REVIVAL: JUST THE BEGINNING
INTRODUCTION: Today we bring to a close our Sunday morning series on Revival. I hope and pray that you have gained as much from it as I have. It has been exciting, at least for me, to examine some of the Revivals from the Bible and learn life-lessons for spiritual growth and see the awesome nature of God as He returned to His people time and time again when they desperately and honestly sought Him with an audacious faith. I am also quite humbled by the response many of you have voiced in one fashion or the other. You have told me that this study has brought you closer to God, strengthened your faith, encouraged you to study the Word more and to prayer more passionately and more often. These are the results that revival brings within the life of those who seek Him with an honest and sincere faith. And that is why Revival is so important. In fact Revival is the single more important aspect of Christian living because it is the return of the power and presence of God to the lives of His people, and every one who intends to keep a living, active relationship with God needs Revival on almost a daily basis. Let me explain it this way: Revival is what a heart that seeks God yearns for.
There is a story told about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They went on a camping trip and one evening as they were laying there looking up at the sky Holmes said, "Watson, look up. What do you see?" Watson said, "I see 1000’s of stars." Holmes asked, "What do you suppose that means?" So wanting to impress Sherlock, Watson put on his thinking cap and said, "Well I suppose it means that of all the planets and suns and moons in the universe we are truly the most blessed to have the ability to live here and induce theorems in a world full of criminal injustice. And I suppose it means that we must truly be small in the eyes of a God that can make all this and must struggle each day to use the gifts of the senses we have been blessed with. And I suppose that in the very least it means in the meteorological sense that we are going to have nice weather. And what does it mean to you Sherlock?" Sherlock Holmes replied, "Well to me it means someone has stolen our tent." It is like the old adage, "Can’t see the forest for the trees." Sometimes that is the way it is Revival. We see it and want the results of it, but do not comprehend the path to it. Folks, there are many steps along the path that leads to Revival. Each of the revivals we studied gave us some of the steps that lead to the return of God.
I. REVIVALS STUDIED
A. The Revival that took place under the leadership of Moses at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 32-33 taught us that there must be passionate, powerful prayers offered to God. And when that type of prayer-life becomes a reality God will return to His people.
B. The Revival that took place under the prophet Samuel in I Samuel 4 – 7 taught us that God cannot be kept in a box, rather He must be put to work in our lives. And when He is afforded a working place in our hearts and lives He will bring us the victories over evil we so desperately need.
C. The Revival that the prophet Elijah led in I Kings 16-18 taught us that sometimes it takes Hard Prayers – asking for God to forcefully humble sinful people, Hard Preaching – challenging the lifestyle and beliefs of sinful people and Hard Prescriptions – getting rid of whatever dishonors God, to bring about the return of God to His people.
D. In our last lesson we studied the Revival under a man named Asa, the King of Judah and from that story we learned that revival will come when we become fully committed to relying upon the power of God, to taking bold action to please God, and to repairing the things that matter to God.
E. Unfortunately those are only some of the lessons we need to learn about the path to Revival. There are other Revivals in the Bible that we have not been able to study.
II. REVIVALS NOT STUDIED
A. In Joshua 6-8 we read of the Revival that took place under the leadership of Joshua. After the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness the Israelites cross the Jordan River and enter the promise land. Their first battle was at the heavily fortified city of Jericho and you remember the story. When they did what God told them to, in the manner in which He had instructed, the walls came tumbling down and they thoroughly defeated the inhabitants of that city.
1. Yet, right after that they went to the little city of Ai, a place not much more than a wide spot in the road, and they were routed by its inhabitants. Why? Because Achan had kept some of the things devoted to God. When the people realized what had happened and sought God’s help, He told them that there was sin in the camp and until it was removed He would not come back.
2. READ Joshua 7:24-8:1. The step to Revival from this revival is that God’s people must purge the sin from the camp and He will return, even if it is one man, influential, powerful, or wealthy.
B. Then there is the revival that took place when Hezekiah was King. His father was Ahaz, a wicked King that the Bible says in II Chronicles 28, "gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and took them away. He shut the doors of the Lord’s temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and provoked the Lord, the God of his fathers, to anger."
1. But II Kings 18:5-7, says that, "Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no-one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook."
2. II Chronicles 29-31 tell us that he went throughout Judah and even into the land of Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh smashing the sacred stones, cutting down Asherah poles and destroying the high places and altars to pagan gods. He repaired the temple, cleaned it out and reopened it to the people.
3. He then reinstituted the Feast of the Passover which had not been celebrated for years and he supplied from his own possessions all of the items needed for the Passover, for the morning and evening offerings, for the burnt offering of the Sabbaths, New Moons and appointed feasts.
4. The people responded by returning their tithes to the Temple and the Bible says that they brought so much that it was piled in heaps out side the Temple and storerooms had to be prepared to hold it. And because they returned to God, He returned to them. II Chronicles 32:1, 7-8, 20-22 The step to revival from this revival is devoting the right things to God.
C. In II Kings 22-23 we find the revival that happened when Josiah was King of Judah. His father, Amon, had forsaken God and all His ways, but Josiah was determined to be different from His father. In fact things had become so bad in Judah that the Law had been lost, lost for years, and when Josiah instructed Hilkiah the high priest to clean out and repair the Temple, the Law was found and the Bible says that when King Josiah heard the words of the Law he tore his robes and wept. READ II Kings 23:1-3 The step to revival from this revival is a return to God’s Word.
D. The last revival that took place in the Old Testament was the one lead by Nehemiah. He was the cup-bearer to the King of Persia having been carried away in the second deportation from Judah. When he learned that the city of Jerusalem was in ruins, both the Temple, the walls and the people, he became distraught and the Bible says that he prayed for 4 months that God might use him to do something about it.
1. At the end of that 4 months God provided him the opportunity and the courage to seek the King’s permission and help to return to Jerusalem to rebuid the city. Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, not only gave him permission but he supplied all the items Nehemiah need to do the work he so desperately desired.
2. When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem he not only found ruined walls but ruined faith. And when he told the people what he intended to do, rebuild the walls and secure Jerusalem from pagan peoples, he met strong opposition, but he was not about to give in nor was he about to let the people give in either.
3. Nehemiah 4 tells us that Nehemiah called to God and the rallied his people to finish their work. Verses 17 & 18 tell us that they did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other and God blessed them so that they finished rebuilding the wall, the city and their faith.
CONCLUSION: This is what revival brings, the return of the power, and presence, and victory of God to His people. READ "Recipe For Revival" INVITATION
