Revival Required
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNt_Oq8GQ0Q
John Whitehead, president and founder of the Rutherford Institute said, “If there isn’t a revival in this country of some sort … we’re moving toward a state that would be very much like pagan Rome.”
There is a principle found in the Bible that basically says that if men and women are left to determine their course of action, then they will go from bad to worse, unless it is reversed by divine grace.
Such a story can be found in the 2 book of Chronicles, chapters 29-32, where the nation of Judah was under the rule of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah came to the throne at one of the darkest hours in Judah’s history.
Now, the reason I have chosen Hezekiah is that we are not far from this right now, as we see our nation and our world in a time of darkness where God is no longer wanted or looked for, and the world is shutting the doors to the worship of God.
Now the story of Hezekiah and the revival that happened at that time began with his dad, Ahaz, of whom it says, “He reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals. He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. (2 Chronicles 28:1-3 NKJV)
And it only got worse from there. He became more and more unfaithful. He removed the bronze altar of sacrifice and replaced it with an altar modeled after the pagan altar in Damascus. He also set up pagan altars throughout Jerusalem as well as throughout Judah. Eventually, he closed the doors of the temple forbidding all offerings and sacrifices.
In fact, he was so bad that he wasn’t even buried in the royal tombs.
But then came his son, Hezekiah, and a whole new chapter in the nation’s history began. And it didn’t take long. It says that on the first day of the first month of his reign, Hezekiah ordered the temple doors unlocked and for repairs to begin.
Something had to be done, and it had to be done now. It began with getting the temple cleansed so that the worship of God could begin.
He said to the priests and Levites, “For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him … Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes.” (2 Chronicles 29:6-8 NKJV)
But look at his solution. “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.” (2 Chronicles 29:10 NKJV)
And this needs to be our heart and prayer as well.
And then he challenged the priests and Levites to stop being negligent in their duties, and to follow God’s word and cleanse the temple and start to worship the Lord (verse 11, 15). And it says that once the offerings were made the people rejoiced.
And so, Hezekiah sent out letters throughout Israel for the people to come and keep the Passover saying not to be stubborn about this, but that if they return to the Lord, the Lord will turn away from His wrath.
Now, some laughed, and mocked his request, but there were those whose hearts were willing, seeking the Lord in repentance, and revival began to break out. And there has never been a Passover like that, in fact, they held the Passover for another seven days. And afterwards, the people went throughout Judah destroying the pagan altars set up by Ahaz.
And when he called for the people to bring in the tithe and the firstfruit of the harvest, the people did just that and there was so much that new rooms had to be dedicated to hold it.
This brings out a very good point, and that is, when revival takes place in the hearts of God’s people, and when God’s people are living in the midst of revival, then God’s cause will be fully supported.
You see, it is God’s nature to bless, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a person, group, church, or in an area is one of Gods greatest ways to bless.
But then we get to the question, “What is revival?” That is a loaded question, because to everyone, it is one thing or another.
What I have seen in all the revivals I have studied throughout God’s word and throughout history, what I see is that a revival is a spiritual awakening where God’s people are “excited” into action for the kingdom of God.
In one of the greatest revivals to sweep across the globe from 1901 through 1910, it is said that more than five million people were won to Christ in the first two years alone.
But, looking at the revivals of the past, like the Great Awakening from the 1700’s under Wesley and Whitefield, in the 1800’s with Finney, or those in the early 1900’s there were common denominators in all of them, like mass evangelism, or a spiritual awakening to God’s presence within the church where God’s people became “excited” into action for God’s Kingdom. But further, it’s where unrighteousness was restrained, and righteousness reclaimed, and morality restored. Hearts melted under God’s word and sins were readily confessed and repented of. There was also a visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit, much like it was back with the first church on the Day of Pentecost.
The most pronounced was in India in 1905, as revival began in a girl’s center. As the girls were praying for revival, one of the girls was on her knees weeping when suddenly a visible fire flamed around her. One of the girls ran and got a pail of water until they realized that it wasn’t a literal fire. The girl told them to repent and many of them did just that and testified that they experienced a holy burning within, and how they were then baptized with fire. From that one event, revival swept through the entire nation.
I’d like to just take a quick look at what Charles Finney said were the characteristics of the revival in America in the 1800’s, and then what Even Roberts said about the revival he saw in Wales in the early 1900’s.
Finney: (1) A mighty spirit of prevailing prayer. (2) An overwhelming conviction of sin. (3) Sudden and powerful conversions to Christ, and (4) Great earnestness and activity in their labors for God.
Roberts: (1) Confession of sins. (2) Repentance. (3) Obedience to the Holy Spirit, and (4) Open confession of Christ.
Now, revival always begins in the heart of God’s people, and is extended to the local church, a whole community, a nation, and even to the whole world, which is what is seen in the revival in the early 1900’s, where God’s people and nations were spiritually awakened to the Lord God, morally transformed, and a widespread outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not to mention conversions to Christ on a massive scale.
Now, it’s easy to say that revival is what we need, but the question is why, what signs is the church displaying that says, we need revival more than air itself.
Why Revival?
First it might be because of the Worldliness that has invaded the church. It is where the church is run more like a business and less like a place where God’s presence resides. Where it is more about what a person wears, or how well the preacher dresses and how well he or she speaks.
But then I look at Jesus, and it says of Him that there was nothing about Him that would draw people to him appearance wise.
“He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:2-3 NKJV)
Of his own ministry, the Apostle Paul said, “‘For his letters,’ they say, ‘are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” (2 Corinthians 10:10 NKJV)
The Harvard Theological Review in the writings from Onesiphorus said that Paul was “A man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked.”
We also see an overall Indifference on the part of God’s people. Indifferent about God’s word, where the society that we live in has more to say about what is right and what is wrong than the Bible.
