This morning I want us to look at what true revival is.
Revival – It comes from the root word revive which means to recover that which was lost, to repair that which was broken and to restore that which was taken.
There are many pictures in the Word of God of times of revival. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lost eternal life but God revived it by giving a promise that the seed of a woman would bruise the serpents head. Also in the book of Genesis, because of mankind’s wickedness their relationship with God was broken. But God found a man by the name of Noah who would survive the judgment of God and revive that relationship. In the book of Judges there are seven different stories of times of revival as God’s people would loose their freedom and He would revive it. My question for us this morning is… What does it take to experience a true revival? Now I’m not talking about a series of services when a visiting minister, such as we just had comes and preaches God’s Word. I’m not talking about an emotional feeling that comes and goes like the wind. What I’m talking about is a move of God in a person that transitions them from death to life. I’m talking about something that could happen in a moment’s notice where God comes in and recovers that which has been lost and repairs that which has been broken and restores that which has been taken. The revival that I’m talking about is the kind that the Psalmist understood when he sang…
Psalms 138:7 (NKJV)
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.
I’m speaking about a life-changing encounter with God that causes me to refocus my vision and regain my spiritual composure. An encounter that causes me to see myself as God sees me… fearfully and wonderfully made. A vessel created to bear His image and to carry His Spirit. An encounter that awakens the sleeping call of God in my life. An encounter that jars my memory and takes me back to the moment that God bought me with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, filled me with His Holy Spirit, stamped me with His stamp of approval and anointed me with His holy oil. I’m talking about the kind of revival that causes me to get my priorities strait. A revival that reminds me that I am not my own but I belong to Him and I need to be about the Father’s business. An encounter that revives His Word within me and reminds me of His grace, mercy, love and power. A revival that breathes new life into a dying soul and revives the song of the heart.
Now, how do I receive that kind of a revival? If you would, turn with me please to Ezra 9:8-9. Israel had been living in captivity for seventy years, exiled to the land of Babylon. The King of Persia has released the Jews to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the House of God. Ezra is a scribe, an expert in the Law of God, who comes to Jerusalem several years after they begin rebuilding. He has come to teach them and remind them of the ways of God. In verse 8 of this chapter he is praying to the Lord, asking for forgiveness and thanking God for what He has done for Israel. Listen to what he says…
Ezra 9:8-9 (NKJV)
8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.
9 For we were slaves.
The first step to revival is recognizing bondage.
• It doesn’t take long to look around us and see folks that are in bondage. We see those who are in bondage to addictions such as drugs, alcohol, sexual perversions and so on.
But there are other bondages that are less recognizable that God’s children are walking around in and instead of looking around us, we must look at our own selves and ask the question… Am I in bondage? Let me help us out here this morning because no one wants to see themselves as being in bondage. Let’s examine ourselves this way… Do I have joy? Do I have peace? Do I have faith? Do I have hope? Do I have assurance? Do I have a sense of worth? If I do not have peace then I am under the bondage of dread. If I do not have joy then I am under the bondage of sorrow. If I do not have faith then I am under the bondage of doubt. If I do not have hope then I am under the bondage of despair. If I don have assurance then I am under the bondage of worry. If I have no sense of worth then I am under the bondage of shame. Can I tell you that God gives us joy and God gives us peace and God gives us faith and God gives us hope and God gives us assurance and God gives us a sense of worth. And if any of these things are missing in our lives then we are living under bondage and we are not free to live the way that God has called us and created us to live.
The next step to revival is to do something about the bondage.
• Once bondage is recognized there must be a cry from the bound. There has never been freedom without a cry to be free.
Exodus 2:23 (NKJV)
23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
Every time the children of Israel would fall into bondage, they would cry out for deliverance. When people get tired of bondage, there will be a cry for help. Not a normal cry, but a cry of desperation, a cry that grabs the attention of the heavenly hosts and disturbs the throne of heaven. I’m talking about a cry that cannot and will not go unnoticed. This is the kind of cry that blind Bartemeaus let out and it caused Jesus to stop, look and listen. This is the kind of cry that the disciples let out and it caused Jesus to walk on the stormy waters. This is the kind of cry that Mary and Martha let out and it caused Jesus to go to the tomb of Lazarus. This is the kind of cry that the demoniac let out and it caused Jesus to have mercy on him. This is the kind of cry that the ten lepers let out and it caused Jesus to reach out and touch them.
This is the kind of cry that the thief on the cross let out and it caused Jesus to speak words of comfort him. In each one of these cases, somebody had lost something, somebody had had something broken or somebody had had something stolen. They needed those things to be revived. When you recognize your dilemma, don’t spend one more moment there than you have to, He’ll revive your joy, He’ll revive your peace, He’ll revive your hope, He’ll revive your faith, He’ll revive your assurance, He’ll revive your worship, He’ll revive your dance, He’ll revive your shout, He’ll revive your song, He’ll revive your dream, He’ll revive your spirit, He’ll revive your vision, He’ll revive your courage, He’ll revive your love… when will He do it… when an individual recognizes they’ve lost what they once had and cries out to Him and believes He can revive what’s been lost, taken or broken.
* God is ready to revive us in a moments notice…
Ezra 9:9 Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia,
I would tell you this morning that our God wants to revive His people. He never intended for us to be under any type of bondage. His will has never been for us to walk in defeat.
Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV)
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite (crushed) and humble (depressed) spirit, To revive (restore, recover and repair) the spirit of the humble (depressed), And to revive (restore, recover and repair) the heart of the contrite (crushed) ones.
Do you see what He’s saying here? He’s declaring… I live with those who have become depressed by life’s circumstances. I’m near to those who have been crushed by life’s situations. And I’m with them to help them restore, recover and repair what’s lost, stolen and broken.
Look at what happens when we cry out from our bondage…
Ezra 9:9 (NKJV)
9 For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
1. to revive us -- What was dead comes back to life
2. to repair the house of our God – what was broken is fixed
3. to rebuild its ruins – what was laid waste by the enemy is rebuilt
4. and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem – And the protection of God is once again restored.
