Evidences of Spiritual Renewal
2 Chronicles 29:16-36
A young American engineer was sent to Ireland by his company to work in a new electronics plant. It was a two-year assignment that he had accepted because it would enable him to earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. She had a job near her home in Tennessee, and their plan was to pool their resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned. They corresponded often, but as the lonely weeks went by, she began expressing doubts that he was being true to her, exposed as he was to comely Irish lasses. The young engineer wrote back, declaring with some passion that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local girls. "I admit," he wrote, "that sometimes I'm tempted. But I fight it. I'm keeping myself for you." In the next mail, the engineer received a package. It contained a note from his girl and a harmonica. "I'm sending this to you," she wrote, "so you can learn to play it and have something to take your mind off those girls." The engineer replied, "Thanks for the harmonica. I'm practicing on it every night and thinking of you." At the end of his two-year stint, the engineer was transferred back to company headquarters. He took the first plane to Tennessee to be reunited with his girl. Her whole family was with her, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, she held up a restraining hand and said sternly, "Just hold on there a minute, Billy Bob. Before any serious kissin' and huggin' gets started here, let me hear you play that harmonica!"This gal wanted some evidence that her man had been faithful.
When I was young we learned a little about tracking. We have tracked everything from deer to possum to armadillo. You can watch the ground, the brush, the trees, and many others things because there is almost always evidence left when something or someone comes through a trail.
Our focus this year has been “Renewal.” “Lord, do it again in 2010, like you did at Pentecost.” Being spiritually renewed is not something that lends itself to secrecy. Generally, when a person senses a internal renewal from God, that renewal surfaces in a way which gives evidence of what has taken place. This is the joy of the Lord (our strength) which is coming through.
This morning, consider 5 such evidences which indicate a true spiritual renewal has taken place, When spiritual renewal arrives, these will be present.
1.The Spirit of Repentance – Repentance is a word and concept which we know is needed, but don't care to do. Here's why; humanly speaking, we do not have it in us to turn our backs on something we love. Candidly, there is a strong pull in the human heart toward sin. Why do we think that young people believe that 'all the fun' is found in sinful things? It is because of this 'worldly' pull in our heart. To repent is to turn from and forsake those things which we have come to like. Yes, this is not a popular message, but it it still true. It kind of like CHILDREN and CANDY. Most of us know that candy and sugar are not particularly good for our little guys, yet they love it. But if they persist, they will become overweight, have bad teeth, and can even have long term health issues. Even though ti taste good in the mouth, it causes problems in the body. For me, this is a fair assessment of sin. Taste good for a time, but long term?
The Spirit of repentance literally goes on a diet from sin. That is, it turns its back on things which feel good for a season and then destroy the soul.
If you read verses 16-19 you'll discover that the temple had to be cleansed. Every detestable thing had to be removed and put away. Everything had to be cleansed and consecrated holy unto the Lord. This is a mark of renewal sweeping the body of Christ. There is a common desire to clean up the life, souls, heart, and to walk holy before God.
We must repent to be renewed, but when we are renewed we will repent! 2 Chronicles 7:14 gives us the clearest picture of repentance in the Bible . God places the responsibility where HE desires it to be when He says, “If MY PEOPLE, called by MY NAME.” These are they who should lead the way in this thing of repentance. Until God's people relearn the need and art of repentance renewal will not come and/or will not last. My People!
Watch these actions: “humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.” I submit a person will never turn from their wickedness if they refuse to become humble, pray, or seek God.
The spirit of repentance is the front door and open door of renewal.
2.The Spirit of Giving – Verses 20-24 speaks of the people and the leaders 'giving a huge sacrificial offering' for the Lord. In fact, verse 32-33 gives the exact number of animals given. To look at this offering is to realize how generous they were towards Jehovah God. Candidly, to be renewed by God is to become generous towards God. To properly focus on giving, let's think about giving in this way; what is required, what is desired, and what is inspired.
Though many people attempt to debate this today, the first requirement of giving is the 'tithe.' The first 10% belongs to God. Until we have returned 10% we cannot say that we've “given” anything. It's almost unimaginable that a person who has been forgiven, cleansed, and redeemed by God would not return to the Lord what He requires of us. In fact, God calls those who keep His 10% - thieves! Malachi says, “You are robbing me.” At the risk of being “in your face” about this; to rob anyone is to break one of the Ten Commandments. If you were to die this minute, would you be dieing with some of God's money in your pocket, invested in your boat, house, or golf clubs? (Illus: Mill owner)
The desired is to be ready to give above the tithe for specific needs. To give credit where credit is due, this area is one of the strong suits of this church body. You do not allow people to go without or do without. For that reason I have said and still maintain that this congregation may be one of THE MOST GENEROUS congregations I have ever had the privilege to serve. For any identified need, this congregation digs down deep and takes care of it. People don't go hungry, without clothes, gas, or miss camp because of money. Certainly, this type of openness and readiness to assist is desired by God.
However, the inspired giving paints a picture of weekly, consistently, faithfully, giving to the Lord's work through His church as well as the special needs. The inspired mindset of giving is this: I'll do the required & the desired.
