Last June our oldest son, Christopher, married Courtney, who was from Massachusetts. The wedding was to take place in Massachusetts where her parents live. The rest of the family and I decided to drive to Massachusetts. Early in the morning, on the first day of our trip, as we were traveling in Eastern Oregon, my wife expressed a desire to stop some place for coffee, so we began looking for such a place. In one small town, I saw above the front of a building a sign that said "Revive Me Cappuccino." The sign on the side facing the street proclaimed, "A Christian Fellowship."
My wife, seeing the word "Cappuccino," said, "Stop here." I said, "Sharon, look at both signs!" She had been so intent on finding a place that sold coffee that she simply failed to see that building's "proclamation." She remarked, "Well, this certainly is not what I'm looking for." No Indeed! But I couldn't help wondering how many souls had been "lured" into that place of "worship."
How clever is mankind's enemy. With a cup of cappuccino as "bait," he would entice the unsuspecting into a so-called "Christian Fellowship," thereby ensnaring their souls. It is written, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8) The verse that follows says, "Whom resist steadfast in the faith..." (l Peter 5:9) But it is that very "faith" about which many souls lack knowledge. And this "Christian Fellowship" is just one example of such a lack.
No doubt, the Christian Fellowship believes it is doing a "good work," but where in all of the New Testament did Jesus authorize such a "fellowship?" He taught: "Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23) "Ye that work iniquity," are those who do unauthorized things not contained in His law.
"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:25)
The devil and his "ministers," (Cf. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15) offer souls a little spirituality with some worldliness thrown in, and they gobble up the "bait" like hungry fish--hook, line, and sinker! They are taken in before they know it. And then, while believing that they have been "revived," they remain "dead" in their sins. Note the following Scriptures:
"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly." (Psalm. 85:6-8) Many have turned to folly, and they will not "hear" what the Lord has said (Cf. 2 Timothy 4:3,4).
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:15-17)
"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:17) And what is the will of the Father? "... Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4)
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22)
Cappuccinos have their place, but not in the house of the Lord. "What? Have ye not houses to eat and drink in?" (1 Corinthians 11: 22) This is not to say that that the so-called "Christian Fellowship" is the Lord's church, for if it were, the signs would have reflected it. (Cf. Ephesians 5:24) The true church is subject to her Head.
We can read of Jesus' zeal (the kind of zeal that so many now lack) for His Father's House. "And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, (the very things they were to "sacrifice" to God) and the changers of money sitting: when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep, the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise. And His disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up." (John 2:13-17)
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)
And Paul wrote, not only to Timothy, but to all who read and love God's Word, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt save thyself, and them that hear thee." (1 Timothy 4:16) God's word is the only thing that instructs us how to behave in His house. Only truth can "revive us."
True "revival" is in Christ, not in a cup of coffee. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
"Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4) Many "Christian Fellowships" teach that one is "walking in newness of life" the moment he "accepts Jesus into his heart." But the truth doesn't teach that. Satan and his ministers do. (Another kind of "bait" to destroy souls)
"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27) Where is the Scripture that teaches us to believe into Christ, or confess into Christ, or repent into Christ? It's not there. And neither is there cappuccino in the Lord's House.
My wife finally found her cappuccino--at a coffee house. If you are looking for salvation, seek it in the Lord's House--the church--of which Jesus is Head and Savior. "... Christ is the head of the church: and He is the savior of the body..." (Ephesians 5:23) And if you're seeking for "revival," look to God's Word, and don't allow the devil to deceive you. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Here in Southern Ohio, the "Vineyard" (according to their sign, a "pretty good church"), recently added a Starbuck's coffee bar. I guess they've have found something new in the Scriptures-another magnet to draw the lost to the Lord. I thought God's word was the magnet. It's the magnet authorized in the Scriptures (John 12:30-32). (KMG)