The church today is a lot like the nation of Israel back in the time of Judges, where the people did what was right in their own eyes and failed to obey the Lord. Or we could liken it to the church of Laodicea who was neither hot or cold, but rather they were Lukewarm, and so unpalatable to God that He is going to vomit the church out from His mouth.
And so, if I were to put a synopsis to this, so far I’d say that is that when we are at our lowest, or worst, that is when God is at His best, sending the blessing of revival to His people, church, and to the nations.
Therefore, a revival is a sovereign work of God in the lives of His people that is also directly related to their obedience, which is seen in one of God’s promises, that also just so happens to be the classic of example that there is something to do on the part of God’s people for God’s blessings to fall.
One such example of this principle is seen in the giving of the tithe. Through the prophet Malachi, the Lord said, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10 NKJV)
It is often referred to the “if,” and “then,” of God’s promises. For our study, this is seen in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)
And so, what then is our responsibility if we want to see revival, and then what God’s promises to do. In other words, what then should be done. What is our responsibility in moving toward revival?
1. Pray for Revival
“Humble themselves and pray”
Most revivals have their roots in long periods of being-the-scenes intercessory prayer. This was Finney’s first point, that was a mighty spirit of prevailing prayer. Evan Roberts talked about how there were two woman who, after years of prayer, contacted him and said how the Lord had called him to come to their community. And when he said that he wasn’t sure about coming, they said that God was going to send revival, and either he could be a part of what God was doing, or God would use someone else.
Now, the idea here about humbling oneself could be either one of two things, or both at the same time, which I believe is the case.
To humble oneself is to be like John the Baptist who said that he must decrease so the Jesus could increase. And then there is what the Apostle James said.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10 NKJV)
But by connecting these two together, it could be that to humble ourselves is too fast and then add these times of fasting to prayer. Ezra, before undertaking the journey to Jerusalem said, “I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.” (Ezra 8:21 NKJV)
I have always likened prayer and fasting as two six shooters from the old westerns. With one, we’ve got six shots, with the other we double our chances of success. But when we don’t, we’re leaving in our spiritual holsters the two greatest spiritual weapon we possess.
But to see such revival in our day, we must pray, for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
But going back to what Ezra said about seeking God for the right way, brings me to the second point.
2. A Sincere Desire for Revival
“Seek My face”
Our desire should be for the Lord to increase our hunger and thirst for righteousness, and that God would visit us in His grace. This should be our desire, and that is a longing for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in our lives and in the church.
We see this desire on the part of the early church, as they obeyed Jesus’s command to wait in Jerusalem for such an outpouring.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV)
This was Jesus’s promise as He referenced John the Baptist’s baptism, with the baptism of the Holy Spirit saying, “For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:5 NKJV)
And so it was, that 10 days later, while they were in prayer in the upper room, and rushing mighty wind came upon them, and there was tongues as of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and it was from this that the church was formed.
3. Confession And Repentance
“Turn from their wicked ways.”
Finney referred to this in his list of characteristics Finney described an overwhelming conviction of sin, and Roberts first two points were confession of sins, that is, an acknowledgment on our part of our sinfulness, and Repentance, which means a turning away from our sins and turning towards God.
Peter, in his address to the people who gathered around after the lame man was healed by the gate called Beautiful, said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 NKJV)
There must be on the part of God’s people as spirit of humility where we mourn our departure from God, that is, our sins. Where we rend our hearts, that is in true repentance, and not through some ritual.
“So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him.” (Joel 2:13-14a NKJV)
4. Obedience to God
“If My people who are called by My name will.”
In our verse, we see this obedience in the word, “will.” We will, but what? We will humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.
Again, I go to what Finney lists out saying, “Obedience to the Holy Spirit.”
It’s one thing to know the truth, but it is something quite different to obey what the Holy Spirit is saying.
To the churches in the book of Revelation, Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:29 NKJV)
It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to obey God’s word. Jesus said that this is the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming saying, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth … and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13 NKJV)
5. Expect Revival
“Then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
We must possess, the Spirit of anticipation and expectation.
The Gospel of Mark records a leper approaching Jesus saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean … Then Jesus, moved with compassion … said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (Mark 1:40-41 NKJV)
When Jesus was amongst us, there wasn’t a single person He turned away, but met their need. It says, “When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.” (Luke 4:40 NKJV)
King David said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” (Psalm 103:2-4 NKJV)
Thinking about expecting God to move, I remember the car sticker that said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.”
And then I think about Abraham and his faith in God to do what He had promised in giving he and Sarah a son, even though they were well past their childbearing years. You see, Abraham’s faith wasn’t in his ability, rather it was in God.
Abraham’s faith was in the all-powerful God who has the power to breathe life where no life exists. Abraham believed that God could give life, make alive, vitalize, revive, and resurrect. His faith was in the Lord who can create something where nothing exists.
Conclusion
Let me conclude by saying that revival is a sovereign act of God, and it isn’t something that we can work up in the flesh.
In responding to my teaching on revival, one pastor acknowledged the church’s shortcoming in this area saying, “Revival must be redefined. Revival is the rekindling of the Spirit's fire in the lives of believers. Instead, we have made it a week of meeting where a preacher preaches salvation messages to those who are already saved. When the church is revived sinners will be saved in their homes, their workplaces, on the street and everywhere the revived church (people) interacts with them.”
Instead of another program, we need to start getting on our knees, that is, we need more knee-ology than theology. We must desire revival more than our need for air. We need to confess and repent of our sins, obey God’s word, and then have that spirit of expectation and anticipation.
And then God will hear, forgive, and heal, and revival will once again sweep across our souls, communities, nation, and world.
