Experiencing God in revival
2 Chronicles 15
Introduction-
Good morning everyone- Glad that you have joined us.
If you have your Bible or Bible app please turn to 2 Chronicles 15 and we will read the text in just a moment.
I try to be careful how I use words because I have been known to mispronounce words or at times use the wrong word. We have had times of laughter as people have shared different experiences over the last 17 years. Zibolskiism’s… as some call them are a list of words used wrong.
One example years ago instead of saying the word mohawk, which is a spiked haircut in the middle of your head and shaved on the side. I said tomahawk and a young lady in church was waiting for me after service with a picture of a person with a tomahawk in their head.
What makes it funny is that they are similar enough that if used wrong they still have a bit of truth. One person pictures one thing and others a different picture.
Communication is hard because we cannot read people’s minds and we assume a lot of times that people are on the same page as we are.
I recently read a poll result by the Barna Group that says between 25-57% of the people in America do not believe that Satan exist. Let that sink in a minute.
You should be flooded with a whole lot of questions you would ask these people.
People you rub shoulders with everyday are people that share very different views than yours.
Do you realize how messed up your theology is that you do not believe that Satan exist!
You do not believe that Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden because it was Satan that tempted them.
You don’t believe that you need a savior (Jesus) because you do not believe sin is a problem and you are not a bad person.
These same people believe that God is a loving God that forgives sins… even sins that you don’t ask forgiveness for.
There are people who believe that a Holy Perfect God WITHOUT SIN would make an exception for them because they are not as bad as some of the other people.
They live life like Jesus died for nothing!
That we don’t have to be in a personal relationship with Jesus, you can do your own thing and on the day of judgment all the warnings will be pushed aside and ALL will go into heaven based upon their own merits and the judgment of God will be balanced on how much good you do or the grace that God has to give you because He is a loving God.
No matter if you are Christian, Buddhist, Islam or nothing at all, even an Atheist who does not even believe in God somehow on the day of judgment will all be in a better place.
They believe the cross of Christ is only one way of many ways to get to heaven- they believe that no matter if you do not believe in Jesus miracles, that He walked this earth, that you don’t believe He went to the cross for your sin, that He was not resurrected Easter morning…They will be in heaven looking down on us and waiting for us. Those who never gave the Lord time in their life.
Those are the lies from the pit of Hell and they smell like smoke!
The sermon title is “Experiencing God in revival”
This country needs Jesus and God’s people need revival- two different things that need to happen.
The word revive is a word made up of two parts- Re-meaning again, and vive meaning life- revive mean to live again. We need the Lord to bring God’s people back to life and we need this country to be born again and experience the grace and mercy and redemptive power of God to work in their lives. YOU CANNOT BE REVIVED IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN VIVED!
God has to speak to the lost and bring them into a relationship with Christ and Christ has to do something fresh and new in God’s people and restore back to them the love of the Lord that they had when they were first saved by His grace.
Those that are dead in sin don’t need revival-they need life that comes from being born again.
Revival is returning to spiritual health- that is what the church needs. To restore a right relationship with God. This country who is far from God needs to have a heart change- to ask Jesus into their lives and allow Him to change them from the inside out instead of from the outside in. there are a lot of people who look good and think they have the world by the tail but they have nothing eternal. Everything is temporal and cannot be taken when they die.
I want to speak to those outside of the faith but for the next few minutes I want to speak to God’s people who need a revival to begin in their life.
For those that need a fresh encounter with Christ- to make their relationship right with their savior. Who are willing to ask God for forgiveness and do what it takes to walk with Him again.
Unless you change your relationship with God and allow God to repair it, you will go back to the way it was before. You will fight to maintain that relationship. You must determine that you will be obedient to what you know in God’s word and be willing to be a disciple that is learning and doing.
Jesus said “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.” John 14:23
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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God’s people being revived- repenting and humbling themselves, praying, seeking God and turning from the ways they know are not pleasing to God. He will heal their land.
As we do that we will see unbelievers come to Christ because discipline begins in the house of the Lord and we will see others repent and change and have a transformation.
The text has some main characters- King Asa, the great-great grandson of King David and the prophet Azariah who has come to warn the king and the people that change must be done.
