, let God orchestrate events in your life. Don’t take control. Let go of control.

But do your part. That’s the serenity prayer. Surrender to God what belongs to God, do your part in what you can change, and seek wisdom from God to know the difference between the two.

Let go of control. Let go, and let God. Stop trying to manipulate events and let God run your life. Surrender it to God.

Let’s see what happens next: (verses 13-20)

David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. 14 Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!”

“Who is it?” Abner demanded.

15 “Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? 16 This isn’t good at all! I swear by the Lord that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the Lord’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?”

17 Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?”

Point number 4, show the proof. Take the evidence. If you’re going to do the right thing, also make sure you have the evidence that you did the right thing. Then no one can say it didn’t happen. David takes Saul’s spear and water jug. Disarms him. But doesn’t harm him. David could climb back up the hill and say I spared your life Saul, but if he didn't have proof, Saul could say, "you're lying!" So David takes the spear and the bottle of water as proof. Keep that principle in mind.

And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king. 18 Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? 19 But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the Lord. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the Lord’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ 20 Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”

David calls out King Saul on his poor actions. 

Point number five, rebuke and correct one another. Call each other out. Correct each other in a loving way. We need to do that. Gently, with love, in the right spirit, bur do be bold in correcting each other. We all need that. We need someone to speak into our lives the truth when we are wrong.

And we must be willing to listen to that voice. Let me repeat that, we must be willing to listen. And realize in the moment it’s going to hurt. But when they speak directly to you, correcting you, your response should be to be impressed. Wow, that took guts to do, thank you. Thank you for that. I’m going to think about that. Don’t get angry and storm out. That’s a foolish attitude. Instead listen, and realize the love it took for them to do that. That’s a true friend, to call you out lovingly when you’re wrong.

David does that again for Saul, second time now, he calls him out.

Sau’s response is this, verse 21: Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”

Point six, just because you’ve made things right, doesn’t mean you need to move back in. Just because you’ve corrected someone, an ex-lover or friend, doesn’t meant you need to renew the friendship or get back together. David understands that. Saul probably isn’t going to change. Saul invites him back. But David has wisdom he knows Saul will probably change his mind again and try to kill him again later.

The whole incident ends like this, verses 22-25:

“Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”

And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.”

Saul again makes nice with David. David knows it most likely won’t last.

But David is ultimately talking to God in this last conversation here. He says, “May the Lord rescue me from my troubles.” 

Point number 7, if we honor God he will protect us. And I think that’s biblical, to say, that when we honor God with our choices, when we serve Him, and when we care for the needs of the poor, he then helps us when we are in trouble. It’s not a give and take sort of thing. We are under grace. But, wise choices, submission to God, is going to lead to God protecting us in times of trouble. Similarly, if we don’t really follow God, and then get into trouble, then ask "God please get me outa this mess and I won’t do it again," it’s not likely that God will answer that prayer. Though maybe he will.

So in conclusion today, let’s review. Our main points, and the key is, how do we put them into action in our lives. That’s the real test. Anyone can sit here and listen, the hard part is applying it.

Main Points: 

1. Stick to your decision (to serve God)

2. God will lead you toward difficult choices (test you)

3. Let God control your life (let go and let God lead)

4. Show the evidence (disarm but don’t harm)

5. Correct each other with loving truth (rebuke your neighbor)

6. Don’t move back into a bad situation (set boundaries after forgiveness)

7. If we honor God, he protects us (protection in times of trouble)