Personal Revival: Revival Only Begins Within Yourself

Psalm 85;6 and Psalm 51:10-13

WHAT ABOUT NOW REVIVAL?

11-15-09

This morning we are going to focus in on What now…What do we do now that we have experienced a worship called revival. How do we move forward to continue the revival celebration we experienced last week. Many times after a revival the experience is either well or dead. It is either going to continue a revival in the place or it is going to die out quicker than cut flowers without water.

LET’S READ PSALM 85 NOW…

First what is revival. Revival is a series of meetings for the purpose of awakening or reawakening religious faith. Now that our revival meetings are over or our special, services to edify and renew our strength have come to a close and the evangelist has returned home to his respective church body and our routine is returning to normal what now?

Let me tell you that revival has absolutely nothing to do with the church itself. It has everything to do with the folks that make up the church.

I want to stop for a moment and read what David said that revival meant to him out of Psalm 51:10-13.

With hearing what David the Psalmist and the sons of Korah who were temple assistants have said about revival what has revival meant to you personally.

This church here at Smyrna has been in a revival for over a year and a half. However, it is without a doubt in my mind that what we experienced in the lay renewal in August and the revival last week we needed it. But revival will never continue in this church unless it begins individually with each of us. Now if we go about our ways and stay or old stupid ways of judging others being negative about what others do at church, staying away from church because that negative comment from a person and so forth you will never experience the personal revival each of us need and sadly this church will never grow to the point God wants it to be because He will not bless a mess.

But however, if we fall in this category then in order for us to be revived we have to ask the Lord to create within us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within ourselves, and we have to pray for a restoration unto ourselves and restore our joy of our salvation. Remember ourselves and not to look at others and say well what about them.

Even though we had revival services here this past week I have no doubt that a few that showed only came because they were going through the motions of church you could tell by the clock watching the huffs and haws. Only distracting the person next to them or around them away from the Lord. Then I Saw God at work in many of your lives this past week, through hospitality, edification, sacrifice, and tears of joy.

But for the rest of this morning I want us to look at what holds a person back from having revival in their life since we know that revival is a person thing and not a church thing so to speak.

The first thing is pride. How many of you have pride?

Sure we all do to an extent but pride can also stand in the way of you having a continuous revival with the Lord and pull you towards the devil. No one likes to admit that they have so great pride that it is destroying their lives or even admit that they needed to hear the revival messages last week or today’s message. Most men and even women would fall into the category of hey I am falling from a 50 or 60 story building but, I am okay, folks your not! Then we have so much pride in ourselves that we start that comparing thing against others but fail to ever contrast our own self because we see no wrong in ourselves we see no problems coming out of ourselves, right? Because we have too much pride.

Let’s go back to verse 12 of Psalm 51

David was pleading for a personal revival in his life because he had lost the joy of his salvation and he was looking for a God restoration on his joy over his salvation. Well pastor what do you mean David lost his joy for his salvation how can you lose you joy for your salvation that’s just a little bit strange sounding to me?

This is how you can tell if your pride has gotten in the way of a personal revival and you have lost the joy of your salvation…

Your prayers become quick fleeting prayers, you forget to pray to God and do so only in times of needs, we open our song books and sing half heartedly if we even sing them at all and surely don’t want to try any new song, you hear half of what the preacher says and what you do hear does not apply to you because you are applying it to the person sitting next to you or the person across the aisle you have a strife or grudge against. If we study the Bible any it has to be around our time not God’s time, we become servants or leaders in the church but our pride keeps us from reading the Bible, and don’t even know what it says, and most folks are to proud to admit they have lost the joy of their salvation because it wouldn’t be cool if someone found out because we are to prideful to ask for help. And family the pride thing even comes in to play when we are finding every excuse to attend worship, our attitudes are unforgiving we watch or watches all the time during worship, failing to remember at the end of our earthly life that it was all God’s time and not ours. We are here in body but surely not in mind because we are planning our week out in our head, and failing to realize that our pride is keeping us away from allowing God to plan the week for us. And we just can’t have revival personal because our hearts have become so hard with pride.