Revival READY!
James 5:13-16
* Psalm 119:156: "Great are Thy mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Thine ordinances"
* Psalm 119:37: "Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Thy ways."
* Psalm 119:88: "Revive me according to Thy lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Thy mouth"
* Psalm 85:6: "Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again, That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"
* Habbakuk 3:2: "Lord, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy"
* Next Sunday morning we begin our series of meetings that Baptist has traditionally called a “Revival.” Simply put, we have been through many meetings where an outside speaker (and/or singer) is engaged. We attend and get all excited about the music and the preacher only to see the meeting come to an end and with it, all the enthusiasm it generated.
* Is that type of meeting really a revival? As I read God’s word, this would seem to NOT be a revival. Perhaps an effort at revival. Let us focus our attention on Revival this morning.
1. Revival – What is it? For the past 8 weeks I have listened to a dozen sermons, read several books and papers, and sought God’s word about this thing of “Revival.” Listen to some of God’s choicest men about this:
* Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility. – Charles Finney
* Revival is falling in love with Jesus all over again – Vance Havner.
* Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement; it is rather an invasion from heaven which brings to man a conscious awareness of God – Stephen Olford
* Revival is a renewal of spiritual life in an individual or among a group of people – Don Robinson
* Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing." - Robert Coleman
* "Revival is a return to spiritual health after a period of decline into sin and broken fellowship with God... Revival is for God’s people when they need to be forgiven and restored to life, spiritual health, and vitality" -Blackaby & King
* “God shows up, revealing our sin to us, convicting of sin, calling us to confession & repentance, leading us to a response in which He cleans our lives, correct our thinking, rights our relationship, and changes our hearts.” J. Watts
* Do you wonder as to what a Biblical definition is? In the five different Bible passages we read, please note that they were from the KJV and use the word ‘revive.” The newer translations replace this word with ‘give us life!” What a GREAT vision of revival.
* We know to revive someone medically means you bring them back to life. Make no mistake; the same is true about reviving one spiritually.
* For the person without Christ, a “Reviving” is needed! Paul writes we are ‘dead in our trespasses & sin.’ Apart from Christ we are dead for time and eternity. Sin causes death and we are sinners. In Ephesians 2, it goes on to say, “But God!” (I like that) “But God who is rich in love & mercy has MADE US ALIVE (revived us) with Jesus.” This is salvation. God taking a person who is hopeless & helpless for all eternity & REVIVING us through transformation.
* For the person with Christ, the one who has been revived from the dead, a revival happens when the hot heart grows cold. Coming to Christ is an exciting experience, your heart is hot for Him (& His work), and your soul is on fire with the flames of the Holy Spirit. Then something happens. Could be many things (I.E. temptation, sin, hurt, trauma, etc) but when it happens, the fire goes out. Inside your heart grows cold; you lose your empathy, your compassion, your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and ultimately, your ability to pray. It is at this point that God speaks to you & begins calling.
2. Revival – when is it needed? – Certainly, when we have been wounded to the point of falling away from God, we need to hear His voice & respond. I offer us 3 specific times that revival is needed.
a. Corrupted Standards –When exactly are our standard ‘corrupt?’ In his book, “Why Revival Tarries”, Leonard Ravenhill says, “We have adopted the convenient theory that the Bible is a book to be explained, whereas first & foremost it is a Book to be believed (& obeyed). There is a vast difference in knowing the Word of God and knowing the God of the word.” Think about the standards of God’s word; “Be Holy as I am Holy”, don’t gossip, love one another, edify (build up) one another, pray for one another, and the list goes on & on. Candidly, when lower God’s standard of Holiness by the explanation that “no one is perfect”, we play into the hands of the enemy. God’s standard of holiness is comprehensive and it is cascading. When we dismiss His bar of holiness, love goes out gossip comes in, building up one another & praying for one another is gone.
b. Compromised beliefs – There are some things which the Bible doesn’t address directly. In those cases we use principles to know what our Lord intends for us to do. However, our tendency is to rationalize what God has dogmatized. For instance, the Bible is clear about our sexual lives. A sexual relationship is only enjoyed within the confines of marriages. That is, one man for one woman. Every other form of sexual contact is sin & is to be viewed & dealt with as sin. Furthermore, according to many passages in God’s word (particularly 1 Corinthians) it is the church’s responsibility to hold believers accountable for their sin. Today, that is uncomfortable so we ‘rationalize’ this by saying, “it’s nobody’s business.” Yet, that response would have never held water with the first century church that was intent on building & maintaining God’s standard. When we compromise God’s word, we are in great need of a revival.
