WILL GOD REVIVE US?

 

 

Psalms 85:4-7

 

Prayer

 

Will God revive us?

We talk about revival.

 

 

We say we want revival.

We have scheduled revival.

 

 

We have prayed;

Invited a preacher to preach;

 

 

People from other churches.

People who haven't accepted Christ, etc.

 

 

So we ask again, “Will God revive us?”

Dr. James M. Gray said, “We recall nothing in the Epistles justifying the        

conclusion that the experiences of the early church may not be repeated        

today.”

 

 

And Dr. R. A. Torrey said, “There is no such teaching in Scripture that         

revival is contrary to the will of God.”

The fact is, the experiences of the early Church can be repeated.

 

 

And revival is the will of God.

We can even say revival is needed.

 

 

 

And, God would be delighted to send revival.

But will He?

 

 

Will God send an old fashioned Holy Ghost revival to _________________?

He might.

 

 

But let me say right up front.

I can't bring revival to ____________________.

 

 

I can't coerce revival at ____________________.

I can't perform a miracle and stir up revival here at ____________________.

 

 

The only way ____________________ will have revival this week is for God       

to send it.

And God will not send it unless the members of this congregation are willing to

do what the Word of God says.

 

 

If just one member actively and genuinely seeks revival, God will send revival to

that one member.

If this whole church actively and genuinely seeks revival, God will send         

revival to this whole Church.

 

 

But God will not send revival to this whole Church unless this whole Church goes

after it with a sincere and determined heart.

If most of you are unwilling to do that, then ____________________ will not      

change much and it will not be God’s fault.

 

 

I know I am speaking plain.

But I sincerely doubt if I’ve been invited here to just go through the motions.

 

 

 

It’s a waste of our time to hold a revival if it is our intent to just go through   

the motions.

We meet in vain if we do not actively and genuinely seek revival.

 

 

There will be no revival at ____________________ this week if a11 of us   

leave it up to someone else to make the decisions.

There will be no revival at __________________ this week if all of us have

already exempted ourselves and none of us has any intention of making a

determined effort to really seek one.

 

 

Do you remember what God said in that great verse of Scripture found in II  

Chronicles 7:14?

“If my people, which are called be my name, shall humble themselves, and    

pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;”

 

 

“Then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their     

land.”

God has a people.

 

 

You are God's people.

You are called by His name: Christians, the body of Christ.

 

 

Now listen and you will hear God's requirements for sending revival to your  

Church.

He requires four things:

 

 

          (1) If my people will humble themselves?

          (2) If my people will pray?

 

          (3) If my people will seek my face?

and    (4) If my people will turn from their wicked ways?

 

 

We had to come to God by faith for salvation.

And we have to come to God by faith for revival.

 

 

His first requirement is for His own people to humble themselves.

God will not send revival to ___________________ unless the members of         

this Church are willing to humble themselves.

 

 

Now that is a problem.

Most of us have been in the Church a long time.

 

 

Most of us have renewed our commitment to Christ more than once.

So most of us don’t want to humble ourselves.

 

 

We actually try to commit fraud in the Church.

We try to deceive people about our sin.

 

 

If we want revival, we need to cast away that foolish notion that we should    

cover up our sins.

We should stop trying to pull the wool over people's eyes.

 

 

We do not fool God.

And He will not send revival until we have a more realistic estimate of  

ourselves.

 

 

Even Jesus, “being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with        

God:”

“But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a          

servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

 

 

 

 

“And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became      

obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

And let us remember the words which precede this passage, “Let this mind be        

in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

 

 

The Bible is saying learn to think like Jesus.

But to think like Jesus, we have to humble ourselves.

 

 

Are you willing to think like Jesus and humble yourself?

Or, are you going to come here and say, “I will not humble myself?”

 

 

The person who says I will not humble myself is a person who needs revival.

God's second requirement for revival is for His own people to pray.

 

 

He will not send revival unless the church members are willing to pray.

But let me point out something about praying for revival.

 

 

Many of us pray for revival, but we pray the wrong way.

We detour all around what we should pray for.

 

 

We pray for the pastor, the evangelist, the lost to be saved, others to be        

revived, etc. but we skip ourselves [REPEAT].

We want to take a shortcut to revival.

 

 

But there are no shortcuts to revival and we cannot have genuine revival        

unless we are willing to pray for what really starts a revival.

Someone asked Gypsy Smith, “How do you start a revival?”

 

 

He replied, “Go home.”

“Lock yourself in your closet.”

 

“Kneel down on the floor.”

“Take some chalk and draw a circle around yourself.”

 

 

“Pray; And ask God to start a revival inside that circle.”

“When God answers that prayer, revival will begin.”

 

 

Are you prepared to draw a circle around yourself during this revival?

Prepared to ask God to start this revival inside that circle?

