Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
IGNITE A REVIVAL
Acts 5:11 and great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
5:12 and by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.
5:13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.
5:14 and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)
5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
KJV
Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.
13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.
14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
NIV
Do we really want a revival to come to Victory Temple and to our community? I believe that the answer would be “Yes” from the heart of every born again Believer! Our greatest desire is to see the Holy Spirit move in the hearts and lives of His people and then draw new souls into the House of God to hear and respond to the message of the gospel.
We should all know that revival does not come without a price. Before God will come to bring revival, there must be a “time of reckoning” for those who are in the church. How can we witness and preach Jesus to others if Jesus isn’t first in our lives or if our own hearts are not right with God?
I know that God can bring revival whenever and wherever He wants to but He also uses His people to prepare the way through prayer and fasting. Then, the Holy Spirit will begin to convict us of the sin in our lives and to bring us into agreement with the desires of the Father to reach the lost through us.
Too many of us live with nothing on our own mind but our own troubles and tests. We dwell upon the “bad day” that we had and forget the goodness, mercy and grace of our Lord who pours out His blessings upon us continually.
Too many Christians have the attitude that they can’t see the blessings because of the troubles. Do you think that you have troubles? Do you think things could get any worse for you? Let me give you a few examples of how things that look bad can really get worse.
ILLUSTRATION:
1) Several years ago the Exxon Valdez ran aground and created the greatest oil spill on record. There were a number of birds, seals and other creatures that were endangered by the oil, and many that were killed. After catching at least 2 of the seals and spending $80,000 to treat and rehabilitate them, they were turned loose into the sea. Less than one minute after releasing them, a killer whale devoured both of the seals.
2) One woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking frantically with a wire hanging from his waist towards the electric skillet. She quickly picked up a piece of wood and whacked him on the arm to free him from the deadly electrical current. She broke his arm in two places and knocked him free, only to discover that the wire was attached to his Walkman radio and he was only swaying to the music.
3) How about this one? A bumbling Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, mailed a letter bomb to one of his targets but failed to put enough postage on the envelope so it came back to him stamped “Return to Sender”. Yep, he opened the letter and almost killed himself. Talk about Justice!
There isn’t one of us who doesn’t feel that we need a revival at times. We wonder sometimes just how long God will allow us to continue to have the bad days. We wonder how long God will wait and how terrible this world will become before Jesus returns. All of us, who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, have the same thought as John in Revelation 22:20 when he says, “…even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
We may think like that but then we realize just how many people would not go in the Rapture of the church and our heart melts in sorrow and pity for all those who would be left behind to face the Tribulation and the coming of the Antichrist.
That’s when our cry breaks forth for the revival we so desperately need! But, before that revival will come, I believe that there will have to be a “judgment in the House of God” that 1 Peter 4:17 speaks about when Peter says, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
In the passage of scripture that we have read for this message, we see that judgment surely fell in the House of God that day. Ananias and Sapphira were both slain by the Holy Spirit as they lied to the Holy Ghost and to the disciples concerning their gifts to the Lord. They held back a portion for themselves and then lied about it and God struck them dead.
That triggered a dual reaction among the people who stood around. Those who were the wealthy, rich and famous friends of Ananias and Sapphira were frightened and refused to have anything to do with Peter and John lest they too would face the same fate. They wanted no part of this revival. If this was to be the result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit then they wanted no part of it. (The Day of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room on the 120 Believers was still fresh in their memory)
But, brother and sister in Christ, that’s just what will have to happen if we are really going to see a revival where multitudes are saved, filled, healed and baptized! We are going to have let the Holy Ghost kill every doubt, every selfish motive, every rebellious desire and act, and then create a clean heart and a right spirit in each of us so that we can begin to intercede for those who need Jesus. The revival has to happen inside the church before we can expect it to draw those into the church from outside these walls.
After those who refused to change had left, then the real revival began to happen. The common people, for God always uses that which the world considers as common and ordinary to bring about great things for His Kingdom, began to respond greatly to the moving of the Holy Spirit!
The people who were hurting, who had no wealth or power within themselves, and who realized that they were hungry, destitute and in need; those were the ones who began to magnify the ministry of the Disciples and give God the glory for what He was doing.
How often does the church not see God’s hand moving while even the lowest of “sinners” readily understand that there is something miraculous taking place!
Those of Jerusalem who were in such great need began to flock to the House of God so that they could receive what they needed from God. They even lay in the streets, hoping and praying, that by some chance, the shadow of Peter would pass over them for they knew that these disciples had the power of God working within them.
I tell you a great revival broke out that day! Verse 14 says that, “…believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
That’s the kind of revival I long for! That’s the move of the Holy Ghost that we need! We don’t need some weak, watered down, powerless message of prosperity and we don’t need a “tip toe around the tulips, feel good” message either.
We need a message of the power of deliverance and the power of conviction against sin.
We need a message of death to self and of being born again into a new man that is full of the Holy Ghost and Power!
What this church needs; what this community needs; what this state, this nation and our world needs is the message of the death, burial, resurrection and power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the cleansing, forgiving, washing whiter than snow power of His precious blood that was shed for us all!
How hungry are we for that kind of moving of the Holy Ghost?
How much do we desire to see lost souls come to the Lord with bitter tears and then watch as the blood of the Lamb washes that load of guilt and shame from their lives?
How thirsty are we for the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the washing of water through the power of God’s Holy Word?
Are we hungrier for the TV set, the movie theaters, the worldly novels and magazines, the department stores and the pleasures of this life than we are for the Holy Spirit to be manifest in our church?
Are we ready to allow the Holy Ghost to “kill” those earthly desires and to destroy the deceptive lies of the Devil within our hearts?
Let’s be as John says, “…even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Let the Holy Spirit fall, oh God! Let judgment come and convict us of sin and rebellion! Let the blood of the Lamb wash us clean!
Then let us pray and fast and look for a revival that will reach multitudes for the Kingdom of God. Revival must begin with us! Pray for it! Look for it! Fast for it! Believe for it! God is waiting on us to do our part!
