WHY WE NEED A REVIVAL
Lamentations 3:40-41
Do we need a revival in America today? Do we need a revival in our Church?
DEFINITION OF REVIVAL: a period in which something becomes popular again after a long period of time.
: the growth of something or an increase in the activity of something after a long period of no growth or activity.
There are indications that a revival is desperately needed and some of these are as follows:
I. LACK OF LOVE BETWEEN CHRISTIANS
Certainly those who claim the title “evangelical” and the more militant “fundamentalists” have often shown a spirit of bitterness and division which has grieved our Lord and hurt His cause.
Legalism will kill a church. Too many Man-Made rules.
II. WORLDLINESS IN THE CHURCH
The personal practices of professing Christians not only weaken the fitness of the Church, they cause the individual Christians to lose their zest for things of the Spirit. A revival brings cleansing from those things which dim spiritual joy.
I’m not talking about worldliness COLLECTIVELY I’m talking about worldliness INDIVIDUALLY! Each of us is a little church.
III. POWERLESS CHRISTIANS AND A POWERLESS CHURCH
When the Holy Spirit has sway in the heart of a Christian he or she is a person of power in things of eternal importance. One of the outstanding characteristics of so many of us Christians, and the Church as a whole, is a lack of power against the multiplied forces of evil.
Satan knows what makes us tick… we need to know what makes him tick.
IV. A LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE LOST
The very heart of the Christian message is wrapped up in the fact that men without Christ are eternally lost. A revival brings an immediate concern for one’s own eternal destiny, and concern for the salvation of other sinners.
Sometimes it takes an assurance in our own salvation before we can have a concern for the lost.
V. IGNORANCE OF GOD’S WORD
The ignorance of Christians about the Bible is appalling. When revival comes people are immediately led by the Holy Spirit to study the Book which is inspired by the Spirit; and there comes a hungering for the teaching to be found there and nowhere else.
It’s not UNCOOL to carry a Bible! You don’t have to be a “fundamentalist” to carry a Bible.
VI. PRAYERLESSNESS
Coupled with an ignorance of the Bible goes its certain counterpoint, a failure to appreciate the PRIVILEGE and the POWER of PRAYER. When revival comes, the joy of prayer is restored and God’s almighty power is released: for He has ordained that through importunate prayer we can overcome the forces of evil; in our own lives and in the society of which we are a part.
PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!! Discussion on Wednesday night.
Another note: IT’S NOT UNCOOL TO COME TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT SERVICE.
VII. LOW STANDARDS OF MORALITY
Indifference on the part of Christians to personal and corporate sins of society has made present conditions possible. Revival will bring with it a restoration of moral and spiritual values which will have a deep effect on our entire national life.
CARPE DIEM (book by Tony Campolo, pages 28-29) Pervasive Apathy