 

 

The Bible says, “You have not because you ask not.”

Are you willing to pray for yourself to have revival.

 

 

Or, are you going to come here and say, “I will not pray for myself to have   

revival?”

The person who says, I will not pray for myself to have revival is a person    

who needs revival.

 

 

God's third requirement for revival is for His own people to seek His face.

Revival is not a reward for wishful thinking;

 

 

Not a reward for the lukewarm, the neutral or the indifferent.

Revival is a reward for those who actively seek it;

 

 

A reward for those who really want it;

A reward for those who demonstrate to God that they are serious.

 

 

We have to seek revival with a fervor;

Seek it and really mean it.

 

 

 

We have to get out of our seat,

And come to this altar to pray.

 

 

God will not turn _____________________ if we will go after it.

“Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you” (James 4:8).

 

 

I preached a revival at several years ago.

After the service, a man came by to shake my hand.

 

 

He said, “I want to tell you a story.”

“I sold a piece of farm equipment one time.”

 

 

“I received a lot of cash for it.”

“I put $700 in an envelope and hid it.”

 

 

“When I went back looking for it, I had forgotten what I did with it.”

“I turned the house upside down looking for it.”

 

 

“And was so relieved when I found it.”

“Now, I have a question.”

 

 

“When people are lost, why don't we care more about their soul than we       

would care about losing $700?”

“And when people get saved, why don't we rejoice more than we would       

rejoice over finding $700?”

 

Good questions!

Now, I have a question.

 

 

Why don't we seek revival with a greater fervor than we seek material things?

If we will seek like that man sought his lost money, we will have revival.

Are you willing to seek revival for yourself?

Or, are you going to come here and say, “I will not seek revival for myself?"“

 

 

The person who says, I will not seek revival for myself is a person who needs        

revival.

God's fourth requirement for revival is for His own people to turn from their

wicked ways.

 

 

He will not send revival unless we are willing to repent of our sins.

It is not that God is unable to send revival;

 

 

Not that revival is not needed;

Not that revival has not been scheduled;

 

 

It is that too many of us are unwilling to change our ways.

We come to Church with our mind made up.

 

 

And we will not let the message change us.

We harden our heart;

 

 

Quench the Holy Spirit.

Look at the seven letters to the seven Churches in the Book of Revelation and        

you will find that Jesus advised four of those Churches to repent.

 

 

Repentance is for the Church.

Revival never takes place apart from repentance in the Church.

 

 

It will never come to ____________________ until God's own people here           ____________________ deal with their own sin.

Let me show you something about revival.

 

The Bible records several revivals.

And we can learn from them.

 

 

One revival occurred during the reign of King Hezekiah (II Chron. 29).

When he came to power, the Bible says, “he did that which was right in the   

sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.”

 

 

What did he do?

“He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the   

house of the Lord and repaired them.”

 

 

As soon as he ascended the throne (in the 1st year and the 1st month of his  

reign), he opened up the house of God.

He repaired the doors that had long been barricaded up.

 

 

Someone may say, “Preacher, our doors aren't barricaded up.”

Let me ask, “Where are you on Sunday night?”

 

 

“Where are you on Wednesday night?”

As far as many people are concerned, the doors of the Church might as well

be barricaded up because they are not in Church.

 

 

So, King Hezekiah opened up the house of God.

What else did he do?

 

 

“And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together in          

the east street.”

“And he said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify yourselves, and          

sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers,”

 

 

 

“And carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.”

Do you see what he did?

 

 

He called the religious leaders together and asked the religious leaders to do  

three things:

1^st--Hezekiah asked the religious leaders to sanctify themselves.

 

 

He was asking the religious leaders to set themselves apart for God;

To abandon their sins;

 

 

And to give themselves over to holy living;

If this Church is going to be what God wants it to be,

 

 

And what you should want it to be,

It needs religious leaders who are committed to right living

 

 

It is easy for God's people to pray like the Pharisee:

“I thank God that I am not like that person over there.”

 

 

“He needs revival.”

“But I don't need revival.”

 

 

Let me tell you something.

Until we who are leaders in the Church get our hearts right with God, we       

have no right to expect others to get their hearts right with God.

 

 

We need Church leaders who are willing to do their part.

2nd---Hezekiah was asking the religious leaders to sanctify the house of God;

 

 

 

To dedicate their place of worship as a place to do God's will.

Tonight we must acknowledge that too many of us who are Church leaders   

come to revival to do our own thing.

 

 

Our purpose for holding a revival should be for us to get our own hearts right         

with God.

But we want to leave it up to someone else to get their heart right with God.

 

 

Revival is not a time for us to do our own thing;

Not a time for us to worship our own way.

 

 

Revival is a time for us to do God's will;

A time for us to say, “I have failed.”

