Every single Christian and every church will need revival. Revival is part of the pattern the Holy Spirit uses to reconnect you to the gospel.1 Revival and spiritual awakening is when a group of people rediscover the power of the gospel.
Nearly every single person can look at church and conclude the church was built for more impact than any church is seeing today. Even nonreligious people can look over a church and say, “I’m not that impressed. Your behavior doesn’t match your beliefs.” And they go on ignoring the church. So every Christian and every church will need revival.
A revival is a time when sleepy Christians wake up, when nominal Christians convert to Christ, and when non-Christians come to faith in Christ. This is accompanied by an increase in the conviction of sin, an increase in the consciousness of God’s mercy and our unworthiness.
I invite you to find Romans 4 with me.
No one can force a major revival to happen by pushing the right buttons. Here are 3 marks that help distinguish a real awakening from the phony emotional stuff that passes for an awakening.
I’ll be in Romans 4 with you in a moment.
3 Marks of True Revival
Jonathan Edwards was the great pastor in Northampton, MS, and experienced several revivals in his time there. In fact, nearly 300 years ago, during the First Great Awakening, he penned a book where he outlines these 3 true marks of a revival. Usually, a time of renewal is preceded by a crisis, and during the crisis, God’s people really seek His presence.2 The people of God had a thirst for the living God.3 When you study the awakenings in the past, I don’t know of one that wasn’t preceded by an extraordinary time of prayer. The Holy Spirit uses “extraordinary prayer” — united, persistent, and kingdom-centered prayer.
1. A Deeper Awareness of God’s Presence
2. An Increased Sensitivity to Sin
Whenever you see an awakening taking place, you see people crying out to God in confession of sin.4 A true revival will see someone’s conscience awakened. A true revival will see a lot of people in despair and sadness.
“Pastor, why would you want a revival, a time when people are in despair and sadness?” Because to reach the mountain top, you have to visit the valley. Because the surgeon cuts you in order to heal you.
1. A Deeper Awareness of God’s Presence
2. An Increased Sensitivity to Sin
3. A Renewed Discovery of God’s Grace
The strange thing about an awakened congregation is you’ll have a mixture of sadness and joy in the same room. There’s sadness because we realize the true weight of our sins, but there’s real gladness because we begin to appreciate the significance of the gospel.
A lot of people right now are living life like this: “I live a good life; therefore Jesus accepts me.” But when revival comes, there’s new embrace that Jesus saves sinners by grace. There’s a new grasp of the wonder of God’s grace. So in place of, “I live a good life; therefore Jesus accepts me,” it’s now, “Jesus accepts me through nothing I’ve done; now I’ll can a good life!”5 In a few moments, I’ll be extending an invitation where some of you will leave this room differently. Your life will be lighter as your sins will be removed and you will experience the grace of God for the first time.
I hope you have found Romans 4.
Today’s Scripture
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…”
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:1–5; 16-25).
One of my stories from the First Great Awakening is a very old testimony by a man named Nathan Cole, a Connecticut farmer. He lived in Middlebury, Connecticut in the 1740s. He was virtually illiterate. It is a testimony of how he came to Christ by listening to the great George Whitefield preach in a field in Connecticut in 1741. It’s a remarkable story.
Show 4-minute video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/111452023/cba391c0ac
Dim lights on stage
The last words of his testimony are very simple. The climax is, “My hearing him preach gave me a heart wound; by God’s blessing, my old foundation was broken up, and I saw that my righteousness could not save me.” That’s a spiritual awakening.
1. The Person6
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” (Romans 4:1-2). Verse 1 begins by asking what Abraham discovered. The question is answered in verses 2 through 5.
1.1 Who Was Abraham?
“What’s the big deal about Abraham?” you might ask. Abraham’s story is in the Old Testament but he’s such a big deal that your New Testament mentions Abraham more than 70 times. If you were a Jew, then you would know who Abraham was. Abraham is to our Jewish friends what George Washington is to Americans. Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation. Abraham is the 1st person who is chosen by God and Abraham is the founder of the nation, Israel. Abraham married Sarah and the 2 were really old but didn’t have any children. Abraham’s real claim to fame is this: God chose him and made some very special promises to him.
1.2 Abraham and the Gold Jacket
Did you know that many Jews felt Abraham was so good, that he essentially saved himself? Yes, if morality were a sport, then Abraham would wear a Hall of Fame gold jacket because of his good deeds. He would be in Cooperstown for his life, and banquets would be thrown in his honor. Let me show you have the average Jew thought about Father Abraham when your New Testament was written. The 3rd division of the Jewish Mishnah makes this statement about Abraham: “we find that Abraham our father had performed the whole Law before it was given” (The Talmud of Babylonia). And then another Jewish book written around 100 years before Jesus, called the Jubilees, says this about Abraham: “Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord and was pleasing through righteousness all of the days of his life” (Jubilees 23:10). Neither of these quotations is from the Bible.
Again, if religion were a sport, then Abraham would wear a Hall of Fame gold jacket because of his good deeds. He would be in Cooperstown for his life, and banquets would be thrown in his honor.
