Why Revival

Why Revival

Hos. 6-2

Prayer

Good morning everyone. I hope that God has blessed you this week in fact I know that He has because we are all here this morning. Next Sunday night we will be starting our revival. Some of you may be asking the question why are we having another revival. We just had one last November. Why are we having another now. Well the answer is this if you are asking that question then you are definitely in need of revival. Revival is an essential component for a Christians spiritual health. As we go through our daily lives we have to live in the world and that very same world assails us on all sides with temptations, emotions, gossip, lies, sex, and any other weakness that we might have. It beats against our armor continuously. This daily conflict wears us down both physically, mentally, and most important spiritually. God knew that we would need renewal, a reviving of the spirit. Revival provides that opportunity. It draws us closer to God, and points out areas in which we fail, and strengths us.

It is like the pastor of this large church. He was told that a certain member had not been to church in quite a while. One day the pastor went to visit this wayward member. When he knocked on the door the member answered and invited him to sit by the fire and drink some coffee. As the settled down in the chairs by the fireplace the pastor placed his coffee on the table and took a pair of fire tongs and picked a brightly burning piece of coal out of the fire and set it on the hearth. He then picked up his coffee and set back in the chair. No words passed between the two as they watched that brightly burning coal go from burning a bright red to a dull as gray. The pastor then bent forward with the tongs picked up the warm coal and placed it back into the middle of the fire where it quickly began to burn a bright red again. With that the pastor stood excused himself and left. The next Sunday the wayward was back in church. He had gotten the message that the pastor sent him. Just as the piece of coal cannot burn brightly by itself because it does not have sustaining presence of support from the other coals so are we. We can’t sustain our spiritual growth without constant interaction with our brother and sisters in Christ. We must worship together and pray for and with each other. We must humble ourselves before God. We must be reminded that the main thing is the main thing is the main thing. In other words God is the most important thing in our lives and that is where revival comes in.

A revival makes us burn brighter. It places us back into the center of God’s will. It reminds us of what our purpose is. It focus our minds back onto God instead of the little problems of the world. Those who ignore revival or simply don’t come because they are to tired or to busy are missing out on a wonderful gift from God. And often they become prideful and even say I don’t need to go to church I can worship God alone just as well as being at church and the sad part is they will live a sad life because they have lost the joy in their lives.

Revival is an opportunity for us to be restored to our personal relationship with God. During the course of our lives we tend to focus more and more on the world and the things of the world and we become more and more distant from God. But I have good news. I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. No seriously I have the greatest news. God is ready, willing, and able to restore His people whenever they return to Him, providing they sincerely repent of their sins. Revival allows us to return to our faith and to acknowledge God as our God. It brings us back to His guidelines that He has given us for our lives.

Hos. 6:2 1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Revival provides a method for us to combat our waywardness (Backsliding). This is a spiritual disease that requires healing. The government nor the medical society can offer us much hope. But revival offers us a cure. When we genuinely repent of our sins and confess those sins to God, He will heal us spiritually. Only God’s freely-given love can provide the healing power we need. This is the purpose of revial.