2 Chronicles 15:1-15 read from Bible
In the old days, way back when I was a kid- revival was a two week process. The speaker would come in the first week and speak to the needs of God’s people getting right with the Lord and the second week would be God’s people going out and bringing the unsaved to services wanting the Lord to speak to them and bring them into a relationship with him. Today, people don’t have that kind of time…revival is now a weekend thing and it is packed with entertainment of speakers and musicians and designed to make someone feel good and encouraged.
Revival is the changing of a heart toward the Lord
Life can do a number on our faith. Sometimes, life is so painful and difficult, or we are so caught up in unfulfilling relationships and harmful behaviors, that we turn away from our faith in God.
There are other times when someone else who believes in God hurts us. That feeling of being betrayed by someone who is supposed to live by their faith and love others can make it all the more difficult to turn back to God.
But it is possible for God to soften and change your heart. You can change from the inside out and have a relationship with God that is fulfilling and will bring you unspeakable joy.
I will remove from you your heart of stone.”
Revival is allowing God to take your hard, broken heart and give you a heart that is not made of stone but one tender to the things of God.
To live again or maybe for some to live for the first time with a heart that is not centered on self but God.
Romans 12:2.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Giving your heart to God means a new life, a new purpose, a new sense of self. It means washing your earthly worries away, day after day, and trusting in Him to guide you.
King Asa saw that as he made a decision and began tearing down the idols and things that were displeasing to God. He tore down what was offensive to God and built up what was pleasing to God.
The altar, the place where we make time for God and speak to Him about things going on in our life. The altar is anyplace we get quiet and let the Lord speak to us.
Revival begins in us and is lived out for others
We say we want revival in this country- we want change. We see problems with others but until we see that we ourselves have to change we will not see revival because it first has to start with us- we are the change factor. God takes our hard heart and softens and speaks to us and with that heart after God we begin to be sensitive to others that are around us.
I once asked Becky why she took notes of the sermon when she could ask me things about the sermon during the week. Here’s what this women of God told me- she said that during the week you and the Lord are speaking so that you understand and get what the Lord is saying. On Sunday, you have worked that out and you are speaking what you believe the lord has given you not what you want to preach!
I am still reading some of her notes left in her bible
When Godly things are going on here (make circle around) people are going to notice.
I take this illustration from Jensen Franklin
Illustration-
A man was out driving and broke down on the side of the road. He had the hood up and was doing everything that he knew to do to get it running without much luck. A big fancy limousine pulls aside of him and a man dressed to the nines get out and say what is the problem. He tells him he cannot get it started and the man ask him to go inside the car and he will give it a look. He fiddles and moves a few things and then ask the man inside the car to try starting it- first crack the car starts and as the man get out of the car and the man wipes his hands on his handkerchief he thanks him and ask why he would stop and help me? He says my name is Henry Ford and I don’t like seeing my creation on the side of the road when they were designed to keep moving.
That is how the Lord must feel about us- we were designed with purpose and when we are not operating right, He desires to fix what is wrong and get us moving!
People can tell when broken people begin living and operating as God designed us.
Revival is a lifestyle that changes society instead of society changing us
Most think if we allow the Lord to change us, we will become missionaries, preachers, have to move to some unknown country…some of us will be asked to do those things but for most of us it is to just get focused on God and then be sensitive to those around us.
To make an impact on the lives of those we have contact with everyday.
To see a need and if you can meet it…meet it in Jesus name!
Study your bible and have a relationship with the Lord that you say you serve.
Close-
How many would have to be honest and say that we xould use a boost in our relationship with the Lord?
We have good intentions but it has not happened yet?
You have to begin somewhere- how about this? Today take a moment and tell the Lord that you recognize that this world has dumped on you and it has affected our relationship with Him?
We need revival, the church can use a revival. In our brokenness we come begore the Lord confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness. With His forgiveness comes cleansing and restoration! We cannot change a heart- not even our own without God’s help. He begins to peel back layers- until we admit we are not the people we use to be-thank you Jesus!
A great awakening begins in our heart, in our lives-then it spreads to others.
prayer