Listen to how The Message paraphrases the 1st 3 verses of Romans 4: “So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, ‘Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.’”
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” (Romans 4:2-4).
You can draw a circle around the words “justified” in verse 2 and “counted” in verses 3 and 4. The word “justified” means to “declare righteous.” Righteousness is the worthiness to stand in the presence of God without any fear of personal condemnation.
Verse 4 says, in effect, “If you impressed God by good deeds, this would be work, and God would be obligated to you.” “Instead, when God sees your faith in Jesus Christ, He credits this as a lifetime of good deeds.”
1.3 Abraham and the Calculator
Now, Romans 4 has an accounting theme running through much of it, so I will switch by metaphors for a moment.
“And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…” (Romans 4:5).
The word “counted” toward the end of verse 5 is a word that means to determine by mathematical process.7 That word “counted” is a big deal as it appears 11 times in this chapter. For most Jews’ thinking of the day, God puts on his accounting visor and grabs His big celestial calculator, and adds up Abraham’s good acts. For most Jews, Abraham’s tale of the calculator tape was so long that he earned his way into Heaven.
By the way, if God went into accounting mode and began to calculate your good deeds, how long would the tape be? How long would your personal tape be?
And if He were to get a separate calculator out for the things you’ve done wrong, how long would that tape be? Again, revival comes, and spiritual awakening comes when your heart and mind realize the grace of God.
The heart’s default mode is this: “I live a good life; therefore, Jesus accepts me.” So in place of, “I live a good life; therefore Jesus accepts me,” it’s now, “Jesus accepts me through nothing I’ve done; now I’ll can a good life!”
1.4 “Do It Yourself”
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” (Romans 4:1-2).
DIY is popular for many. Standing for Do It Yourself, there’s “Do It Yourself” in flipping your homes, “Do It Yourself” in renovating your bathroom, or “Do It Yourself” craft projects. But there’s NOT “Do It Yourself” when it comes to safe and secure before God. The Apostle Paul (also a Jewish person) says, “Yes, Abraham was a good man, but he didn’t save himself.” Does God make life and the afterlife, a “Do It Yourself” project?
1.5 Billy, the Alcoholic
Billy could not escape the sense of rejection he felt when he was sober. So, Billy drank until he was an alcoholic. Billy was an orphan, and his adoptive parents placed ridiculous demands on him. He was too young to understand his “father’s” questions, so he was beaten until he was bloody. His “mother” would laugh at him and tell him they were going to take him back to the orphanage unless he “smartened up.” When Billy grew up, he felt he could only escape the pain of their rejection only inside a bottle of booze. You don’t become a child of Abraham by your “Do It Yourself” good deeds.
1. The Person
2. The Promise
Skip ahead to verse 17 to see God’s promise to Abraham: “as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be’” (Romans 4:17-18).
Remember, Abraham’s claim to fame is this: God chose him and made some very special promises to him.
God’s promise to Abraham is immensely big inside the pages of your Bible. Paul quotes from Genesis 17:5 as recalls the promise God made to Abraham 2,000 years from Paul and 4,000 years from us.
2.1 Promises
Many of us remember John F. Kennedy’s promise/challenge on May 25, 1961, of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade.8 NASA backed up the President because Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon by July 1969. Pretty impressive promise, wouldn’t you say?
But do you know THE Promise? “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies…” (Genesis 22:17).
Now, verse 3 mentions that Abraham believes God’s promise: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).
For many of you, it wouldn’t be a big deal if God promised you a child or even many children. But Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had gone through menopause, and her womb was past reproduction. But Abraham pushed through the obvious doubts to really and clearly see the character of God, the qualities of God, and the capabilities of God.
2.2 Trusting God’s Character
“as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be’” (Romans 4:17-18).
True faith begins and ends with God. You see, unbelief denies the very person of God. Unbelief denies His character. Unbelief denies His integrity. Unbelief denies His reliability. Unbelief denies His truthfulness.
Abraham believed the one “…who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17b).
If you’re going to really be serious in trusting God, then you must know the God who specializes in resurrection and creation. Our God specializes in raising dead things to life and bringing things into existence. You met Abraham, the Person, and you know a little about the Promise made to Abraham. You have a choice today between unbelief and belief – which will you choose?
1. The Person
2. The Promise
3. The Problem
“In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be’” (Romans 4:18).
Abraham is faced with 2 seemingly insurmountable impossibilities. Impossibility #1, “Abraham, you’re going to have a son.” Impossibility #2, that God cannot lie.
Did you hear about the 90-year-old man who married a 90-year-old woman? The couple immediately began looking for a house next to an elementary school. That is faith, wouldn’t you agree?9 Abraham is a 99-year-old man and Sarah is an 89-year-old woman. Imagine you’re walking down the grocery aisle behind an old couple. She is on a walker, and he is in a scooter, and the two doddle along. Of all the aisles, these 2 are ambling their way down the baby aisle.
They pick up …
• pampers
• formulae
• bottles
• baby shampoo
• infant toys
• and baby powder
You would think to yourself, “These two are having a grandchild,” right?
With God all things are possible.
