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Sermon: Are You Ready For Revival? Part 1
before I read our scripture passage this morning I want to begin with a question
ARE YOU READY FOR REVIVAL?
I Samuel 7:2-4
2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
INTRODUCTION:
I heard a preacher who told a story about visiting a friend and while he was visiting His friends children and nieces and nephews were playing church.
They had a preacher, song leader, ushers, a piano player and members of the congregation.
They knew the moves to make and the words to say.
From start to finish they knew how it was done.
I think that there is a lot of people today that are doing just that
…PLAYING CHURCH!!
now Let me say that we have a great church!!!
I am honored to be the pastor of such a great group of people…
so I am not necessarily speaking of this church
But churches today in general all they do is PLAY CHURCH!!!
well here at this church We have seen God do some amazing things in this place,
wonderful wednesday night prayer and praise services
wonderful services on sunday morning and sunday evening
but I still believe that most of you will agree that we need revival!!
this community needs revival
this denomination needs revival
this country needs revival
I am not referring to a series of meetings;
I am speaking about REAL REVIVAL!!
G. Campbell Morgan said that - “Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to move upon His people once again”
We can’t manufacture a revival.
I can’t preach it down.
We can’t sing it down
You can’t play church good enough to bring it down.
But God can BRING IT DOWN!!
But before we will ever see revival, the people of God have got to recognize that they have wandered away from the Lord.
There is a barrier
…a separation …
a hindrance in our relationship with God.
Just like those children who know how to play church.
Some people have been playing church for a long time but after a while they will get burnt out and one of two things will happen:
1) they will quit church all together
2) they will go somewhere else that seems more exciting.
Then they will say I left that church because they weren’t doing anything for me!
I just wasn’t getting fed anymore...
.Or some people will just blame it on God
”God told me it was time to leave”
they may not have talked to God in 6 months but all of the sudden He told hem to leave”
What brings about these actions and mindsets?
When people who should be out BEING the CHURCH are only PLAYING CHURCH
what we need is...
o We need something that is real
o We need something that is relevant
o We need something that is refreshing
o We NEED REVIVAL!!!
In I Samuel 7, Israel was at a place where they needed revival.
They had been attacked, overcome & defeated by their enemies The Philistines.
As a result the Philistines took possession of the Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant - was the chest which held the two stone tablets of law which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.
The Ark of the Covenant was renowned for its mysterious powers against the enemies of Israel.
During the time of Eli (the High Priest) the Ark was at Shiloh
The Philistines defeated Israel at Ebenezer - 1 Samuel 4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle,
Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
The Israelites fetched the ark out of Shiloh and carried it into their camp.
Once again the Philistines attacked Israel and smote them with a very great slaughter, "for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken" (1 Sam. 4:10).
A messenger told Eli that Israel had been defeated and that his sons had been killed in the battle
Eli also learned the Ark had been taken
Upon hearing this Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died
Shortly thereafter Eli’s daughter in law went into labor and died after giving birth - I Samuel 4:21 - Before she died she named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead.
At this point the enemies of God possess the Ark of the Covenant.
But they will find that it will bring them more harm than good.
Throughout 1 Samuel 5 much affliction came upon the Philistines:
They placed the Ark next to an idol of Dagon (In Dagon’s temple)
A couple days later Dagon fell face down before the Ark
The head and hands of this idol had broken off and were lying in the doorway.
The people of Ashdod and the nearby villages were afflicted with a plague of tumors.
They then moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath.
At Gath, the Lord struck them with a plague of tumors
So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron
When the people of Ekron saw it coming they begged the leaders to return the Ark to Israel.
Finally the Philistines decided to return the Ark to Israel.
The Ark was eventually taken to Kiriath-jearim (KERRYA -J RIM)
Kiriath-jearim was about 7.5 miles Northwest of Jerusalem.
There the ark remained in the house of Abinadab and was guarded by his son Eleazar
As we arrive in chapter 7 the Ark has been back in Israel for 20 years
Though the Ark has returned, the blessings of God had not - “all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD”
For 20 years, Israel faced the judgment of God. They had worshipped the idols of the pagan nations.
They had worshipped and sacrificed to a false idol named Ashteroth.
Now Israel is at a place of desperation…
They seem to be ready to return to the Lord.
Samuel tells them exactly what it will take for them to once again experience the blessings of God -
verse 3
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Once the direction had been given, Israel followed the command -
verse 4
then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
We will find in the latter portion of this chapter that as a result of turning back to the Lord,
Israel:
Experienced victory over their enemies
They experienced protection from their enemies
The land that was taken from them was restored
They experienced a time of peace and blessing
I want to look at Samuel’s counsel to the Israelites and see what is involved in revival.
Let’s begin with:
I. The Recipients Of Revival - verse 2
and it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim (KERIA J RIM), that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
remember that We are looking at the events of the Children of Israel.
