On several occasions we have studied about revival, and a genuine revival is something that this world desperately needs. However, the reality is that this world will never experience a revival, unless the revival first takes place in each of us, that is to say the church (the Body of Christ).
Although there are several factors that can produce a revival, I would say that the three predominant factors are: the preaching of the unadulterated Word of God, people need to accept the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives us, and people must allow themselves to be filled with God’s presence. In other words, it’s like the analogy that one of the brethren of our congregation always uses when he talks about revival; he always says that for a revival to take place, it has to happen like a volcanic eruption.
I say this because the three factors that I mentioned are pretty similar to the precursors of a volcanic eruption. What are the precursors of a volcanic eruption? The three predominant factors that exist before a volcanic eruption[1] are, number one: the rise of the magma (molten rock material within the earth. [The preaching of the unadulterated Word of God; He is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29]). Number two; the pressure from the exsolved (Mineral. [of two minerals in solid solution] to separate from one another at a critical point in temperature) magma gases [People need to accept the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives us; the Holy Spirit will guide us away from sin. John 16:13-14]). Number three; the injection of a new batch of magma into an already filled magma chamber. [People must allow themselves to be filled with God’s presence at all times; build upon the foundation that has been laid down (Jude 1:20-21), so that we can fulfill the Great Commission]). Let’s now turn to the Word of God to find out how to produce a volcanic revival eruption in our life, and the world.
Psalm 85:7-13 – Show us Your mercy, LORD, And grant us Your salvation. 8I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly. 9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 11Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12Yes, the LORD will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase. 13Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
Like I always say, to have a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, we will need to conduct a brief review of history. Around 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar invaded and conquered Jerusalem. The city was sacked, and the Temple was completely destroyed. God’s people were taken captive to Babylon, and they endured captivity for a period of seventy years. This exile was God’s punishment due to their rebellion and idolatry. Some fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem, Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, and the Babylonian empire ceased to exist. Around 538 BC, King Cyrus issued a formal decree that allowed the Israelites to leave their exile and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. This is something that is well summarized in Ezra 1:2 when we read: “…Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah…”
In the book of Ezra we also find that their return was under the guidance of Zerubbabel, and that in the year 536 BC, the work of rebuilding the Temple began with enthusiasm, but that is was stopped due to the Samarian threat. This is something that is found in Ezra 4:23-24 when we read: “…Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. 24Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia…” According to the consensus of a good portion of students and scholars of the Word, the Psalm that we are exploring today was written during this time in history; that is to say, around the year 520 BC. Why I have mentioned these details?
The main reason that I have mentioned these details is to make us realize that although the rebuilding of the Temple had begun in 536 BC with excitement, this enthusiasm was stopped in 534 BC, and now in 520 BC, the Temple was still not completed. This means that about sixteen years after start of the reconstruction process, the people had failed to complete the project. Why hadn’t they finished? They hadn’t finished because they allowed worldly influence to stop God's work. Keeping these details in mind, let's now continue with our study today, and find what the psalmist tells us are the precursors of a revival.
Continuing we read: “…Show us Your mercy, LORD, And grant us Your salvation. 8I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly…” Now we must ask ourselves, how does God show us His mercy, and provides us with salvation? I don’t think that there is a person here who doesn’t know the answer to this question; as all of us know, that the answer is the Word of God. Through His Word, God shows us His love, His mercy, and what we must do to obtain salvation. This is something that is very clear in Ephesians 2:4-8 when we read: “…But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…” But in this Psalm we also find a condition that we must fulfill, this condition is clearly stated here when we read: “…I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly…” Why do I say that this is a condition that we must fulfill?
The reason I say that this is a condition that we must fulfill is because the truth of the matter is that the world is full of false doctrines; in other words, doctrines without biblical foundation that only serve to divert man from God. Doctrines without biblical foundation that only serve to confuse the believer, and to please men’s ears. That's why in Hebrews 13:8-10 we are clearly told: “…Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. 10We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat…” In other words, we must strengthen ourselves in God's truth, and not in the religions and lies that exist in the world; things that have never helped or may ever help anyone.
For example, [Catholic Religion] no matter how many candles you light to a “saint”, or how many times you “confess” your sins to a man, or how many times you pray a "Rosary", God will not listen. This is something that is very clear in the Lord's words in John 14:6 when we read: “…Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me…”
[Jehovah’s Witnesses] No matter how many times you go out in the streets to preach the “alleged” Gospel of Jesus Christ, none of this will be of any use to you if you don’t believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, and that ONLY through Him we receive eternal life[2]. This is something that is very clear for all to see in John 3:16 when we read: “…For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life…”
[Seventh-day Adventists] No matter how strict you are regarding the observance of Saturday as the Sabbath day, none of this will be worth anything unless you keep all of God’s laws; if you are going to live by the law, you must keep all of the laws (over 600) it is as we find in Galatians 3:10 that tells us: “…For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” Let’s also never forget what we find in Romans 10:4 that tells us: “…For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes…” The New International Reader’s Version of the Bible translates this verse as follows: “…Christ has completed the law. So now everyone who believes can be right with God…”
[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)] No matter how many times you go out in the street to preach “alleged” Gospel of Jesus Christ, none of this will be worth anything if you think and believe that a man is the final authority of your salvation. I say this is because according to their doctrine, “…No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the Celestial Kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith…”[3]. However, the truth of the matter is that men have nothing to do with our salvation. This is something that is extremely clear for all to see in Acts 4:11-12 when we read: “…Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. 12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved." (TNIV)
Why I have cited these examples? I have cited these doctrines or religions because these are the most popular ones today; these are doctrines and religions that if we are not completely convinced of God’s Word, if we don’t allow God’s Word to be as a consuming fire that proves the truth, then the enemy will not find it hard to distract or detour us from God’s path. So the first predominant factor that must exist so that we can experience a revival, is the flow of the unadulterated Word of God in our life. In other words, allow God’s Word to rise above all things.