For some, this is second nature, while for most it is happen-stance, at best. Let me offer us some proof. (Illustrate with church income). Some people don't want the preacher to ever discuss money. Why? I submit that to many, “money” has become our God. Almost every time I even mention money in a message there are 2 diverse views which are spoken. A few people say, “Preacher, you talk on money all you want because that is an area which I have no problem with.” And then I always have one to say, “Every time I come to church you're talking about money.” (if you do this today, I will know that you haven't been here since the spring of 2007!!) However, the majority say nothing. Wonder why that is?
2.(ILLUSTRATE – restaurant and church)
When the spirit of God renews a heart, it becomes His heart, a giving heart, and a consistently giving heart. He gave us this world, His word, Life, and even HIS SON. He keeps on giving. What does He ask? He asks for us to give. First, we Him all the we are, all that we have, and all the we hope to be. We begin by giving Him our heart and life, this is called being saved. Then we give Him all that we have. Think about it this way; We are His stewards and/or managers. This means it all belongs to Him and He's has loaned it to us & has temporarily left us in charge of it. To be truly renewed means that giving flows out of your heart and brings a great deal of pleasure. It demonstrates your trust.
3.The Spirit of Praise & Worship – I love reading passages like verse 25-30. It reminds me of the Solomon back in the 5th Chapter of this book. Think about it, 120 priests were blowing 'trumpets.', then there were cymbals, and other musical instruments, plus all the singers were joining together to “raise the praise” to Almighty God. For the one who believes the God of the universe, Lord of Glory, and King of Kings, should be praised in silence, the Old Testament's pictures of worship will be a little surprising, if not frightening to them. However, let it be know that the worship services like we read of here, is not focused on the music, the style of music,how many songs we did, or even how long we remained standing. The music, position of their bodies, and even the length of the time was secondary to the ONE whom they were worshiping. Know what I'm convinced of, we will know that renewal has come when during times of corporate worship, what we sing, what instrument we play, and even the decibel level is not the focus of our hearts. The Spirit of Praise and Worship is to offer to Him our total and complete attention and focus expecting to hear back from Him. This means some times we will be on our feet with our eyes and maybe hands raised toward Him while at other times, we will be on our faces before Him in humility and repentance. By the way, when we offer Him uninhibited and abandoned worship and praise His response is beyond belief. When Solomon dedicated the temple there were several times when the Priest had to stop the service because the GLORY OF THE LORD FILLED THE TEMPLE!! Lord, do it again! One of the true evidences of spiritual renewal is corporate worship and praise that is completely directed toward Him. One of the outgrowths of this particular evidence will come the desire to invite your friends, co-workers, and even family to experience the worship of God. Why? Because this type is authentic. Substance has replaced style and God is glorified.
3.The Spirit of Thanksgiving – In verse 31 Hezekiah makes a great life statement, “Now, that you are consecrated to the Lord, COME near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the Lord's Temple.” Were I to ask, “Who in here is truly thankful?” Most of us would raise our hands and yet, in almost a judgmental type of way, some would look around and say (at least in our minds), “They are not thankful. If they were, they wouldn't complain, gripe, and mulligrub so much.” Truthfully, people know whether we are truly thankful or not. When we are not thankful and don't care who knows it, we are known as being bitter and negative. Here's a secret: It doesn't matter how much you attempt to hide yourself, those who spend time with you know the truth. When we are not thankful and try to hide it (you know, try to fool people), they know the truth. Heartfelt thankfulness is seen. When we are thankful, people can see it because it permeates every part of their lives. A spirit of thanksgiving removes the scowl on your face, the bite in your comments, and the harshness of your attitude. By the way, there is nothing more fun than to be around someone who is 'thankful.' Would you like something to be thankful for? How about life, freedom, love, and forgiveness? How about Jesus?! When we get a true connection to Jesus, what He gives to us will evoke a spirit of thanksgiving which, I submit, will be infectious. No one will see it any more than the person who doesn't know Christ. We live in a culture that is ungrateful and thankless. The most difficult words to speak today seems to be, “You did a good job” or “Thank you for your work.” It is into this environment that a 'thankful' heart shines like the sun.
4.The Spirit of Awareness – Have you ever simply walked into a worship center and 'felt' that there was something different about this place? Perhaps at the time you couldn't explain what it was, but you 'felt' it. The times that I have done this have been followed by electric times of worship and praise BECAUSE there existed a sense of the presence of Almighty God. The last verse of this text tells us that “God prepared the people, and it came about suddenly” (like at Pentecost). They knew they were in the Presence of Jehovah. To corporately sense the presence of Jehovah is indeed a life-changing experience, but real renewal will implant in you an awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your everyday walk of Life. Years ago, I could not figure out what it was like to be spirit-filled. I read books, listened to tapes, and ask some selected people only to become frustrated. Though I use these terms very seldom, I believe the Lord said to me, “It is when you are aware that I'm with you, talking, walking, and advising you in every part of your life.” What I have discovered is this; If I want to do things my way without hearing another voice, then I don't want to walk in the Spirit of God. However, when I walk in the spirit, I get good advise, leadership, and help. He is there to be whatever I need.
Although I know “Spiritual Renewal” is really not something we can “program”, I submit that when God renews us there are some things present. We begin with repentance. Whether we are followers of Christ or not, repentance is the first step. What follows is the spirit of giving leading to praise and worship which leads to thankfulness which leads to awareness. These are 5 pieces of evidence which demonstrates Spiritual renewal. Can you see any of these?