They are God’s chosen people.
This is the key, though they do not deserve His mercy & grace God has made a way for them to be restored.
He desires to revive His people.
The message today is for the born again believer…
More specifically it is for the believer who has strayed from God.
The one whose relationship has grown cold & indifferent.
For the one who may possess a heard heart
Understand this: Not every believer will experience revival.
There are many who need revival but they have no desire to be revived
Israel had been in this place of oppression for a long time.
Eventually they came to their senses and realized that there must be a better way.
people can go on “playing church” as an individual....
the churches in general can continue “going through the motions” as a church....
But the only way we are ever going to truly experience REAL REVIVAL is:
When we take a good hard look at ourselves And we humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God!
Those who will experience revival are those who grasp the fact that they need to be revived.
You might be saying that I am that person…
I WANT REVIVAL,
I want revival in my life
I want revival in this church.
If that is you then look with me again at verse 3 and see:
II. The Requirements For Revival -
verse 3
And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
God’s Word Is Delivered By God’s Man - “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel”
Samuel was God’s man.
God chose him and set him aside for a specific task. -
He was a leader who delivered the Lord’s message…
not his own.
That is what I want to hear and that is what I want to be.
I don’t want man’s opinions
I want to hear the pure truthful Word of God.
Samuel’s message was not his own and neither is the one that I share with you today.
If you like what you hear give God the glory
if you hate what you hear …get mad at God not me!
What was the message that Samuel delivered?
It was a message about the “Requirements for Revival”
A. There Must Be A Realization -
“If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts”
What Samuel is saying is
“If you are really serious about returning unto the Lord”
then you must realize that you have gone away from the Lord.
We are told in
II Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by 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.
The process of realization requires humbleness!
After the realization comes the removal:
B. There Must Be A Removal -
“then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you”
They worshipped Ashteroth & Baal and many other false idols.
Not only had they forsaken the Lord, they had replaced Him with false gods!
What a slippery slope!
Turning from the one true living God and worshipping brick, mortar & gold.
You say “that could never happen to me”
well the sad fact is that it maybe already has
You have maybe replaced God with:
o Your job!
o Your stuff!
o Your family!
o Your friends!
o Even your church!
Isn’t it strange that the things we often put in front of God are the things that HE HAS BLESSED US WITH???
the people in our passage were worshipping the creation instead of the creator.
The gold of the idols and the stones of the altars were all created by God
But the people worshiped things that wouldn’t exist if it wasn't for God!
1) Do you want revival as an individual?
Then you must remove everything that you have placed before God in your life!!
Get rid of it!!
Walk away!
Put God where He belongs…
IN FIRST PLACE!
2) Do you want revival in this church?
Then we have got to make sure that the main thing is the main thing! We have got to stop worshipping:
o Our buildings
o The things in the buildings
o The people inside the buildings
o Our pet projects
We have got to stop worrying about:
o Our likes
o Our dislikes
o Our hopes
o Our dreams
o Our opinions
We will experience REAL REVIVAL when we GET OURSELVES OUT OF THE WAY.
We will experience REAL REVIVAL when JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONE AND ONLY FOCUS OF MAPLE STREET CHURCH
In order for REVIVAL TO COME there must be a removal of some things!
Not only must there be a “Realization” & a “Removal”:
C. There Must Be A Resolve
“prepare your hearts unto the LORD and serve Him only”
How do you “prepare your heart”?
By purging them from all sin and any other gods that you may have erected in your life.
Notice the phrase "serve Him only."
We must remove those things that would hinder our service to God and then SERVE GOD!
Samuel 12:24
only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
consider how good God has been and realize the fact that He can and will do even greater things in your life if you will only
- “return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only”
What will God do for you?
that leads me to the 3rd and final point…
“The Results Of Revival”
III. The Results Of Revival
a) The Lord Will Hear Your Prayers
b) The Lord Will Accept Your Sacrifices
c) The Lord Will Protect You From Attacks
d) The Lord Will Provide Peace In Your Life
e) The Lord Will Restore What The Enemy Has Taken
But for now I ask… “ARE YOU READY FOR REVIVAL”?
Maybe a better question would be ….
“Do you even want a revival”?
Charles Finney said -"There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr. Wet-Eyes are not found in the audience."
I don’t understand those who are content to just go through the motions and “play church”
Maybe there are some of you who have been doing that but now you are ready for something more:
Do you desire something that is real
Do you desire something that is relevant
Do you desire something that is refreshing
DO YOU DESIRE REVIVAL!!!
If so:
“return unto the LORD”
“with all your heart”
“put away the strange gods from among you”
“prepare your heart unto the LORD”
“serve him only”
If you will do this as an individual, you can experience revival.
When we do this collectively, we will experience revival as a church!
I end with the same question I began with
ARE YOU READY FOR REVIVAL??
