When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it…” Matthew 16:13-18
Jesus was and is a radical prophet who brought radical restoration with the coming of his movement! So radical was he that the people to whom he preached thought of him as John the Baptist or Elijah or even Jeremiah! This man was so intense that soldiers with weapons cowered from him after he prayed, John 18:6, haters moved away as he walked through a murderous crowd Luke 4:28-30, he calmly walks on water Matthew 14:25-27, he makes a whip and drives false worshipers out of the temple John 2:13-17 and he rose the dead John 11:11-44! This man truly was a prophet like the prophets of old, come to turn the Jews and the religious world upside down. Jesus came to set things straight and restore what should have been preached and obeyed all along- a heart in love with God and 100% sold-out as well a love for the lost that overcomes love for self. A restoration was truly needed in his day and is sorely needed in our day!
True discipleship is rarely practiced and most “Americanized Christians” hanging out in the mega churches or the tiny community church are nothing near what Jesus or his apostles preached. In order to be a disciple and be in Jesus’ church there must be a Radical Restoration of first century Christianity for this was Jesus’ intent for every generation. His message was and is to be preached and never watered down or altered to be more politically correct for the masses. His apostles all died for the cause and many, many more died as well, unnamed, forgotten by men and mocked and yet a royal priesthood to our God 1 Peter 2:9-10! The reason the world is still not evangelized is that a different Jesus, a different spirit and a different gospel has been preached 2 Corinthians 11:1-4. True disciples, those who worship in spirit and truth John 4:23-24 must get unified around the message that Jesus and his apostles died for and live it out in our day.
When I was a child my parents often spoke of education in their days and said things like, “We had to walk to school in the snow without shoes uphill, both ways.” You also had to learn the “Three R’s”; Readin’, Rightin’ and Rithmitic’. Sounds ridiculous and of course there was exaggeration but it taught me that to build a life you needed focus, hard work and discipline. To restore true Christianity in our day, you could say the disciples in our churches must learn the “Three R’s” of Jesus’ restoration; Restoration of Revival, Restoration of Radical and Restoration of Rapport. Let’s look into these “Three R’s” biblically.
Restoration of Revival- Takes Revolution! Possibly the most fascinating account of Jesus beginning his ministry is found in Luke 4:14-23. Jesus has been in the desert facing the devil. He wins the battle in dramatic fashion and returns “in the power of the Spirit” v.14. Everyone is talking about him and praising him, thinking they had found their political solution- their hero. He goes to the synagogue, as was his custom (showing commitment to the fellowship was his conviction) and decided to read one of the most intense scriptures about revival found in the Old Testament. He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He then sits down, all are staring at him and he simply states, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” v. 21. Revival, as defined by www.dictionary.com is: restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength, an awakening in a church or community etc. This is why Jesus had come and he arrived just in time as the people of Israel had lost their way and were far from God. These were the chosen people who were to bring the message of God to the entire world and yet they had succumbed to dead religion simply going through the motions with no heart. Their leadership was steeped in sin and the people liked it that way. No one did anything about it except another radical prophet- John the Baptist. It wasn’t enough, but the way was prepared!
In 2003 when so many of our churches had lost their way a few beaten up and bruised men, who had been humbled by God decided it was time for revival. The Portland church started a revolution by once again returning to 1st Century Christianity and began restoring what Jesus preached. By trial and error implementation, lots of mistakes but a heart purified by the persecution and years of wandering aimlessly, a revival was brewing. As so many churches fired ministers unbiblically and another leadership rose up that changed the direction of God’s church to look more like the lukewarm and worldly churches all around, people fell away in droves. Yet there was a light burning bright in Portland. There was faith, incredible love, fiery preaching, discipleship was taught and obeyed and many, many were saved. In a very short time this small revival was restoring faith to men all over the world and this restoration started a revolution!
Almost daily we would receive news that another of our brothers was kicked out of his church because he spoke to us and decided to revive his faith. We supported them and loved them and the Lord blessed us with “the church we were baptized in” as we began planting churches in cities everywhere. This restoration of Jesus’ revival literally took revolution! We must restore the revival of Jesus once again in our day in every city where there is a true disciple. After only three weeks in Orlando, God has already blessed us with 5 newly baptized disciples, 1 restored disciple and 2 who placed membership. There are already 30 people studying the Bible and others in neighboring cities who want to join us. Will you be part of the Lord’s revival?
