WHAT REAL REVIVAL LOOKS LIKE - Part II
I Samuel 7:7-14
Recently I found a few quotes that go a long way in describing revival:
"Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing." - Robert Coleman
"Revival is a return to spiritual health after a period of decline into sin and broken fellowship with God...
Revival is for God's people when they need to be forgiven and restored to life, spiritual health, and vitality" -Blackaby & King (Fresh Encounter, Lifeway, 1993)
"Revival is an extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results." - Richard Owen Roberts
(Quotes retrieved from - http://www.baptiststart.com/print/revival_what_who.html)
The first few Chapters of I Samuel describe certain events in the life of the Children of Israel. By the time you arrive at Chapter 7, these people had faced several intense attacks from the Philistines. On one occasion Israel lost 4,000 men, on another they lost 30,000, following this the Philistines seized the Ark of the Covenant, Eli and his sons and his daughter-in-law died. Following a series of devastating plagues the Philistines thought it best to return the Ark to the people of Israel. The Ark remained in the house of Abinadab for a period of 20 years. After a period of time away from God, Israel sought counsel from their leader Samuel and took the proper steps to return to the Lord.
- This morning we began to walk through this passage and examine "What Real Revival Looks Like", this evening I would like to continue to consider that thought.
- In verses 2-4 we saw:
I. THE RECIPIENTS OF REVIVAL
II. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR REVIVAL
The recipients of revival are the people of God. The work that God did among the Israelites proves that God desires to bring revival to His people. Before God's could be revived, they has to meet certain qualifications. Samuel stated that Israel must:
"return unto the Lord with all their hearts, put away the strange gods and idols, prepare their hearts unto the Lord and serve Him only!"
- God's people today must do these same things in order to see real revival! Verse 3 covers 3 requirements for real revival:
A. THERE MUST BE A REALIZATION - You must realize your sinful condition.
B. THERE MUST BE A REMOVAL - You must remove anything that you have placed between yourself and God
C. THERE MUST BE A RESOLVE - You must turn from your man made idols and serve the Lord and Him alone!
- Once these requirements are met, revival can be a reality. As we move deeper into this passage I would like to look at what happens when a child of God experiences personal revival. Look with me to verses 7-14 as we consider:
III. THE RESULTS OF REVIVAL
- There are numerous results that will be experienced by God's people who experience revival. Our selected text covers no less that six of them. First of all we see that when you experience revival:
A. THE LORD WILL HEAR YOUR PRAYERS - v7 and when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
Keep in mind, Israel had been devastated by the Philistines in the past. It seems that they had not forgotten the defeats that they had previously endured. The people of Israel went to Samuel and begged him to intercede on their behalf.
v8 “the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.”
You can already see that there was a difference in the Israelites. Because of revival, they knew that the Lord was their helper and protector. Instead of trying to handle things on their own, they sought the Lord! They were claiming the promise given to them in v3 (if you will remove the false Gods and turn to the Lord) and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Sin creates a barrier that hinders communication between you and God. There is a great example of this in - Judges 10:13 ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
This was another occasion when Israel turned from God and served false gods. God told them that He was not going to deliver them, He instructed them to cry out to the idols that they had chosen over Him. If you turn away from the Lord, you may get the same response when you cry out to Him.
Can you imagine crying out to God and Him saying, "I will not deliver you, look to your job, your family, your hobbies, or your possessions for help!" This would be devastating, but well deserved. However, once you have been revived...once you are back in a right relationship with the Lord, you can rest assured that the Lord will hear your prayers!!
- The Lord hearing our prayers is a great result of real revival. There is another one of these results found in verse 9. When you experience revival:
B. THE LORD WILL ACCEPT YOUR OFFERING - v9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.
Samuel offered a burnt offing on behalf of Israel. A burnt Offering is one that is completely consumed by fire. The burnt offering was regarded as ascending to God while being consumed. When presenting this offering to the Lord, Samuel cried unto the Lord for the Children of Israel. And verse 9 tells us that the Lord heard him.