1. The Person
2. The Promise
3. The Problem
4. The Performance
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Genesis 4:20-21).
There were some bumps along the way yet, Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Remember, Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Genesis 4:20-21).
4.1 DNA Testing
I saw another one recently. I wonder if you saw it, too. A California woman was reunited with her son… a son she thought had died at birth 30 years ago. Tina was 17 years old when gave birth. Raised by an abusive mother, she was told that her baby died 15 minutes after it was born. The baby was sick and the baby did not make it. Tina moved on from this horrible event to marry her husband, Eric. Eric and Tina went on to have 5 children. 30 years passed, and Tina would become depressed around the date of the 1st child’s birth every year. Every year, her husband and she would celebrate the baby’s birthday. Somewhere along the way, her daughter encouraged her to take a DNA test, and that’s when Tina received an email. The email went like this, “I think we need to talk, it says we’re related, and it says you’re my mom.” At 47, Tina discovered her mother had lied to her about the death of her baby, and her child was alive and well. She had been adopted 5 days after her birth, she lives in New Jersey and is 29 years old with her own son.10
4.2 Children of Abraham
Now, Abraham’s father, Isaac who has 12 children, and they have many more children. Can you imagine if Abraham were around in our day with DNA tests such as 23 and Me? Can you imagine if Abraham had his cell phone number listed in public in the day and time with all these genetic tests? Yet, the real children of Abraham are not the Jewish people by blood but believing children. Abraham learned that blood may be thicker than water, but blood is not thicker than faith.11
God gave Abraham a promise and God kept His promise. See all the way down to verse 24 with me: “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:24–25).
Notice the word “count” appears again. God counts our faith as righteousness. It is by faith that we are made right by God. The Bible is a story about what’s wrong with the human race and the world and what God has done to put it right in Jesus Christ. Here in Romans 4, we have maybe the most compact place that the Bible tells us exactly what God has done to put things right in Jesus Christ
4.3 Four False Beliefs
Go back to Billy, the alcoholic with me again.
Like Billy, most of us have tapes running in our minds that motivate us either to achieve or just give up.
We are working to gain someone’s “atta boy” or we just throw our hands up in the air because it is hopeless.
Here are four traps that most of us live in even if we are believers in Christ.
The Performance Trap12
I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself.
The Approval Addict
I must be approved by certain others to feel good about myself.
The Approval Addict
Those who fail (including myself) are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished.
Shame
I am what I am; I cannot change; I am hopeless.
The message of the Bible changes all this. The Bible’s message is a message of God’s grace and His acceptance of you by the cross of Jesus. When you place your faith in Jesus, your faith is credited as righteousness. God sees you as if you did all the righteous deeds that Jesus Himself did.
You are given Jesus’ report card, His resume! The message of the grace of God frees you from The Performance Trap, The Approval Addict. The Approval Addict, and the Shame Game. Because of God’s grace, I am fully pleasing to God.
1. The Person
2. The Promise
3. The Problem
4. The Performance
5. The Praise
Your Bible says at the end of verse 20: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God…” (Romans 4:20b).
Faith and praise are two sides to the same coin. As faith trusts the character of God, praise thanks the greatness of His character. If salvation were a “Do It Yourself” project, I’d congratulate me. But salvation is a turnkey project professionally done by God Himself.
Invitation
Some of you believers have forgotten the grace of God and you are in slavery in the Performance Trap or the Shame Game. Today you need to live in the grace of God. For others of you today, your sin has separated you from God. God sent His Son to die on the cross to make you acceptable to God.
Repent – ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a U-turn
Believe – put all your faith in Jesus Christ
Receive – the last thing you need to do is to call upon the name of the Lord.
Endnotes
1 Timothy Keller, “Foreword,” in Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal, Expanded Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1979), 8.
2 This was the first mark for Jonathan Edwards in his work, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. R. C Sproul and Archie Parrish, The Spirit of Revival (With the Complete, Modernized Text of The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God): Discovering the Wisdom of Jonathan Edwards (Wheaton, IL: Crossway), 89.
3 William Buell Sprague refers to this as, “The first step usually is an increase of zeal and devotedness on the part of God’s people.” William Buell Sprague, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (New York: D. Appleton & Cos Valuable Publications, 1832), Kindle Locations 373-374.
4 This was the first mark for Jonathan Edwards: “This work of the Spirit of God confirms and establishes people’s minds in the truth of what the Gospel declares to us about Jesus being the Son of God and the Savior of men.” Ibid., 87.
5 Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 54.
6 I owe this outline to Pastor Adrian Rogers from his sermon, “Strong Faith,” September 2, 1984.
7 William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, “??????µa?,” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 597.
8 https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/racing-to-space/moon-decision.cfm; accessed October 19, 2019.
9 I owe this illustration to James Merritt from his sermon, “Faith of Our Fathers.”
10 https://www.newsweek.com/california-woman-reunited-son-died-birth-30-years-ago-dna-test-1465206; accessed October 15, 2019.
11 I owe this sentence to James Merritt from his sermon, “Faith of Our Fathers.”
12 Robert McGee, The Secret of Significance (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002).
