Pentecostal Revival, Our Only Hope
The cry we hear rising from within the church is a cry for revival. We sing songs like "Revive Us O Lord," "Light the Fire Again" and others which represent our heart cry, the heart cry for revival. How many of you want to see not only a revival in the nations, but a personal revival in your own lives?
Stand with me as we read the Word of God in opening tonight’s service. Turn in your Bibles to 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."
PRAYER
I key to revival is found in this verse. The word revival comes from the Latin word, re, which means "again," and vivo, which means "to live". Revival literally means "to live again." Where do we find revival? It may not necessarily be great preaching, or people being converted, or huge crowds of Christian people. Revival is found in people who love the Lord Jesus Christ in a deep and powerful way.
One of the great books written on revival was by Charles Finney called Lecture Notes on Revival. Quite a powerful book. Finney describes revival as "a new beginning of obedience to God."
This is what our church needs, "a new beginning of obedience to God." That is what I hope will be birthed this month as we look at the issues of Lordship and prayer, a new beginning of obedience to God. Amen.
Again, the key is found in the passage in 2 Chronicles we just read. It is a promise from God that if the church, His people, will do their part, then God will fulfill a promise He also makes in the same verse. I want to break this prayer down so we will have a fuller understanding of what our part is and God’s promise to us.
1. If My people, who are called by My name.
Revival begins with the people of God. It is when you and I who have been bought by Jesus Christ and have accepted and made Him our Lord and Savior begin to believe the answer to this lost and saying world is within our grasp. This is a tremendous responsibility, but God has given to the church the power through the Holy Spirit to accomplish what He has set before us. Understand this, when God asks His church, you and I, to do something, He will always give us the ability to do, He just awaits for us to have the courage to do it.
How do we move in the ability to accomplish His purpose. We need to pray that the eyes of our understanding be open so we can see what God wants to do through us, and that our ears will be open to hear the voice of God calling and encouraging us to press on. Imagine what we would forge ahead and do for the Kingdom if each one of us responded with the knowledge, understanding and obedience to the call of God for our generation.
2. If my people...will humble themselves.
Humility. God’s people must be broken, modest and humble. We are not to be proud and arrogant. James 4:6 states, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Do you want God’s grace upon your life? Tragically I have seen Pentecostal people who have become spiritually arrogant. Because they have walked into a deeper communion with God than some others of non-Pentecostal belief, they walk and talk with spiritual arrogance. Be careful. God’s gifts are irrevocable, but the presence of God becomes distant when we act superior to others. When God’s people are humble, He is drawn to them. When pride is present, God resists them.
When David Brainerd was dying, he continued to cry out to God for the souls of the American Indians. Revival can come when God’s people humble themselves, become concerned and seek God’s forgiveness and become open to all of God’s ways.
How can you do this? When is the last time you went before God on Bended knees instead of just singing about coming to Him on them? We need to kneel before the King, to humble ourselves on Bended knee. We need to pray for God’s compassion upon the lost, and to ask God to forgive us for our lack of concern for the world which so desperately needs Jesus Christ.
3. If My people...will...pray
Prayer sound easy, yes I will pray. But words are cheap, action is costly. We need to pray. To pray for our children, our schools, our homes, our government leaders, our cities, our churches, for the world. We need to pray for a new Pentecost, a fresh overflowing of the Holy Spirit on the world. Our prayers should be full of faith, mixed with compassion. But let me warn you about something in revival prayer. Man cannot bring revival through prayer by his own technique. It only comes when man looks to God’s ability. Zechariah wrote in chapter 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit."
In Acts we discover the first apostolic sermon preached saw 3,000 saved. That was a message preached by an uneducated fisherman. Why? Because God did it. In 80 years, the Assemblies of God has grown to approximately 30 million members. How? Because God did it. Church, our nation desperately needs help. This community desperately needs help, spiritually, morally, in areas of employment, and I believe that God is willing, I know that God can do things, open doors to opportunity and I know He will do it through our obedience.
We need to pray with renewed fervor for our city, for our children, for marriages in this community that are in trouble. We need to pray for the schools, for the churches in this community. We need to pray and ask God to send a new Pentecost upon the land.
4. If My People...will...seek My face.
Have you ever thought to seek the face of God? Seeking His face involves determination, discipline, and perseverance. It is not the kind of praying that is done when we say grace at the dinner table. It involves focusing our very being on speaking to, and hearing from the living God. Pastor Cho of Korea spends 3 hours each day in prayer and insists his pastoral staff pray for 2 hours. He asks for his church to pray for 1 hour each day. It is no wonder the church in Seoul Korea has over 700,000 tithing members.
We must seek God’s face for our churches with a greater determination.
How can you do it. First you need to ask God to help you become more disciplined, faithful and determined to be a pray-er. Begin now to purpose in your heart to pray more than you ever have in the past and to be a one who prayers on a more consistent basis.
5. If my people...will...turn from their wicked ways
God hates sin. God is a holy God and we must continually repent and turn from our wicked ways. When David had sin in his life, he felt alone and away from God. When Israel refused to deal with their sin, they lost their battles. Weakness can come to us when we do not deal with sin and rebellion in our lives.
When looking at our lives, we can ask God to give us a new hunger to know Jesus in a deeper way. We need to specifically ask God to change our lives and we must be completely willing to obey God in all areas of our lives. Our repentance must be without restraint. David prayed in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart."
We must be determined to keep worldly distractions out of our lives. We must keep focused on our relationship with God. Paul said in Philippians 3:13, "This one thing I do."
Examine you hearts and lives. Are there areas of rebellion, wicked ways, sinful thinking, feelings or behaviors that you need to repent from? You need tonight to ask God to forgive you and determine that you will walk a renewed life in holiness to God and man. And thank Jesus for His forgiveness which He offers freely to you because of the sacrifice He made on Calvary for you.
Church, revival is when Christians get their relationships right with God. When revived Pentecostal Christians pray, a nation can be changed because the Creator God moves in supernatural ways. I don’t know if you realize this, but God wants Pentecostal revival more than we do. He has laid out the blueprint for what it will take for us to get there, and He awaits for the response of His people. God will do it once again if we will humble ourselves and pray.
I want to close this service with a call to prayer. I want to ask you to take a few moments to pray for God to give us a fresh Pentecost, in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches, in our schools, in our nation. Then I want us to end this service with worship to our King.
prayer
worship