Restoration of Radical- Takes Restoration! In Luke 4:23-30 Jesus shakes up the crowd with his preaching about the hardness of their hearts. Someone was finally telling them the truth and loving them in a radical fashion and they responded with anger and hatred. Jesus’ intent was that they hear the message and repent yet they heard the message and wanted to kill him. How do you respond when someone you love tells you that lukewarmness and sin has slipped back into your life? Do you blame them, call them names and want to cut them off because they were “saying unwholesome words”? Or do you fall to your knees and thank God that someone loved you enough to tell you the truth? Jesus had to risk it all here and like throwing cold water on a very comfortable and “warm” group, Jesus shook them up. This is the kind of preaching, love and power it will take to shake up the remnant disciples in Florida who have lost their way and given in to what “a great numbers of teachers” who are saying “what their itching ears what to hear”.
If you are in a lukewarm, dying church that has lost its way where the preaching has faded and the faith is gone- GET OUT! Many men far more powerful than you have tried to turn a church without being the main leader and have ruined their faith. It is because you “cannot pour new wine into old wineskins” Luke 5:37-39. You need to restore the radical man of God you were called to be and that will take a restoration of your relationship with God. It is shocking to receive call after call from men who feel stuck in their city in their dying church who are doing very little or nothing about what is going on. These men need to be reminded of the kind of Lord we follow- he was a radical revolutionary because he walked with his Father. Jesus returned to Galilee with POWER because he had walked through the “desert” in prayer and meditation on the word. All the attacks of Satan were destroyed because of his intimate relationship with God. If you are not being radical in your relationship with God you will not be able to have a restored faith and in time you will fall away and become just like everyone else around you. When all had fallen apart around me in 2003, Psalm 57:1 inspired me and restoration came as I radically stayed in the “shadow of your (his) wings”! Restore this radical heart and restoration will come.
Restoration of Rapport- Takes Reunification! According to www.dictionary.com: Rapport means; relation, connection, especially harmonious relation and comes from the French word rapporter- which means “to bring back”, equivalent. As disciples we must be those who bring unity not those who destroy it. What is it that brings a harmonious unity among disciples? The great equalizer of all men is the Scriptures and obedience to them. The standard is the same for all men Luke 9:23 and Luke 14:25-27, 33. No one can claim to have the “truth on their side” as they must be “on the side of truth”- and agree with the Bible. If everyone is called by Jesus to be totally sold-out for the gospel and to be devoted building his church, then any man on the planet can get unified with Jesus and then unified with other men who hold to his teaching.
The problem comes when men begin trying to build their own kingdom, not holding to Jesus’ dream to evangelize the world in this generation. To reunify men around the cause of Jesus takes great faith and personal sacrifice of “my way” and a yielding to “the Way”, to Jesus. The leaders in the new movement, the Sold-Out Movement a.k.a. the Portland Movement, did not find each other because they were “buddies” looking for a “good ‘ol boys network” of friends who would just accept their sinful ways. No- these men found each other looking for revival of the biblical church. The unity in the Central Leadership Council, for example, is astounding because it is based on conviction not on friendship. Once we found each other’s convictions alive and in line with the Bible, then we became friends. We love the brotherhood of believers but there is so little unity because so few hold to the teaching of Jesus over relationship. In order to have this kind of “rapport”, the teaching of Jesus convictions must take precedent over and above any and all of my petty opinions or theories of church building and friendships. Every one of us is called to follow Jesus and hold to his teaching- or we are not “really his disciples” John 8:31-32. There must be a restoration of this kind of godly rapport! That unity takes reunification of men around a central cause that we must obey God rather than men and give our lives to evangelize the world in our generation.
As I sat with a faithful older brother yesterday at lunch and we spoke of the need for revival in Florida, it came to mind that we only have one generation…when we die, our generation, our one shot to be like Jesus is over! He is in a city close to Orlando and is in need of revival. We spoke of the cost and what it will take…you could see the passion for revival in his life and a restored vision of true rapport- unity among brothers based on conviction to follow the scripture over relationship. Truly, to have a restoration of (Jesus style) revival it will take revolution. To have a restoration of (Jesus style) radical it will take restoration, and to have a restoration of (Jesus style) rapport it will take reunification based on the Word of God. Pray for us in Orlando as we seek to have a Radical Restoration of Jesus’ church! Pray for revival in the South!
For the glory of God,
Matt Sullivan