 

 

“I have sinned.”

“And I want to make things right.”

 

 

This is a time for us to humble ourselves and pray, and seek God, and repent         

of our sins.

This is a house of prayer.

 

 

Many revivals fail because preachers can’t get Church members to altar.

We should sanctify this place with prayer.

 

 

3^rd---Hezekiah asked the religious leaders to carry forth the filthiness out of   

the holy place;

To get the trash out of God's house.

 

 

And when they did that, there was a great revival.

It began with the religious leaders;

 

Moved to the house of God;

And involved getting the trash out of God's house.

 

 

This famous revival holds lessons for ____________________ tonight.

It shows us how to have revival.

 

 

Where is God's house now that we are in New Testament times?

Where is the temple of the Lord tonight?

 

 

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?”

God dwells in our hearts.

 

 

And this is the point.

We can have revival by getting the trash out of our heart;

 

 

By having an old fashioned house cleaning.

One proverb says, “Never sweep your neighbor's porch when there is dirt    

under your own welcome mat” [REPEAT].

 

 

We need to get rid of that theological trash that says revival is for the lost.

If there is someone here who has not accepted Christ, we plead with you to  

accept Christ tonight.

 

 

You cannot continue to turn your back on Christ and enter into heaven.

If you have not accepted Christ, we beg you to respond when the invitation is        

given.

 

 

But revival is really for Christians;

Christians who know and will admit that they are not perfect;

 

 

Christians who have an honest desire to make things right with God.

We also need to get rid of that theological trash that says we can ignore God

and still be pleasing in His sight.

 

 

We are wrong to over estimate our standing before a holy God;

Wrong to harden our hearts against revival;

 

 

Wrong to refuse to come to this altar;

Wrong to refuse to do what God wants us to do.

 

 

We are suppose to be a praying people, humble people, worshiping people;

Not rebellious people;

 

 

Not defiant people.

We also need to get rid of that theological trash that says we can live like the

lost and be pleasing in God's sight.

 

 

Many Christians seem to think it does not matter what we watch on TV, how

we dress, what our language is like, etc.

But these things do matter because God expects His people to live better than        

the lost.

 

 

He expects His people to be a peculiar people;

A holy people;

 

 

A separated people;

Examples of the living Christ in this world.

 

 

Do you think Jesus would watch. smut on television?

Would He wear skimpy clothes, curse or talk dirty?

 

He loves the lost.

But He did not act like the lost.

 

 

We also need to get rid of that theological trash that tells us to put off our     

decisions.

Many of us really want revival, but we try to wait for a more convenient        

season.

 

 

But all too often that more convenient season never comes.

And it is a fact of history that people can postpone their decisions until they  

come to the place where they die or they cannot make a decision at all.

 

 

This revival is a great opportunity to make important decisions.

But if we do not make those decisions, we may not get another opportunity.

 

 

We also need to get rid of that theological trash that says we dare not become         

a fanatic.

Too many church members are trying to serve God from afar off.

 

 

Too many Church members are marginal Christians.

Jesus might even say we are lukewarm.

 

 

And we know what that means.

The Bible instructs us to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with   

all our strength, and with all our mind;

 

 

To love God more than we love anyone or anything else.

If we really want revival, we will have to make up our to do that.

 

 

Another great revival occurred when the Jews rediscovered the Word of God.

They found a copy when they were making repairs to the Temple.

We need to rediscover the Word of God because we have been preoccupied

with other things.

We have not been reading it;

 

 

And not studying it.

We have allowed the ideas and lifestyles of a wicked society to affect us.

 

 

We have failed to live by the Word of God.

Failed to be the holy nation God called us to be.

 

 

The Bible is the Word of Truth;

The Word of Almighty God.

 

 

The two-edged sword;

A lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

 

 

This Book will either drive us from sin.

Or sin will drive us from this Book.

 

 

We must respect this (the Bible).

And the only way we can respect it is to let it impact our lives.

 

 

I have been preaching on the question, “Will God Revive Us?”

He will if we want it bad enough to humble ourselves, pray, seek it and          

change our ways.

 

 

But He will not force revival on us.

He will meet at this altar.

 

 

 

But He will not force us to come here.

Church leader will you come to this altar and pray for yourself?

 

 

Church member will you come to this altar and pray for yourself?

Lost person will you come to this altar and say you need to be saved?

 

 

You ask, “Why do I need to come down there?”

Because if you really want revival, you should be willing to publicly admit it;

 

 

Willing to honor God with a public statement of what is in your heart.

 

 

Close

 

What a blessed privilege we have to approach our holy God.

What a great opportunity we have for revival here tonight.

 

 

Let's get this revival off to a good start tonight.

I ask everyone who will to come tonight; take your pastor's hand; and renew

 

your commitment to serve Christ.