c. Complacent Attitude – This is expressed in the “so what” mentality. We are trying to do something for the Lord, ‘let them do it.’ We need host for in home prayer meetings, ‘let someone else do it.’ We need phone callers, ‘so.’ People don’t have a church home, a church family, or a home in heaven? Who cares! For my two-cent worth, complacency is the biological bomb of the enemy. He explodes it in a way that is least detectable and it reach is both aggressive and undetected until it is too late. A “don’t care” or ‘me first’ attitude is a sign that we have left, lost, or forgotten our first love. These are signs that we have become lukewarm in the eyes of God and you know what that means.
3. Revival-How it begins? – First of all, revival like our salvation begins with God. But understand God is reading and willing to save our souls and/or send us revival. Sadly, too many who claim the name of Jesus have become so corrupted & compromised, that human complacency keeps us from admitting our need and more to the point, hearing God’s call. God sent John the Baptist with a call which pricked the hearts of his hearers. Here the call from God’s word today. (2 Chronicles 7:14a)
a. Responsibility – The words are recorded words that God spoke to King Solomon around the time of the dedication of the magnificent Temple. God gave the responsibility for revival, renewal, and restoration to HIS people. Revival does not begin away from God’s people, God starts with His own. In the words of Peter, “It’s time for judgment to begin at the House of God.” It is a sad day, when people who have been truly born again become to apathetic and compromised to not notice the fire is gone. Years ago, when teenagers would leave for the evening their parents would say, “Remember your name” mean, “Protect your reputation.”
* I wonder if God were to stand in our presence, would He be proud of the way we have represented His name in this place. Would ‘my people’ be a phrase He would proudly use? Would our hearts, our words, attitudes, and relationship be what HE would want? If not, He speaks to us today about it. He calls us to see our sin, our weakness, our need.
b. Repentance – Look at what we, as His people, must do; humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways. I dare say there has never been a day when ‘pride’ has been more of a profound problem for the church than today. It was pride that got Lucifer kicked out of heaven. He thought himself to be the same as God and declared himself to be all that God is. The result was, he got kicked out of heaven. In the original sin, this same prideful spirit became ingrained in the heart of fallen man. Yet God tells us that we have to humble ourselves before Him. In the New Testament to be humble before God is to bow before Him in awe and respect. No one struts into the presence of God. We also must pray. Isn’t it amazing that God wants us to talk with Him and that He wants to talk with us? Repentance is about humbling ourselves before God to the point that we talk with Him (that is, with Him and not just ‘to Him’) and turn away from our sins. If we are unwilling to turn from our sins, there is no repentance.
c. Remaining – This means that we “Seek God’s face.” We must turn from our sin and turn to seek God. The reason I use ‘remaining’ is because typically this is not a ‘one time’, ‘one sentence’, or even just ‘one action’ type of response, it means to stay with it. For instance, try to get a baby to eat what he/she doesn’t want. It is a scientific proven fact that a baby can turn their head and moving their mouth faster than can any parent with a spoon in their hand!! This is an oversimplified picture of turning from sin & to God with the effort of seeking His face. The face of God turns away from us when we are in sin. He requires us to approach Him (He’s Holy God) in humility, prayer, turning from our wickedness (that means repenting of sin), and seeking His face. Is this our focus today?
4. Revival-What it means? – The last part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 gives this;
a. God comes (He hears) - He says, I will hear. Sin is in the ears of God what cotton is to the ears of man. To hear is to respond, that is the way of the Father. I can’t imagine God hearing & not responding.
b. God cleans (He forgives) – 1 John 1:9. He will wipe the slate clean. He wants us to be revived and He’s the REVIVOR!!
c. God cures (He heals) – If God revives the heart of His people, then His purpose in salvation & spiritual growth is met resulting in a land that is healed. God way is best, His plan is best, and He makes us Revival Ready.
