July 1, 2012
Morning Worship
Text: 2 Chronicles 14:2-3; 15:1-4, 16:1-10
Subject: Revival
Title: Are You Willing to Pay the Price for Real Revival?
Here we are – three weeks into the Spirit proclaimed “Year of the Harvest”. Are you feeling it yet? I asked that question as kind of a teaser to the subject of revival. For many revival is just that – what you feel. The Holy Spirit moves in services, people get excited and stirred up in the Spirit, you call an evangelist in to preach four nights of services, and then you watch the “feeling” slowly fade over the ensuing months.
I want you to understand something; I’m not saying that revival won’t contain some of those things that I mentioned. In fact it probably will contain all of those things at some point. But those things are not revival. Revival is bringing back to life what God intended the church to be – a church that worships in Spirit and in truth, that relentlessly works to save the lost, and that grows into the fullness of Christ.
Listen to this definition of revival that I found in an article from Revival Fires Ministries, “Heaven-sent revival is not religious entertainment, where crowds gather to hear outstanding preachers and musical programs; neither is it the result of sensational advertising - in a God-sent revival you don't spend money on advertising; people come because Revival is there! Revival is an "awareness of God" that grips the whole community, and the roadside, the tavern, as well as the church, become the places where men find Christ. Here is the vast difference between our modern evangelistic campaigns and true revival. In the former, hundreds may be brought to a knowledge of Christ and churches experience seasons of blessings, but as far as the community is concerned little impact is made; the taverns, dance halls, and movies are still crowded, and the godlessness marches on. In revival, the Spirit of God, like a cleansing flame, sweeps through the community. Divine conviction grips people everywhere; the strongholds of the devil tremble, and many close their doors, while multitudes turn to Christ!”
I want to begin this morning by sharing a brief history of the revival that took place when Asa was king of Judah. Asa followed his grandfather and father as king in Judah. Those two had turned from the Lord and led Judah into a season of rebellion and idolatry. Turn to 2 Chronicles 14:2-5, 2Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. 3He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. 4He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands. 5He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.
Asa was making an impact on his nation. But the real proof of revival is not what happens initially, but the change that follows.
Now turn over to chapter 15. This is a brief history of what happened during the time of revival at the beginning of Asa’s reign. I want to focus now on verses 1-2. 1The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. What was it that moved Asa to the reforms that he made? It was the word of God – in this case the spoken word. 8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of£ Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’S temple.
I don’t know if you see it or not but this is the same kind of prophetic word that the church received 3 weeks ago. If you do what the Lord commands you will experience the greatest revival ever seen in the church. Now here is where the real misconception about revival begins. Revival doesn’t just happen. The Holy Ghost doesn’t just fall on a church or a town. It comes because the people of God become tired of “church the way it is” and hungers for church the way God wants it.
Read 16:1-10,
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I appropriate it to my life today…
Here is where I want to take you today. When revival comes, after a while there will be a tendency to relax, get in to autopilot, and then watch it slip away. The church does not have to fall into that trap. What keeps us from experiencing real revival?
I. GIVING AWAY WHAT GOD GAVE YOU… 2Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the LORD’S temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. This is where the church world is now. For the first 350 years of church history the people of God believed in the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is recorded in the Anti-Nicene Fathers, a compilation of letters to the early church. Here are the testimonies of some eyewitnesses. For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs. — Justin Martyr, Second Apology Chapter 6, sometime before AD 165… Justin's Dialogue with Trypho contains this: Some of you are becoming disciples in the name of Christ, and quitting the path of error; who are also receiving gifts, each as he is worthy, illumined through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of the fear of God. (Chapter 39) So wouldn’t you agree that the early church took Jesus’ words to heart, because they were doing the same things that Jesus had done? Since that time there was nearly 1500 years of faithlessness in the church where “The church” gave back to the devil all the things that God had given them – healing, spiritual authority, blessings… Even today you don’t have to look very far to find people who want to give away what God has done. So when we talk about revival, shouldn’t we be looking for the gifts, the miracles, the healings, casting off demonic influences… 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. James 1:16-17, 16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
II. RELYING ON OTHER SOURCES… Who was Asa relying on? As good as he was, as sincere as he might have been in tearing down the high places and altars to Baal and the Asherah poles, and as “religious” as he might have appeared to his subjects, after a time he forgot who it was who had brought him this far. When in trouble he turned to man instead of to God. 3“Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.” 4Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. 6Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah. Asa’s alliance with the king of Aram seemed to have worked – at least for a time. There was only one problem with this partnership. These were a people who worshipped a false god and thus the treaty made was one that God could not ordain. 2 Corinthians 6:15-16, 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial£? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Psalm 145:18-19, 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Jeremiah 33:3, 3‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Proverbs 3:5-6, 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. How does that relate to revival in the church? Whether you want to admit it or not, the church today is so much like Asa. We tend to rely on outside influences to create revival. As I said earlier we hold revival services and expect great moves of the Spirit. I don’t know whether you have noticed it or not but that is an area with which I struggle. As your pastor I am careful about holding revival services because I want you all to be ready for what God is going to do. I don’t want it to be four nights and then done. But now, since we have received the prophecy about the year of the harvest, I am more inclined to hold revival services. But I don’t want us to have services to take us to revival. I want to have services because we are in revival. 7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. 9For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” 10Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people. Why? Because someone spoke a word from the Lord that didn’t set well with his agenda. His heart had changed from doing right in the eyes of the Lord to doing what seemed right in his own eyes. Somewhere along the way he forgot where the revival had come from.
III. STAYING COMMITTED TO THE LORD… The story of King Asa begins well… Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God… But it didn’t end so well. 12The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. 13Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers. What happened? Sometimes Christians become so focused on doing or not doing the things God commanded that they overlook the intimate relationship that He wants to have with them in order to empower them. Asa looked at what he had been doing right and took pride in working for God. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the book, Surrender to God, and it says, “Before you do the Work of the Lord, you must remember the Lord of the work.” How do you keep a commitment to revival in the church? How do you keep from losing what God is doing in His church?
1. Remember who the source of the revival is… 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change…
2. Stay connected to God in all things… 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Ephesians 1, 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
3. Understand the power and authority that has been given to you. Matthew 10:1, He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness…
4. Be aware of sin in your life… Acts 3:19, Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…
Corporate revival begins with personal revival. What is the next year going to bring into your life? I guess we will find out.