Continuing with our study we read: “…Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed…” What do we see reflected in these verses? What we find reflected in these verses is a pure and willing heart; what we find reflected in these verses is the heart of a people that had received and accepted conviction of their sins; this is the prayer of a people willing to allow themselves to be guided by God. In other words: “This psalm reflects the postexilic Judaic community's faith and hope that God's loving presence could make a difference in their desperate situation”[4].
Unfortunately, today there are many who don’t have this kind of attitude. In other words, they have allowed their heart to be contaminated by the world, and thus have stopped hearing the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives us. I say this because there are many Christians who give more importance to worldly things, than to their relationship with God. However, we must never forget what the Word tells us in Colossians 3:1-2 when we read: “…If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth…” Brethren, if we don’t have a heart that is completely willing to accept the fact that God’s presence in our life can be, and is the big difference in all things, then we aren’t completely trusting God. If we are unwilling to listen to the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives us, then we will never please God. What am I trying to tell you with all of this?
What I am saying is that we must pay attention to what is happening around us, but what we can’t allow, is for these things to pollute our heart. We can’t allow the things that we can’t control to detour us from God's presence. But rather, we have to strengthen that which we can control. What can we control? We can control the way we serve God. We can control the way we love God. We can choose to hear the Holy Spirit when He convicts us, and repent. In other words, we can control choosing God above all things and at all times. Therefore, we must do as the Word tells us in Isaiah 55:6-7 when we read: “…Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon…”
The truth of the matter is that if people were more occupied in God’s things, the world wouldn’t be in the condition that it’s in. So the second predominant factor that must be present in order to experience a revival in our life, is to approach God with a heart that is willing to listen to the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives us; approach God with a heart that trusts that He is our only hope and salvation. Tell the person sitting next to you, God is the difference.
Continuing with our study we read: “…Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12Yes, the LORD will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase. 13Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway…” Here we find the last predominant factor that must exist in order for a volcanic eruption of revival to occur in our life. What is the predominant factor? The predominant factor is found here when we read: “…Truth shall spring out of the earth…” In other words, we are the earth, and Christ’s truth must spring out from within us at all times. This is one of the reasons why I never tire of saying that our testimony speaks much louder, and with much more wisdom than anything that we can express in words. And that’s why I repeat to you today, if we say that we are Christians, then we must be the example to follow. We may not be teachers; we may not be scholars, but none of this should stop us from being the example to follow. We may believe that we are still babies in the Gospel, but this should not stop any one from being the example to follow. The task of being the example to follow is not a simple matter, much less easy.
It is not easy because it means that we have to stay in constant obedience to God’s Word. And that’s why we must always examine ourselves and ask: what type of an example am I? We must examine ourselves and ask: am I an example worthy of the Gospel? We must examine ourselves and ask: does my example reflect God’s the love, mercy and power in my life? If in answering these questions you find that the example that you demonstrate is not worthy of the Gospel, then you should know that the truth can never spring out from within you. Why not? The reason is found in 1 John 1:5-6 when we read: “…This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…”
It’s impossible to persevere in a life of sin, and think that our example will attract others to God. It’s impossible to persevere in a life of sin, and say that we have fellowship with God. What must we do to so that we can be the example to follow that God has chosen us to be? (Matthew 5:14). We must build upon what He has done in our life; we must recognize our faults and mistakes, repent, and persevere in a life of holiness, then: “…the LORD will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase. 13Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway…”
To conclude; I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the result that a volcanic eruption produces, but I can tell you that it’s devastating. I say this because the flow of magma can’t be stopped by anything or anyone, and it completely destroys everything in its path.
Returning to the analogy that our brother used to describe a revival, in which he tells us that a revival will only happen like a volcanic eruption; that is, from deep inside the earth out, then we can say that in order to experience a revival the three predominant factors that produce it must be present.
Number one; we have to allow the unadulterated Word of God (all consuming fire) to rise above all things, and to completely fill our heart.
Number two; we must be willing to hear and adhere to the conviction that the Holy Spirit gives which separates us from sin, so that our heart will always be willing to accept and apply the God’s Word in all that we are.
Number three; we must be the example to follow at all times; by doing this we in fact will be fulfilling what God has commended us to do.
When these three factors are present in our life, we will then experience a volcanic explosion of revival. A revival that will come from deep within, that like the magma of a volcano will not be stopped. A revival that like the magma of a volcano will destroy all of the enemies forces in its path. Now the question that remains is: will you be that volcano?
[1] Scientificamerican.com
[2] "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth-But How?" Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1983, page 12.
[3] LDS president and prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 289
[4] Eerdmans commentary on the Bible By James D. G. Dunn, John William Rogerson, p.406