Several scriptures make it clear that not every offering or sacrifice is accepted by the Lord. A prime example of this is the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect...
Many professing Christians are offering things to the Lord that He refuses to accept. They are offering half hearted praise, half hearted worship, and half hearted service. Just because you offer these things to the Lord this doesn’t mean that He is pleased or will accept them.
God confronted Israel about offering Him less than their best in - Malachi 1:7-8. He said "Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts."
God will not accept anything but the best from His people. He refuses to accept leftovers! People who are not right with God and offer him token offerings are wasting their time. He will not accept it! However, when God's people return to a right relationship with Him, then He will gladly accept their offering.
- Moving on to verse 10 we will see that when you experience revival:
C. THE LORD WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ATTACKS - v10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.
Here we see the fulfillment of the promise in verse 3. Samuel told the people of Israel that if they would turn from their idols and serve the Lord, that the Lord would protect them from the Philistines. - The Philistines heard that Israel was encamped at Mizpah and they thought that they would destroy Israel without much of a struggle. They may have been somewhat arrogant because of their past victories over Israel. They were about to find out that things had changed in Israel. God was on their side and He was about to move in a mighty way.
Notice verse 10 “the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them”
God confused the Philistines and made a way for Israel to be victorious! Throughout I Samuel we have seen what the Philistines can do, they were an intimidating adversary. If Israel had not experienced revival, it is possible that they would have been slaughtered just like before. But they cried out to the Lord and He protected them from their enemy.
We have an intimidating adversary as well. Scripture warns us that he is as a "roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour". When we experience personal revival, we can cry out to God and trust Him to protect us just as He did for Israel!
- Intertwined with the fact that God will protect us from an attack is the 4th result of real revival, there we see:
D. THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY - v11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. 12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.
Israel had a responsibility in this battle, The Lord was present but they had to do their part as well. Verse 11 says “the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them” - Instead of running and hiding, Israel is now pursuing the Philistines. They went from defense to offense in a hurry! It is amazing how things changed when God’s people are revived!
Samuel reminded the people who was in control - v12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.
When we experience revival, God will help us to overcome anything our enemy throws our way. Through Jesus we can truly have victory. When we are revived we can say like the old hymn:
“Here I raise my Ebenezer”
“Here by Thy great help I’ve come”
- Not only will the Lord provide us with victory, when we experience revival:
E. THE LORD WILL PROVIDE PEACE IN YOUR LIFE - v13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ….v14b And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Notice the phrase in v14 “and here was peace” . Israel experienced the fulfilled promises of God, they were protected by God, by His hand they gained victory over their enemies. These things led to the peace that Israel experienced. They could have peace because God was on their side. When you experience revival in your life, you can and will experience this kind of peace. I don’t know about you but real, personal revival sounds pretty good to me!
- There is one more result of real revival that I would like to consider this evening:
F. THE LORD WILL RESTORE WHAT THE ENEMY HAS TAKEN - v14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines.
The ground that the enemy had seized was restored to Israel. Some of you have lost ground to the enemy. You have faced attack and you were consumed. I want you to know that you have the opportunity to return unto the Lord. You can experience personal revival today!
- Tonight we have seen several great reasons to return unto the Lord. When you experience real revival:
a) The Lord Will Hear Your Prayers
b) The Lord Will Accept Your Sacrifices
c) The Lord Will Protect You From Attacks
d) The Lord Will Provide Peace In Your Life
e) The Lord Will Restore What The Enemy Has Taken
Are you ready to see what real revival looks like? Do you desire something that is real, something that is relevant, something that is refreshing, do you desire personal REVIVAL!!!
- If you do, follow the instructions that Samuel gave Israel in verse 3:
“return unto the LORD”
“with all your heart”
“put away the strange gods from among you”
“prepare your heart unto the LORD”
“serve him only”
If you will do this as an individual, you can experience revival. When we do this collectively, we will see "What Real Revival Looks Like".
